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Please Rob Me?
I like being in-the-know and being at the begining of the curve when it comes to changes. So while it may have taken me a while to catch on, I am in the begging stages of adapting FourSquare.
At first, I didn’t understand the point. It seemed to me like it was simply people bragging about where they were eating or going out. But then I learned from someone saavier than I, about the tips that FourSquare can offer.
As the person who always orders the one gross thing on the menu, I was excited to use the tips to order with confidence and to know the hottest places to eat brunch or dinner.
The application resembles a game in awarding its participants with badges certain goals such as visiting 10 places are attained and even titles you “Mayor” when you visit a certain location the most.
Sounds fun, right?
I thought so up until the point I read a friend’s article in the Augusta Chronicle and had to think twice. The article mentions the dangers of applications like FourSquare and the stance that www.PleaseRobMe.com takes on the issue.
While the site is currently contemplating their future mission, they began as a source listing the idiotic Twitter posts that blatantly say, “Please Rob Me!”
@Fun4Robots left home and checked in 7 minutes ago:
I’m at Starbucks (1398 Columbia Ave., Lancaster). http://4sq.com/c7h4o5
@ClairWyant left home and checked in 7 minutes ago:
I’m at Desert Diamond Casino (7350 South Nogales Highway, Tucson). http://4sq.com/6VQxTK
Or even…
@LanceWeber left home and checked in 6 minutes ago:
I’m at Denver airport Concouse B (Denver). http://4sq.com/c37a7m
Here is an excerpt from www.PleaseRobMe.com’s “Why” page:
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.
…The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.
Perhaps before I become an early adapter and start racking up badges on FourSquare, I think I will reassess how valuable my personal items are and how risky this business of posting your location can be.
-Jessica V.
