We need to have a chat about location based services. More specifically let’s talk about the updates to Twitter or Facebook after you “check-in” with a service such as foursquare.
I don’t mean to be a downer, but I think we established some time ago that no one cares if you’re “Eating a cheeseburger” or something of that nature. Now, if you’re “Eating a cheeseburger next to Tiger Woods” that might be a different story.
The same thing goes for the constant updates from foursquare (and other services) that have the “I’m at X location.” Do people really care? If you’re at X location doing something fun or have something remotely interesting to share… share away.
Like others, I use foursquare on occasion, but what I don’t do is have it set to share each and every check-in on Facebook and Twitter. Doing so is a bit obnoxious.
After sending the above tweet I received this message via email,
“When I check in and it goes to Twitter my followers drop. Shouldn’t that be an indicator?”
I can’t say whether or not the individual that sent that email is losing followers due to checking in on foursquare, but doing things that others find annoying could certainly be a trigger.
I’m not saying you should never state where you are or what you’re doing – those updates are generally a bit more telling than “I’m at X location.”
If you disagree with me that’s ok, but if you constantly push location updates I can almost guarantee that I’ll stop following you on Twitter or will hide your updates on Facebook. The stream is valuable space…
[…] If you get on, or are already on the four square bandwagon, please read my previous post titled “Foursquare location updates to Facebook/Twitter.” […]