[LUG] Problems with social networking: courtesy of the The Economist

[Henry Bremridge <henry.bremridge@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://pleaserobme.com/

 Hey, do you have a Twitter account? Have you ever noticed those
 messages in which people tell you where they are? Pretty annoying, eh.
 Well, they're actually also potentially pretty dangerous. We're about
 to tell you why.

 Don't get us wrong, we love the whole location-aware thing. The
 information is very interesting and can be used to create some pretty
 awesome applications. However, the way in which people are stimulated
 to participate in sharing this information, is less awesome. Services
 like Foursquare allow you to fulfill some primeval urge to colonize the
 planet. A part of that is letting everyone know you own that specific
 spot. You get to tell where you are and if you're there first, it's
 yours. O, and of course there's badges..  Hey, do you have a Twitter
 account? Have you ever noticed those messages in which people tell you
 where they are? Pretty annoying, eh. Well, they're actually also
 potentially pretty dangerous. We're about to tell you why.

 Don't get us wrong, we love the whole location-aware thing. The
 information is very interesting and can be used to create some pretty
 awesome applications. However, the way in which people are stimulated
 to participate in sharing this information, is less awesome. Services
 like Foursquare allow you to fulfill some primeval urge to colonize the
 planet. A part of that is letting everyone know you own that specific
 spot. You get to tell where you are and if you're there first, it's
 yours. O, and of course there's badges.. 


-- 
Henry
Photocopies or faxes of my signature are not binding. 
This email has been signed with an electronic signature in accordance with 
subsection 7(3) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000.
Digital Key Signature: GPG RSA 0xFB447AA1 
Sat Mar  6 09:49:21 GMT 2010

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: Digital signature

-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html