Things that make you go hmm

[owlmoose]

Does anyone else find the concept of foursquare a little creepy? Hey kids, look! It's another way for us to track your every movement!

Edited to note that the irony of posting from my phone, using an app that notifies everyone that I have done so, is not lost on me...

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Comments

[regann]

yeah, I find alot of those location apps kinda scary.

[madlori]

FourSquare isn't a Facebook app. I'm kind of enjoying playing it, actually. And it's making me want to go to the gym more to get more check-ins.

[owlmoose]

I must admit that I also though it was a Facebook app at first, since that's where I've been seeing all the updates from people.

I can see fun of it, too: the competition to become Mayor, getting treats from places you frequent anyway. But I still find the idea of a game that tracks my movements, however voluntarily, a little unnerving. Especially when you hook it in with a Facebook app, which potentially gives it access to lots of personal information.

[regann]

My friend is very into it and tried to tempt me into it when I got my Android phone, but I said no thanks for the reasons you list above. The luddite in me is very wary of being tracked any more than I already am!

[taricalmcacil]

Yeah, I try to avoid those types of apps. Mind you, they don't have that one for Windows Mobile, so it's not a problem for me. I don't even have the Facebook app installed actually. I doesn't work well anyway, so If I really want to check my feed, I use opera.

[owlmoose]

I do like the Facebook app for iPhone. I barely used FB before I got my phone; now I check in pretty regularly, although I still don't post there much. I much prefer LJ-style online interaction.

[taricalmcacil]

Yeah, I pretty much reserve FB for my real life friends, since most of them don't know I write fanfic or have no interest in reading it. But I love the people I meet here, I'm closer to some of my LJ friends than I am to my RL friends.

[owlmoose]

That's pretty much my divide too: FB is RL friends and acquaintances, LJ is fandom and a selection of closer RL friends. It's funny; in a way, even though FB is how I present myself to the people who "know" me, I feel much more like "myself" on LJ.

[anonamys]

Well, the original concept (when it started out as Dodgeball), was not about tracking your every movement, it was "Hey, I'm at Joe's bar - come join me!" It was a way for friends to get together. People didn't really post their location unless it was especially cool (like another city or something) or others were invited. (Obviously, there were exceptions.) I actually find people's use of Foursquare for posting every time they are at a gas station, grocery store, the dentist, etc to be highly annoying.

Admittedly, I have considered joining, just to see if I can earn the Gym Rat badge. :)

[owlmoose]

It was a way for friends to get together. People didn't really post their location unless it was especially cool (like another city or something) or others were invited.

Interesting. It sounds like it's evolved the same way that Twitter has evolved for some people: into microblogging to the point of annoyance. Not that everyone uses Twitter that way -- the people I follow certainly don't -- and probably not everyone uses Foursquare that way either. But the potential is certainly there.

I think it just comes back to my annoyance with Facebook and apps like it: the growing assumption that everyone wants to live their life in public at all times.

[vieralynn]

You've seen http://pleaserobme.com/, yes?

[owlmoose]

No, but that's really clever.

[vieralynn]

Regular public broadcasting of one's location just seems really problematic. If the goal is to meet up with friends or even friends of friends, there are so many other ways to easily do so without making world wide announcements.