Where Am I? I don’t Want to Tell You

In one of my classes this week, a professor asked us whether we use foursquare. And most of my classmates responded as they don’t use it or don’t like use it. Then the professor wandered why. Answers were like “I want to keep my private” or “It is weird to show where you are all the time”. I was not familiar with foursquare before that class, so I searched it though internet after that class and got the basic idea about what is foursquare and how does it work.

According to Wikipedia, foursquare is a location based social networking website based on hardware and mobile devices. “Users check-in at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application by running the application and selecting from a list of venues that the application locates nearby.” Simply to say, it is a social networking website that allows you to show where you are timely.

Well, from my point of view, I don’t like use this kind of social networking tools which base on the technology of tracking locations. I’m not sure whether facebook and twitter have this kind of function, but I’m quite sure Renren and Weibo have the function to show your current location with your every tweet. But I never use it. The reason for my dislike may sound stupid. I really think it is noisy as well as useless to point out where you are with your tweet. If you really really want your friends know where you are, you can call them or text them. There is no need for you to show your location to everybody. I know it becomes more and more difficult for us to keep our private in this modern life, but I really want to try as much as I can… It seems I’m trying to give myself over-protection.:)

But I’m sure this kind of location-based social networking websites should be very useful for marketing and advertizing. For examples, supermarkets and department stores can send discount information and advertisements to people who point out their locations nearby.