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I share my realtime Google Maps location with 30 people, friends, family, people from the internet. They can see where I am, down to my address, at any given t

I share my realtime Google Maps location with 30 people, friends, family, people from the internet. They can see where I am, down to my address, at any given time. Why not? The very real upside is that they casually see me while looking at Google Maps and strike up a conversation or invite me somewhere, something that's happened many times. The article talks about private and public life... but people will go to all the effort to post the very same things their location reveals on social media. Might as well make it real time. If you're sharing location data with people who would use it to harass you, that seems like a selection issue, not a systemic issue. Location data is hardly private. Everyone should share theirs with as many interesting people as possible. If only I had done so back in school.

dataflow 1y ago
> They can see where I am, down to my address, at any given time. Why not? To avoid some awkward conversations many people would rather avoid, I guess? "You were nearby? Why didn't you attend blah/come say hi/etc.?" "You're here? Didn't you say you're going to be out of town?" "What were you out doing at {time/place}?" etc.
- ohyoutravel 1y ago
  I do the same thing, just smaller group. Answering the questions you’re asking just requires candor: I need some me time. I wasn’t feeling up to it. Will catch you next time.
  - dataflow 1y ago
    > just requires candor: I need some me time. I wasn’t feeling up to it. Will catch you next time. Great! You tell them honestly, what could possibly go wrong. I'm sure nobody's feelings would be hurt when you tell them you weren't feeling like meeting them. Now next time you drop by and still don't manage to catch them for whatever reason. Now your prior "candor" becomes a lie -- one that never needed to arise in the first place. Maybe you enjoy getting yourself into these kinds of situations, but hopefully you can understand why others might not.
    - exe34 1y ago
      they might just have reasonable friends. I personally stopped putting up with people who annoy me in 2018 and I'm much better off for it.
    - medstrom 1y ago
      Most likely the GP who shares location with 30 people just doesn't get into these kinds of situations. Y'know, since they'd have stopped if they did.
- AppleBananaPie 1y ago
  A ton of people have mine and no one has ever given anyone shit about it. It's mostly just 'yooooo I didn't realize you were near X' or 'how was Y? I saw it when checking where my buddy was' Dunno maybe someone's has been messing with me all these years and I'm oblivious
  - account42 1y ago
    Sounds incredibly creepy.
- Fernicia 1y ago
  If those risks outweigh the benefit of having an impromptu lunch with them, or the sonder comfort of seeing them enjoy a Friday night at home, then don't share your location with that person. If you feel that way about everyone, then you are a very different person to me (and probably OP).
  - dataflow 1y ago
    > If those risks outweigh the benefit of having an impromptu lunch with them, or the sonder comfort of seeing them enjoy a Friday night at home, then don't share your location with that person. If you feel that way about everyone, then you are a very different person to me (and probably OP). If you feel these are the only two possibilities, we're definitely very different people.
- zeroonetwothree 1y ago
  Maybe if you don’t lie to people you wouldn’t have that issue?
  - dataflow 1y ago
    > Maybe if you don’t lie to people you wouldn’t have that issue? The heck? Is it that hard for you to imagine these occurring without lying? You have X planned, and now your plans change to Y. Now you owe everyone whose invitation you'd declined an explanation, or they wonder if you're a liar. Or I guess if they're like you, they already assumed you're a liar.
    - AlecSchueler 1y ago
      But why is potentially explaining a change of plans such an issue?
      - iamnothere 1y ago
        Because having to keep track of who might have noticed you on the map—then explaining your choices to them—is draining and makes you feel like you can’t make a basic personal choice without justifying it. Because sometimes people can be unreasonable. (Bad day, drunk, generally difficult personality, etc.) The more people you add to your circle, the more you are likely to run into this. Because it’s none of their business. You are not owed my time just because I’m nearby. That’s not a healthy boundary to have. Location sharing encourages “boundary creep” that forces you to more frequently justify and reinforce your personal boundaries, adding friction to the relationship.
        AlecSchueler 1y ago
        Then just don't? If it's none of their business then it's none of their business, if they're unreasonable then that's their problem, if you don't want to justify it then just don't?
        1y ago
- fragmede 1y ago
  The obvious one being your wife noticing you're at your mistress' house when you told her you were over at your girlfriend's, but outside of that, the problem the people that are positive about sharing their location is that it's also being abused by the abusive. That's a social problem, and not something technology can solve. I share my location with people I love and trust and will understand that I was busy and had an itinerary I needed to stick to and couldn't see them even though I was right next door, and if they ask we'll have a conversation about it that isn't awkward. Good for me but the problem isn't that I have good people in my life that I share this with, but that other people have bad people in their lives that they're forced to share it with, for whatever reason. I don't have an answer for that.
dotnet00 1y ago
>Why not? I'd be fine sharing my location with my immediate family, but they refuse it. When they wonder how close I am to being home, it isn't supposed to be such a serious thing as to have my precise GPS location. It's a reason to think about me or message me. I've come to think that it's one of the many "problems" that many people don't actually want to solve, and being so heavily connected is taking away some of the "magic" of social behavior and replacing it with efficiency. As a random example, waiting for a date to show up is probably more exciting than having a precise read of their location. Or, when my parents were visiting, they'd often say they were just thinking about how I'd be getting home soon. The nice thing is that everyone has the ability to decide if they want to share their location or not. But even on social media, I only reveal my current location when I'm somewhere that I'd be open to running into people. Otherwise I intentionally wait till I'm somewhere else before posting about where I was.
- account42 1y ago
  > As a random example, waiting for a date to show up is probably more exciting than having a precise read of their location. You could just copy what delivery companies do: "Only 5 stops before you"
  - fragmede 1y ago
    "Your date's previous date is running long. Please wait awkwardly at the restaurant at the table by yourself while everyone rolls the dice on whether you got stood up or not." Sounds great!
obk0943t 1y ago
Yeah but can't you just post an announce "i'll be in X for Y days" on SNS like the old way ? It's way nicer and a much more explicit invitation for hangout than an icon on on map ;)
- amflare 1y ago
  I suspect that they are trying to recreate the experience of bumping into someone they know. Since the destruction of third-spaces, it is increasingly unlikely that you'll serendipitously interact with someone in an unplanned, but welcome, social environment. Leaving your location on for friends and family in this way signals something close to "If you see me, say hi". Whereas announcing "I will be at X for Y time" is a bit more heavy handed. And just knowing that isn't sufficient to actually act on the information, you still have to reach out and plan something unless you are an granular as the actual building you are in, which feels weird. It feels a little intrusive to constantly be announcing my location. Like "Hey! Hey! obk0943t! I'm gonna be in NYC just so you know!" If I just left my location on, then /if/ you care, you can find out. But if you don't, you are not interrupted with the information. Finally, posting leaves a record, whereas location sharing is always "right now". Sure, someone can use that to construct a timeline, but that takes effort on their part (and possibly malice).
- fragmede 1y ago
  Modern lives may or may not be more spontaneous (doubtful), but not everyone has the same capacity for planning as you do. Sometimes I'll randomly find myself 30 miles from home on an spontaneous side mission, and would love to drop in on friends I don't usually see, if they're around.
512312d 1y ago
It will become a systemic issue when sharing is the norm and you somehow don't.
saghm 1y ago
I don't think I even have 30 different people in my contacts list who I've talked to more than once in the past month, let alone that many living close enough to me to casually invite me somewhere because I'm nearby.

dataflow 1y ago

> They can see where I am, down to my address, at any given time. Why not? To avoid some awkward conversations many people would rather avoid, I guess? "You were nearby? Why didn't you attend blah/come say hi/etc.?" "You're here? Didn't you say you're going to be out of town?" "What were you out doing at {time/place}?" etc.

ohyoutravel 1y ago
I do the same thing, just smaller group. Answering the questions you’re asking just requires candor: I need some me time. I wasn’t feeling up to it. Will catch you next time.
- dataflow 1y ago
  > just requires candor: I need some me time. I wasn’t feeling up to it. Will catch you next time. Great! You tell them honestly, what could possibly go wrong. I'm sure nobody's feelings would be hurt when you tell them you weren't feeling like meeting them. Now next time you drop by and still don't manage to catch them for whatever reason. Now your prior "candor" becomes a lie -- one that never needed to arise in the first place. Maybe you enjoy getting yourself into these kinds of situations, but hopefully you can understand why others might not.
  - exe34 1y ago
    they might just have reasonable friends. I personally stopped putting up with people who annoy me in 2018 and I'm much better off for it.
  - medstrom 1y ago
    Most likely the GP who shares location with 30 people just doesn't get into these kinds of situations. Y'know, since they'd have stopped if they did.
AppleBananaPie 1y ago
A ton of people have mine and no one has ever given anyone shit about it. It's mostly just 'yooooo I didn't realize you were near X' or 'how was Y? I saw it when checking where my buddy was' Dunno maybe someone's has been messing with me all these years and I'm oblivious
- account42 1y ago
  Sounds incredibly creepy.
Fernicia 1y ago
If those risks outweigh the benefit of having an impromptu lunch with them, or the sonder comfort of seeing them enjoy a Friday night at home, then don't share your location with that person. If you feel that way about everyone, then you are a very different person to me (and probably OP).
- dataflow 1y ago
  > If those risks outweigh the benefit of having an impromptu lunch with them, or the sonder comfort of seeing them enjoy a Friday night at home, then don't share your location with that person. If you feel that way about everyone, then you are a very different person to me (and probably OP). If you feel these are the only two possibilities, we're definitely very different people.
zeroonetwothree 1y ago
Maybe if you don’t lie to people you wouldn’t have that issue?
- dataflow 1y ago
  > Maybe if you don’t lie to people you wouldn’t have that issue? The heck? Is it that hard for you to imagine these occurring without lying? You have X planned, and now your plans change to Y. Now you owe everyone whose invitation you'd declined an explanation, or they wonder if you're a liar. Or I guess if they're like you, they already assumed you're a liar.
  - AlecSchueler 1y ago
    But why is potentially explaining a change of plans such an issue?
    - iamnothere 1y ago
      Because having to keep track of who might have noticed you on the map—then explaining your choices to them—is draining and makes you feel like you can’t make a basic personal choice without justifying it. Because sometimes people can be unreasonable. (Bad day, drunk, generally difficult personality, etc.) The more people you add to your circle, the more you are likely to run into this. Because it’s none of their business. You are not owed my time just because I’m nearby. That’s not a healthy boundary to have. Location sharing encourages “boundary creep” that forces you to more frequently justify and reinforce your personal boundaries, adding friction to the relationship.
      - AlecSchueler 1y ago
        Then just don't? If it's none of their business then it's none of their business, if they're unreasonable then that's their problem, if you don't want to justify it then just don't?
        1y ago
fragmede 1y ago
The obvious one being your wife noticing you're at your mistress' house when you told her you were over at your girlfriend's, but outside of that, the problem the people that are positive about sharing their location is that it's also being abused by the abusive. That's a social problem, and not something technology can solve. I share my location with people I love and trust and will understand that I was busy and had an itinerary I needed to stick to and couldn't see them even though I was right next door, and if they ask we'll have a conversation about it that isn't awkward. Good for me but the problem isn't that I have good people in my life that I share this with, but that other people have bad people in their lives that they're forced to share it with, for whatever reason. I don't have an answer for that.

dotnet00 1y ago

>Why not? I'd be fine sharing my location with my immediate family, but they refuse it. When they wonder how close I am to being home, it isn't supposed to be such a serious thing as to have my precise GPS location. It's a reason to think about me or message me. I've come to think that it's one of the many "problems" that many people don't actually want to solve, and being so heavily connected is taking away some of the "magic" of social behavior and replacing it with efficiency. As a random example, waiting for a date to show up is probably more exciting than having a precise read of their location. Or, when my parents were visiting, they'd often say they were just thinking about how I'd be getting home soon. The nice thing is that everyone has the ability to decide if they want to share their location or not. But even on social media, I only reveal my current location when I'm somewhere that I'd be open to running into people. Otherwise I intentionally wait till I'm somewhere else before posting about where I was.

account42 1y ago
> As a random example, waiting for a date to show up is probably more exciting than having a precise read of their location. You could just copy what delivery companies do: "Only 5 stops before you"
- fragmede 1y ago
  "Your date's previous date is running long. Please wait awkwardly at the restaurant at the table by yourself while everyone rolls the dice on whether you got stood up or not." Sounds great!

obk0943t 1y ago

Yeah but can't you just post an announce "i'll be in X for Y days" on SNS like the old way ? It's way nicer and a much more explicit invitation for hangout than an icon on on map ;)

amflare 1y ago
I suspect that they are trying to recreate the experience of bumping into someone they know. Since the destruction of third-spaces, it is increasingly unlikely that you'll serendipitously interact with someone in an unplanned, but welcome, social environment. Leaving your location on for friends and family in this way signals something close to "If you see me, say hi". Whereas announcing "I will be at X for Y time" is a bit more heavy handed. And just knowing that isn't sufficient to actually act on the information, you still have to reach out and plan something unless you are an granular as the actual building you are in, which feels weird. It feels a little intrusive to constantly be announcing my location. Like "Hey! Hey! obk0943t! I'm gonna be in NYC just so you know!" If I just left my location on, then /if/ you care, you can find out. But if you don't, you are not interrupted with the information. Finally, posting leaves a record, whereas location sharing is always "right now". Sure, someone can use that to construct a timeline, but that takes effort on their part (and possibly malice).
fragmede 1y ago
Modern lives may or may not be more spontaneous (doubtful), but not everyone has the same capacity for planning as you do. Sometimes I'll randomly find myself 30 miles from home on an spontaneous side mission, and would love to drop in on friends I don't usually see, if they're around.

512312d 1y ago

It will become a systemic issue when sharing is the norm and you somehow don't.

saghm 1y ago

I don't think I even have 30 different people in my contacts list who I've talked to more than once in the past month, let alone that many living close enough to me to casually invite me somewhere because I'm nearby.