First why would you assume that I am trying to insult & argue. All I was doing was showing another side of the story, albeit with “some” attitude, to an “unclear” post.

As far as push is concerned, it only works if everyone you want to know where you're at, what you are doing, has the proper phone, app, and push service. So, if I am hanging out somewhere, or what to share a location, I will cross post to twitter, and almost always with some kind of note. However, if I am not cross posting, and just checking in, I never include a note.

Cross posting is important. The same reason people will make their content available in multiple formats, on multiple platforms, and on different services. It is to touch/inform/share with more people what I feel I want to share. And since all of this is voluntary, including the following, it is your right to unfollow/follow anyone who is not providing something for you, just as most people do. At least I hope.

I only recently started unfollowing ppl who constantly post foursquare/
gowalla checkins to Twitter, because it wasn't all that popular
before. The service didn't annoy me until everyone started using it.

I LIKE the push notifications and know exactly how to set them up. If
everyone used the services that way, we wouldn't be having this
conversation.

What I can't do I'd control the now staggering amount of checkins that
are cross posted to Twitter and that provides absolutely value to me,
especially when users check in nearly everywhere they go.

Glad that you like using such services. Nowhere did I tell you not to.

And it's one thing if someone POSTS where they're at, while adding a
note of some sort, and entirely different when an automatic tweet is
sent out with a foursquare link.

I like the “gaming” part of foursquare & gowalla. I also love the free/discounted stuff I have gotten because of using them. Do I do it just from the freebies, not, but it does help. I've gotten several free car washes, drinks, appetizers, and even a full tank of gas, for being “mayor”, or even just checking in. And believe it or not, I have met a couple of cool, local people through THOSE services, then following on twitter.

I also found it interesting that you slammed people, and then unfollowed them, when they post their check-ins to twitter. As you know (I could be one of your examples), I check in a lot. Very rarely do I post to twitter, unless I really want someone to know where I am (for a meet-up or suggestions, etc.) But most people who follow me & I follow, do not have iPhones, or android, thus don't have those apps. So, in this tech age, how do I let them know where I am? Twitter.

As for push notifications, yes, I do know they have push notifications. So, if you have push notifications on your phone, and SMS for my tweets, your phone probably caught on fire. But since you don't follow me on twitter (nor I you), I know you aren't getting SMS of my tweets. However, the push notifications is your own fault. #1 You have the program (foursquare/gowalla) installed (which you said you don't even really use). #2 You have push notifications turned ON. If you don't want to know when/where people are checking in, then turn it off. #3 Ok, maybe you do want to see some people's check-ins via push, but just others when you launch the app. Uhh then turn off THEIR “pings” when you log in to the foursquare website. You did know that you could select only those that you want to see pings from, right?

Now, I must admit, I had no idea about the “Push” feature, because my iPhone is jailbroken and on T-Mobile, so until 2 weeks ago, I did not have push available. Once I set it up, I thought my phone was going to explode. Luckily, it didn't, the battery just died in half a day. At that point, I found out about selecting “pings” in foursquare.

Finally, I do like foursquare & gowalla, and we'll see what happens with google, facebook & twitter and their location based services. I'm glad to see more people using them. I'm really glad to see businesses getting involved, and rewarding regular patrons.

To be honest I feel I live in an area that way behind in the social sphere anyways. Also, people are too scared of what goes on around here anyways.

In short I live in an area filled with enough crime that services like these will hurt more than help.

You did forget one kind of potential user though: Codependent – People who are in relationships where someone feels the need to know every single move they make due to insecurity. I say this half tongue-in-cheek, but you know there's gotta be some out there!

…which brings to mind one other thought on the subject: People spend so much time rallying against “Big Brother watching”, yet so many are using these services voluntarily. It just really surprises me how many people are willing to put their every move out there like that.

That said, Twitter is a big ego thing anyway. The point is to put yourself out there and say, “Look! Here's what I'm doing,” or “Look at what I think is cool!” The thing that people seem to have issues with is maintaining a nice balance of egotistical and informational… that is, they just don't stop to think, “Is this actually going to be of interest to anyone?” Of course, you're never going to be of interest to all of the people all of the time… BUT, if you can't think of more than a couple people who might find your Tweet interesting, consider a DM or just not putting it out there at all.

And just because it isn't for me, doesn't mean it doesn't fit for
anyone.

Tyler Hurst | 602.614.4137
Consultant

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