Valerie Chisholm

03/2/18

Is location on social media bad? It can be used for some good and bad reasons. There are many location based social networks. Location based social networks use the gps in users phones and let you broadcast your location and other content to other users.

Sharing location sometimes isn’t the best idea, it can be used for the wrong things. Location based social media can share users location at some places where the users don’t want the location shared, like their addresses, for example. Sharing your addresses can be dangerous. It can lead to people robbery in your house and people stalking. Some media platforms can share the location wherever you are with people that your aren’t even friends with. They can also share and save the location that messages were sent from, like Facebook. Instagram tracks the location that all photos were posted from even if people don’t Geotag them. This means that anybody can see the exact location that anyone posted something, and most people post when they’re home and places they’re frequently at. Another app, called Swarm, tracks location of the phone at all even times even if the app isn’t launched, and it tells others around.

However, location based apps and social media can be helpful. Based on location,the internet or whatever app is being used, can give users relevant breaking news going on around them. It can also share local news stories that people would be interested in. Also, location can be used on social media maps that can show you where friends are and what they’re near, which can be a good thing like if they’re in need of help.