Documental.ly - Filed under 'privacy'

Rally Up - Location Based Social Networking

It's late but I just had to throw a few words here to say how quietly excited I am about the latest instalment in location based iPhone apps.

Rally Up seems to have a couple things that Foursquare and Gowalla don't have. Firstly the 12Seconds.tv team at the helm but also a serious consideration for privacy. As with other location based social networking apps there are badges to be won as an incentive, but this app does seem more focused on connecting you with your closer friends that you may converse with outside of twitter and in 'real life'.

I was impressed by the way this app protects your home location from the off and after connecting to people via searching for their names or looking in your address book you can choose between four different privacy settings on a funky little slider. This is the filtering we have been waiting for for a while now and I imagine we may see this model copied more than once on up and coming apps.

You can choose to not share information with a particular person, to seeing the person's update but not sharing any info with them. Or you can allow them full access and get push notifications etc. This gets over some of the etiquette and more serious privacy issues when getting a friend request for someone you are not quite sure about.

I have not had too much of a play so far but i'm liking the way that the app integrates photos into the feed as a kind of transparency until you click to see more. You can also tell people you are heading to a place. I have lost count of how many times i have tweeted 'Going to.." or "On the way to.." I have a feeling this may come in handy even if you can only share with facebook outside the app at the moment. I kind of see the reason for this but not being a facebook fan I think i will be conversing with my 'Real Friends' within the app.

I'm also looking forward to trying out the temporary locations feature for when you want to set up an impromptu social media get together in a random space.

After this quick look It's definitely a different breed from the normal location based apps I have played with. Whether it will keep me away from my normal twitter feed remains to be seen. I like the design, the concept, the privacy angle and the team behind it.. so who knows..

Here is a link to Download Rally Up from iTunes and if you want to 'Rally Up' with my search for 'Documentally'.

I'm @Documentally on Twitter

Filed under // 12seconds location privacy rally up social networking

Posted March 31, 2010

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Journalisted

Picture the scene... Just another tired hack after a long flight. Standing in a sweaty immigration office, searching your mind for your best lines and watching a power mad official scan your 'nearly real' accreditation papers from an oh-so-friendly publication you know he reads and respects.

It's been a good two hours of unusual questioning mixed with the usual bureaucracy and it looks like you are on the edge of getting that much needed entry visa.

Suddenly the official in the uniform that's two sizes too small decides to plug your name into http://www.journalisted.com/ and you know all is lost.

Scratching your nose you slowly sneak a peak towards your nearest exit. Sleaving a damp forehead you calculate It would take about the same time to run to the door as it would for the greasier official to unclip the flap on his sidearm. Commonsense and rigid fear decide it's best you stay put.

You know only to well that as soon as your name is plugged into that god-forsaken database you are rumbled.

Story after story will scroll down the screen emblazoned with your byline and the ever-so-difficult-to-hide phrases like 'Fascist Regime' and 'Police State'. They will never let you in.

You watch as the border official repeatedly hits the keyboard, violently poking one key as if it's all down to how hard you hit it.

Giving up he reaches for the rubber stamp mumbling "Systems down."

You find it almost impossible to quell the smile erupting across your face.

WHAM!... the stamp hits a blank page and he hands you your passport.

"Thankyou!" you blurt.

"Yeah. " He says, almost disappointed as you leave through the two way doors..

"Welcome to England."

I'm @Documentally on Twitter

Filed under // journalism privacy

Posted December 29, 2009

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The Future Of Social Networking

This is not science fiction. This technology exists in separate devices now. I know that, you know that, but show this to someone outside of social networking and other such geekery and it would blow their socks off.

I remember earlier this year whilst touring with the GetAmbition team Bill Thompson talked about Augmented Reality enabled contact lenses. Miniature low powered lasers projecting information on the back of the retina. That may well be a future that's closer than we think.

In the original post Mathew Buckland states this technology assumes "amazing resolutions, facial and object recognition, and more accurate GPS" I think this is all possible now. A smart engineer would also work with cross referencing RFID and realtime gps data logged live by our current social networking apps. Mood/expression recognition is in use now. It's just a matter of these different components and features finding their way into the same device.

We have a serious responsibility as the formulators and curators of this technology to do the right thing. Whilst blowing my mind daily it also scares the shit out of me. The moral and ethical implications are massive. Opting out may not be an option at all. In fact a peer pressure focused on data sharing may mean we are even more suspicious of those not participating in revealing all.

There are many more conversations to be had before we even begin to understand the implications of this new way of interfacing technologies we have all began to adopt. I see the usefulness as much as I see the dangers. But only when I pause for a moment to take a step back and look at what we are creating.