Twitter’s Geolocation Feature
There has been some news over the last few days about Twitter finally turning on its geolocation feature. It allows you to see a map overlaying individual tweets together with place names and the location of the tweet. Though the feature has been live via the twitter API since last fall (so it’s not “breaking” news), this week it was finally turned on. Facebook is also expected to turn on geolocation in the near future. Though the Twitter service is opt-in (what a Google Buzz-like story it would have been otherwise!), and there are a number of really cool/useful things that twitter+location could bring (Another way for impromptu meetups with friends! Deals from the store on the corner!), some people (here, here, here are a few) are raising privacy concerns. There aren’t any current tools for controlling who actually sees your location (uh oh), and scenarios like tweeting while you’re on vacation and getting burglarized , more tools for stalkers, employers going all big brother on their employees, etc. could happen. Some food for thought as we talk more about technology and privacy issues in lecture.
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