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Social media continues to grow as more companies and
individuals learn how to make it work for them. For every person who uses
social media platforms effectively, however, there will always be those who
just don't "get it."
There are numerous websites dedicated to poking fun at
oversharers and the downright confused, but a new site has recently appeared
that points-out dangerous social media uses.
Please Rob Me
 PleaseRobMe.com aims to make users aware of the information
they're sharing with the world and understand the downsides of doing so. The
site scans social networks like Twitter and Foursquare,
a service that allows users to "check-in" and share whereabouts with friends
via a mobile device.
PleaseRobMe.com then streams location-based tweets to its
site and simultaneously pings the user with a message such as: "Hi
@TwitterName, did you know the whole world can see your location through
Twitter? #pleaserobme.com"
Calling Out Dangerous
Behavior
Although the site's purpose may seem malicious, the creators
of PleaseRobMe.com claim otherwise on their website:
"The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This
is because it leaves one place you're definitely not... home. So here we are;
on one end we're leaving lights on when we're going on a holiday, and on the
other we're telling everybody on the internet we're not home. It gets even
worse if you have "friends" who want to colonize your house. That
means they have to enter your address, to tell everyone where they are. Your
address.. on the internet.. Now you know what to do when people reach for their
phone as soon as they enter your home. That's right, slap them across the face."
Reactions
Naturally, PleaseRobMe.com has received mixed reviews from
online users. For its part, Foursquare has taken to its
blog to address privacy issues and smooth-over tensions created by
PleaseRobMe.com. There, Foursquare makes sure to point out that sending
location-specific updates with its service is opt-in. So, when users "check-in"
with Foursquare, they're asked if they want to post it to Twitter.
Additionally, Foursquare argues that posting these updates
is no more dangerous than posting locations without using Foursqaure. In fact,
the company notes that searching for "headed to" (and other variations of going
somewhere) provides similar location data.
Foursquare also addresses a reaction echoed in many articles
about PleaseRobMe.com, namely that posts on going to work, getting married,
going on vacation, sending a picture from a mobile location, etc., are all
indicators of a person not being home either.
Thoughts
Social media is a double-edged sword. When used correctly,
it can be a great tool. But like most things with the Internet, there are some
catches. I know on my personal pages, I see updates from people saying where
they're going and with whom. I could see this being problematic as someone with
an axe-to-grind could easily find out a number of things: who a person is with,
where they are, that they're not home, and so on. Even if someone doesn't want
to rob your house, they might want to find you – even
if you don't want them to.
That being said, I find it pretty disturbing that
PleaseRobMe.com has a running stream of location-specific posts. Attempting to
make people aware of potential dangers is a great idea, but reposting their
updates makes them accessible to a lot more people – including ones outside of
their immediate social network.
What do you think?
Resources
http://pleaserobme.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/17/please-rob-me-site-tells_n_465966.html
http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/17/please-rob-me-makes-foursquare-super-useful-for-burglars/
http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/18/foursquare-please-rob-me/
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Re: Heads Up, Social Media Users
