Where Are You?
Aug 13, 2008
I admit that I've become addicted to the status updates in Twitter and Facebook. Even when I'm not revealing what I'm up to, I enjoy knowing what others are doing. It's an easy way to keep tabs on friends and associates I wouldn't otherwise interact with on a daily, or moment to moment, basis.
Increasingly, though, it's not just about what others are doing. But about where they are.
The social sharing revolution is giving rise to a growing number of location-aware services like Loopt and Dopplr that enable users to reveal their whereabouts to others via mobile and Web-based interfaces. Just yesterday, Yahoo formally launched an open platform called Fire Eagle that allows users to enter their location data and manage its use by third-party developers.
Of course, location-based technologies are not new -- and neither are the privacy and security concerns they raise. What does seem to be changing is the pervasiveness of these services and, at least among early adopters like techies and teens, the willingness to trade their privacy for the convenience (or novelty) of knowing more about the people and neighborhoods around them.
As for me, I'll be sharing my location on a need to know basis.
Tags:
Doppler, location-based, Loopt, privacy, social media, Twitter, Yahoo
