Los Angeles — Twitter knows where you are — at least in the U.S. The microblogging site, and its battalion of outside developers have discovered ways to maximize the content you can pack into the 140-character limit assigned to every tweet. Last week Twitter rolled out a new tool that empowers users to share their location information when they send tweets. The new feature, which is off by default, is only available to U.S. users right now, but should be rolled out in other countries fairly soon, according to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.
Twitter users can now insert their current location information in their tweets. The micro-blogging service has switched on an optional new attribute that appends geographical information to your posts. Users’ simply have to follow these steps, assuming you have a Twitter account, is go to “settings”, scroll down, and click on “Add a location to your tweets.”
Once you opt-in, Twitter adds your location to your tweets. Note the region circled in red:
“A recent flare-up of interest in location-sharing applications, games and services has many Twitter users excited about appending geographic data to some of their tweets,” wrote Stone in a blog post. “People who choose to add this additional layer of context help make Twitter a richer information network for all of us — location data can make tweets more useful.”
By mentioning your location, Stone gives a somewhat strange instance of how location-sharing could be beneficial for Twitter users to find information about their particular area or neighborhood.
“Let us say I’m at my office and I hear a loud boom,” he added in his blog. It sounded serious, so I search Twitter for “boom.” Among the first results could be someone who tweeted “Boom go the fireworks!” This could be anywhere in the world. However, if that person had activated the new tweet location feature, then the neighborhood data under the tweet would read, SoMa [San Francisco’s South of Market district]. Now, I know it is just fireworks going off in my neighborhood.”
However, for each Tweet, we will openly show whatever location information you have selected to share. For instance, if you update from Twitter Mobile and have specified that a particular Tweet should show your exact location, these coordinates can be seen on Twitter.com, Twitter mobile, and in third-party applications.
Instead, if you assigned to only share your place, those Tweets will only be displayed with the general neighborhood information. Application developers are required to be up-front and obvious about whether your exact coordinates will be displayed, or just the place. When you tweet from a third-party application or mobile device, it should be clear which type of data will be publicly displayed.
The effectiveness of location tweeting will depend on how many users opt in, of course. Thus far, the reaction on Twitter appears to trending negative.
User “adriennebunny” wrote: “no twitter, i would not like to turn my location on to my tweets. That is just asking for stalkers.”
“Zazochi” voiced a similar concern: “I know I’m paranoid but NO, I do not want 2 tweet my location. Tweeting a million strangers where I am goes against my survival instinct.”
And “neversun” opined: “I do not understand why you would want your location on your tweets. Am I missing something?”
Concerned about privacy? Well, those having social networks may be aware that privacy and social networks do not exactly go together, but Twitter has built in some safeguards. Addressing the privacy concerns that is normally attached with geo-aware services, Twitter said the feature is turned off by default and must be activated by the user. When users do opt-in, a map of their location can be seen next to their tweets, though users can control what is shown and turn the “Tweet With Your Location” feature off at anytime.
While this feature is outstanding and welcome to all who want to be found, it can be dangerous for those who may be away from home. Twitter informs users that they need to be cautious of what they share. Someone with an awful heart can essentially “cyber case” a person using Twitter to determine when to try and break in to their home. Or worse.
As the Twitter blog explains, the location-sharing feature is great to inform people of where something is occurring, but the problem is the tweeter has to be in the area where that something is happening. Despite this early skepticism, it is possible that a significant number of Twitter users will take to location-sharing. After all, many already tweet their current location via Foursquare, a practice that has been mocked by PleaseRobMe, a website designed to illustrate the potential dangers of sharing too much personal information online.