Recently (within an hour of waking up this morning) I bought myself a new iPhone 4 on the 3 network. On The One Plan, I get unlimited data usage which was a good move in hindsight as after 9 hours of owning it, I'd breached the 1.0 GB mark, the upper-end of typical premium data packages. Along with the glorious benefits of having Spotify Premium, Twitter on the go and being able to navigate myself with Google Maps, I also get access to Facebook wherever I am and thus effective use of Facebook Places.
Before taking my internet with me outside my flat, I would plan out my route and take a mental snapshot of a map to where I need to go. Along with a bit of trial and error, investigation and sometimes luck, I'd eventually arrive at my destination give or take 15 minutes depending on how lost I got. With Google Maps available and keeping a tab on where I am, I can confidently - with accurate live information - know which roads I need to go down and which turns to make. Altogether though the internet guided journey turned out to be a far more secluded experience than I expected.
A colleague at work brought up in conversation that everyone was turning into drones with headphones plugged in, zoning out from the wonders of the lush world around them. The overall effect is that it would remove people from the world they were walking in and detract them from physical social interaction. As in talking to each other on the tube, greeting each other in the morning and bursting into song J. R. R. Tolkein style. It's quite prominent in an urban environment where the norm is to leave as small of an imprint on others out of fear from being labeled "weird", I held that she was a bit loony and had this fairytale ideal that everyone was a member of The Lollipop Guild. I must (rather should) make a slight retraction. Walking around I definitely didn't "look around" as much. I didn't experience the beauty of the buildings and the world around me, I was a bit stuck into this portal of information at my fingertips completely taking my surroundings for granted. I wasn't going to open a delightful conversation about the nice weather we've been having with a passer-by, but I did feel that the world was smaller. Overall it felt as if the value of the journey itself, was diminished and it became much more of a means to an end. On the flipside however, with the use of mobile internet and online social networking; I do feel as if there's the potential for sharing a social aspect to my secluded walk.
Facebook Places allows for you to be able to "check in" to various locations. It'll post on your profile where you are, what you're doing and who you're with and if you want to, you can also attach a photo as well (obviously because pics or it didn't happen). Where was the value in this I wondered? Of course there's the bragging. Say you're with someone popular, you'd then of course be popular by proxy. Afterall everyone wants to brag about how because they were near Jimmy Page, they too deserve some of the respect of a rock legend (as if).
Of course the greatest value I think there is, is of course in the sharing with your friends. This provides an avenue of validation for your activities and see what reactions that we'll get from our friends. This makes going out and sharing your activities a learning experience by receiving feedback. And of course you may gain a slight moral justification in that you've been "operating" on transparency, albeit a selective one.
What we've learnt from the success of social networks (and the internet as a whole) is that everyone loves information. But how do you differentiate between what's useful and what's not? Whose opinions do you trust? You of course have a level of trust with your friends. If your friends like something then you might like something. Even if you know that your friend has a crap taste in - let's say films - then at least you'll have a base line to work off. With Facebook Places you can now provide information with what you do, where and then receive feedback/validation. You could do that all before but Facebook Places now adds a certain dash of authenticity, in an environment where anyone can say anything they want.
The downsides? Well of course there's the reduced privacy and you may get some unwanted attention. I personally don't see that as a gargantuan problem mainly because it's an optional feature. Aesthetically it could do with refining too as it seems very blase to have your entire Facebook wall to be filled with photos of where you've been. It'd be nice to have a single "album" or "tour" for people to flick through instead.
On the plus side though, there are many practical benefits to be seen from Facebook places. It of course answers the continual crossroads situation of tracking someone on the move. "I'll call you to find out where you are". Now with Facebook Places and remote internet access you can actually track your friend like an urban ranger. It also of course promotes talking points. Say you were at an interesting location at a particular time or even if it's not that intersting, I'm sure at one point the poster thought it was worthy to point up so there's bound to be a subject of conversation to be found.
Personally I think features which promote the expansion of the internet away from the power socket and onto roads, parks and on the move is a fantastic idea. As an optional feature to help tie friends together, I think it's a step in the right direction. We should always be cautious about what information we put out there though of course. Maybe some friends will have issues with being tagged at being at Marble Arch when they're meant to be at another friends birthday soiree. As much as a step in the right direction it is, it's still a new dimension of social interaction and not everyone is quite as accustomed to it as others.
I'm very much looking forward to further using Facebook Places and mobile internet especially on the golf course to let my friends keep track of the pummeling I deliver to my opponents, hole-by-hole!
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