Why Social Media Should Welcome Location-Based Services
Privacy fears abound, but LBS in social media could radically transform how we communicate and stay connected with friends, says columnist Max Zeledon
Twitter knows where you are. Or at least it will soon, when it introduces a feature that lets your followers know where you are when you send a tweet. The announcement that Twitter will soon give users the option to disclose their physical whereabouts kindled debate over the role of location-based services (LBS) in social media and elicited criticism that the tools are an invasion of privacy.
I've been trying out a wide range of LBS tools to see for myself whether they're useful or something to be feared. I've used Brightkite; Plazes, which was recently acquired by Nokia (NOK); Germany-based Aka Aki, which I like to use in Europe, as well as a series of lesser-known services.
My conclusion after a year of testing is that far from being a threat, sites offering LBS represent vast, unrealized potential to radically transform the way we communicate and stay connected. ABI Research predicts that LBS will generate revenue of more than $14 billion in 2014, from about $2.6 billion this year.
Besides helping us track our location patterns or the nearest Starbucks (SBUX), these apps collect valuable data about our daily routines and the routines of those closest to us. They track personal tastes in food, fashion, and music so we can receive alerts and location-based notifications. Individual users can use LBS to share relevant information and places with friends. The device maintains a record of our daily routines, and it's constantly looking for people we know who may be nearby. This added layer of movement and context is much more valuable than what's available on existing social networks, such as Facebook, that don't automatically offer location-specific information.
I've been trying out a wide range of LBS tools to see for myself whether they're useful or something to be feared. I've used Brightkite; Plazes, which was recently acquired by Nokia (NOK); Germany-based Aka Aki, which I like to use in Europe, as well as a series of lesser-known services.
My conclusion after a year of testing is that far from being a threat, sites offering LBS represent vast, unrealized potential to radically transform the way we communicate and stay connected. ABI Research predicts that LBS will generate revenue of more than $14 billion in 2014, from about $2.6 billion this year.
Besides helping us track our location patterns or the nearest Starbucks (SBUX), these apps collect valuable data about our daily routines and the routines of those closest to us. They track personal tastes in food, fashion, and music so we can receive alerts and location-based notifications. Individual users can use LBS to share relevant information and places with friends. The device maintains a record of our daily routines, and it's constantly looking for people we know who may be nearby. This added layer of movement and context is much more valuable than what's available on existing social networks, such as Facebook, that don't automatically offer location-specific information.
發表文章
社交媒體(social media)，如Facebook，Flickr，Plurk，Twitter等不同的網路社群工具普及的數據，代表了社群環境的盛行，大量的使用不同的傳遞媒介來滿足不同的社交需求，這些工具彼此串連且互相連結，並且掌握個人背後的隱私資訊，透過後端的雲端運算去連結不同的同類社群。
回覆刪除而今日這些不同的工具，皆逐漸的朝向適地性(LBS)的功能發展，不久你所使用的Twitter將了解你所在的位置，甚至開始在網路上提供你發布訊息的位置，這些服務將部分的潛在資料給曝露在網路上，並且藉由這些社群媒體(social media)快速且大量的使用著，這些服務令某些人感到害怕，但這項資訊確實掌握了未來在商業社群服務軟體上的龐大利益。在未來的社群生活中，這些具有位置的服務資訊，將藉由你所發生的地點與場域去提供真實的服務內容，系統追蹤你的個人喜好與服務需求，包含特徵資訊與習慣服務，系統不斷的更新且與社群朋友分享你的訊息，包含了你的喜好與環境資訊，它會主動的將你鄰近的社群有人連接至你的活動範圍中，並且提供屬於你的專屬服務，這些侵入個人隱私的發展屬性，都是在未來龐大的商機背後所需去思考的問題。