some time ago, a group of my friends got into the FourSquare thing. FourSquare is a geosocial system where users use the GPS on their phones to 'check-in' to various locations: when they get somewhere, they open an app on their phone and it verifies where they are and they broadcast that to their friends and if they want, to the world.
i can't lie - it was fun... the system rewards you for checking in to places more than anyone else with a 'mayorship' and for checking into certain types of places with various badges... and with my friends, the competition was ON!
over time, it became a little tedious, and partially this is because of my laziness. others who were out more rapidly gained more mayorships and so on, and it got to the point where 2 other guys i knew and i once spent a night driving around checking in to places just to help toward badges. this, is a little sad.
after FourSquare came Latitude, a product from Google that is included on all Android based phones and easily added to iPhones. it automatically detects when you change locations and updates your location on the Google system. i love it, because it takes zero effort on my part, and if any of my friends want to see where i am they can sign up for Google and ask to be on my approved list, and then they can see where i am at any time.
i'm not shady, and i have nothing to hide, so Latitude is perfect for me. Latitude doesn't publicly display where you are, there's really no way for any stalkers or psychos to use it to track your location unless you approve their ability to do so... in that, it is safe. knowing this, when i hear people claim they won't use Latitude i start to question them. it makes me wonder what late night outing with a side lover or trip to the gay bar is going on.
last night, these issues came up in conversation. a group of friends were out, and someone we all knew was broadcasting where he was at length via FourSquare, sometimes with comment, but could not be found via the Latitude account he had disabled. now, he looked desperate for attention.
now it was an issue of control, the double dip of geosocial neediness. 'i want to show you that i control you seeing where i am, probably because i have already made myself look bad and i dont want everyone to see me validate that, but in an effort to look like im out having fun in other ways, here is my controlled feed to the world'.
ok, now you've taken the fun out of it all dude. you have subconsciously made it obvious that you want attention by acting like you want no one to see where you are, then blubbering multiple locations and commentary online as if you're the life of the party.
the best part of this is that people these days are so full of themselves that they can't take advice, so even if i pointed all this out to him, it would fall on deaf ears... and if i pointed out that people were jokingly making the point last night 'oh, look who wants attention', the person in question would probably be embarrassed into anger, not admitting their flaw but thinking everyone else was wrong.
its sad the way simple things have to get so complex socially. when i get questioned i'm quick to explain myself and then tell the world to fuck off to cover all the bases. i really don't care what people think, but i have nothing to hide in the event that i'm questioned... but most importantly, i don't let it bother me.
lets face something here, its letting people bother you which makes you look like an ass most in this world. its hiding your location from those who may harass you for being out late or being somewhere that makes you most look like you're shady or a child. another friend of mine won't let her updates be posted online because she doesn't want to blow her image as a suburban mom... what? but that's who you are! you're a loving suburban mom who still knows how to have a good time when your kids are at sleepovers!
now, i actually on some level respect her control issue... she does share everything on latitude to her friends, its those in her family that she restricts... and that's the loophole i bow to in general. i mean, i dont think someone should hide their job or their sexuality or unplanned children or other major things from their family... but, if your sibling is a drunk who's deflecting onto you, it makes sense... if you're not going to control the problem.
i dunno people, why are we bastardizing everything into a control issue? fire up those FourSquares, engage those Latitudes, and embrace who you are! eventually we found out the person in question ended up at a backyard patio... but didn't check in from there... what? not good enough to tell the world about?
i can't lie - it was fun... the system rewards you for checking in to places more than anyone else with a 'mayorship' and for checking into certain types of places with various badges... and with my friends, the competition was ON!
over time, it became a little tedious, and partially this is because of my laziness. others who were out more rapidly gained more mayorships and so on, and it got to the point where 2 other guys i knew and i once spent a night driving around checking in to places just to help toward badges. this, is a little sad.
after FourSquare came Latitude, a product from Google that is included on all Android based phones and easily added to iPhones. it automatically detects when you change locations and updates your location on the Google system. i love it, because it takes zero effort on my part, and if any of my friends want to see where i am they can sign up for Google and ask to be on my approved list, and then they can see where i am at any time.
i'm not shady, and i have nothing to hide, so Latitude is perfect for me. Latitude doesn't publicly display where you are, there's really no way for any stalkers or psychos to use it to track your location unless you approve their ability to do so... in that, it is safe. knowing this, when i hear people claim they won't use Latitude i start to question them. it makes me wonder what late night outing with a side lover or trip to the gay bar is going on.
last night, these issues came up in conversation. a group of friends were out, and someone we all knew was broadcasting where he was at length via FourSquare, sometimes with comment, but could not be found via the Latitude account he had disabled. now, he looked desperate for attention.
now it was an issue of control, the double dip of geosocial neediness. 'i want to show you that i control you seeing where i am, probably because i have already made myself look bad and i dont want everyone to see me validate that, but in an effort to look like im out having fun in other ways, here is my controlled feed to the world'.
ok, now you've taken the fun out of it all dude. you have subconsciously made it obvious that you want attention by acting like you want no one to see where you are, then blubbering multiple locations and commentary online as if you're the life of the party.
the best part of this is that people these days are so full of themselves that they can't take advice, so even if i pointed all this out to him, it would fall on deaf ears... and if i pointed out that people were jokingly making the point last night 'oh, look who wants attention', the person in question would probably be embarrassed into anger, not admitting their flaw but thinking everyone else was wrong.
its sad the way simple things have to get so complex socially. when i get questioned i'm quick to explain myself and then tell the world to fuck off to cover all the bases. i really don't care what people think, but i have nothing to hide in the event that i'm questioned... but most importantly, i don't let it bother me.
lets face something here, its letting people bother you which makes you look like an ass most in this world. its hiding your location from those who may harass you for being out late or being somewhere that makes you most look like you're shady or a child. another friend of mine won't let her updates be posted online because she doesn't want to blow her image as a suburban mom... what? but that's who you are! you're a loving suburban mom who still knows how to have a good time when your kids are at sleepovers!
now, i actually on some level respect her control issue... she does share everything on latitude to her friends, its those in her family that she restricts... and that's the loophole i bow to in general. i mean, i dont think someone should hide their job or their sexuality or unplanned children or other major things from their family... but, if your sibling is a drunk who's deflecting onto you, it makes sense... if you're not going to control the problem.
i dunno people, why are we bastardizing everything into a control issue? fire up those FourSquares, engage those Latitudes, and embrace who you are! eventually we found out the person in question ended up at a backyard patio... but didn't check in from there... what? not good enough to tell the world about?
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