simplerich

The latest sensational “The Internet is going to steal my crap” wave is here in the name of pleaserobme.com and no… I’m not linking there. I think the site is ridiculous as is the concept.

Here’s the idea. It harvests information off twitter from social sites like gowalla.com and foursquare.com that people use to “check in” to places when they go eat, shop, tour, whatever. The two sites use the phone’s GPS to show where you are and you can collect badges by visiting places. What pleaserobme does is gather into one spot when people FROM a certain area, say Austin, TX are checking into somewhere. The idea is if they check into starbucks then they are obviously NOT at home. So… using the gowalla.com and foursquare.com sites is the same as saying to the world, “please rob me.” Or at least that’s what the folks at the site want you to think.

They’re onto something. What they’re onto is that in the US right now, since 9/11, fear sells and business is good. The idea that Bad Guys are sniffing the twitter stream to see when someone goes to McDonalds’s so they can go bust into their house is ridiculous.

• It doesn’t say that NOBODY is home, just the one who is posting that they aren’t home.
• Bad guys have always been able to tell by if your sidewalk is scooped, grass mowed, lights on/off, mail picked up etc. if someone is home or not. This isn’t new or as effective as ANY of the old ways.
• If your twitter profile gives your street address you were an idiot before this site existed, and not because you’d get robbed but because you don’t put your real life address out there on the internet for safety’s sake ever. That’s just stupid. People who “check in” to their own homes… they’re the ones who are saying please rob me, attack me, go stare at my kid’s through their windows. Not the people who say “I’m at McDonald’s”

So, before you call all your relatives and tell them that the social GPS game sites are going to get their house robbed, calm down a little, take some deep breaths, go check in at a Starbucks and tweet them to meet you there. If they’re friends with you on foursquare or gowalla.com they’ll know where you are and can meet you there. If you’re worried about your friends breaking into your house while you’re away maybe you should get a better class of friend.

Commons sense tips for using the GPS enabled social-web.

1. Don’t ever GPS identify your house or your friends and families homes.

OK. Any questions?

This post prompted by the usually sane Solo-Technology blog and my guess is sometime this week he’ll not be home because he’ll be at work during the day while his wife is at work and his kids are at school… he lives in the Denver area knock yourselves out!

EDIT: I should clarify: I don’t mean to imply the author of Solo-technology is an old woman. I’ve met him and he’s an old MAN. lololol. His post about the site is what I’m referring to. I don’t believe he’s hysterical or over-reacty. (No, not a word I know.) But the topic he’s blogged about has been over-sensationalized by others out there and I’m not linking to them because I don’t want to give them any link-fu. I won’t link to hacks or nutjobs… that’s why solo-technology got the link.