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Mar30

Don’t Talk to Strangers, but it’s OK on Twitter.

Brightkite Logo I was about to leave a comment on a recent blog post by @Bruce but instead I feel it needed to become a blog post.

How is it in all our Twitter debate that not once have we touched on the issue of safety? Frankly I don’t really give a crap how insightful and useful it can be if people are dying from some crazy Twitter serial killers. As most of you know already is that on Twitter you can be followed by anyone. Yes, I know that you have the ability to make it private but how often do people do that?

I think what is especially scary is BrightKite. For those of you who don’t know what BrightKite is, it’s “(A) location-based social network. In real time you can see where your friends are and what they’re up to.” What this means is you “check in” on BrightKite and it tells your followers your exact location at the time of check in. Um, hello? Have we all forgotten Mom’s voice telling us never to tell people online were we are? Look at how many people have posted there exact location on BrightKite’s home page!

Yes, I understand there are privacy settings, but you have to remember that people are naive. Say for example someone contacts me through twitter claiming to be interested in a redesign for their web site with Imulus. Of course I wouldn’t want to pass up an opportunity for my company and, me being the trusting soul I am, I check in my location on BrightKite which posts on Twitter for all can see. Is no one else seeing a problem with this?

Yes, you can argue with me the reasons that Twitter and BrightKite are helpful. Yes, you can tell me how many times you and your buddies had a great night out because you happened to be down the street and they happen to see your Twitter post. However, what I am interested in is how far are we willing to sacrifice safety on the off chance that you might benefit from these social networks?

posted in: opinion, rant, social networks, twitter

This post was published on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 8:45 am

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Comments

1

BruceClark

March 30, 2009 at 4:58 pm

Kat, a few points.

First, I think the important thing to constantly remember is that people are controlling the information that they are offering out to the world. People shouldn't be posting information that they think could be potentially dangers. For instance, "Hi, I'm a very hot girl who is alone at 3am and just checked in from Five Points!" That would be a very questionable decision. However, checking in from a local tech meetup in order to exchange ideas seems like a much better idea.

To me, BrightKite is similar to the early days of Facebook when people would basically post their entire life online. Class schedule, phone number, home address, etc. People eventually learned that they need to control their posted information or deal with the consequences. Perhaps these services could better explain the need for security, and that might be something worth encouraging.

Still, these services do have a lot of positive benefits. Many of which I listed in my previous blog post about Twitter. People can get these benefits without risking their safety, they just need to be cognizant of their environment and who they're giving this information out to.

To me, the sacrifice of a few people knowing where I am sometimes is worth the connection and community involvement I get in return.