On this month’s thing for Nebraska Learns 2.0 we discussed Twitter. One of our bloggers, Mrs. Brown, took issue with my tweeting my locations (via Foursquare) citing security concerns. I left the following as a comment to her post and am cross-posting it here, possibly for further discussion. (I’m assuming she’d welcome further commenting on her blog too.)
Mrs. Brown,
I thought I’d take a moment to respond to your comments re: my Twitter account and letting people know where I am. As you can guess, I respectfully disagree.
First, the reason my location is (not always) announced on Twitter is that I use another service, Fourquare (www.foursquare.com), an online geo-location service and game which allows me, via my phone, to check in at locations. By doing this I can see who and what else is in the area, leave and read tips about where I am, and even get special deals with some businesses. The gaming part is that some specials are only for location "mayors" which you earn by checking in somewhere more than anyone else in a certain time period. (There’s a good chance Foursquare will be featured as a thing in 2011.)
I’ve set it up so that whenever I check in via Foursquare that is also cross-posted to my Twitter account. I didn’t have to, but even if I didn’t that doesn’t actually address your concern since someone could still find my location on Foursquare instead of on Twitter.
Here’s where I’m coming from when it comes to the privacy and safety concerns: I generally live my life in public. I have consciously decided to do so mostly since it’s the best way for me to experiment with all of these new online tools and to then share those experiences with others. (That is my job after all.) I don’t share everything, and I don’t always check in and announce my location everywhere I go. (There can be whole days where I don’t check in at all, and there are just some places I may go that I’ve decided are no one else’s business.) I am "The Travelin’ Librarian" after all so why not tell people where I am.
Specifically to your security issue, although I see your point and have read the stories, I’ve decided that I’m not all that concerned. Theoretically, someone could easily figure out that I’m not home Monday through Friday from 7am to 4:30pm without too much trouble. I don’t believe that announcing I’m at the mall on a Saturday afternoon make me any more susceptible to my house being broken into than my regular work schedule. That being said, my tweets let people know I’m not home, but they don’t let anyone know if my home is unoccupied (I don’t live alone,) or when I’ll be back.
Ultimately, I’ve made a conscious decision to announce what I announce and not announce what I don’t announce. I respect anyone who has decided not to live as much in public as I do, I just ask that they be aware of both the benefits and downsides of both ends of the spectrum and make the decision for themselves.
I thank you greatly for your opinion as only through discussions like these can we really hash out all the issues involved with these new technologies. If you have any questions about anything I’ve said please do not hesitate to ask.
–Michael Sauers
