Abigail Elkins- Post presentation reflection

At the conclusion of my presentation I posed the question, " In your opinion, do the social benefits of geolocation apps outweigh the privacy risks?" Overall, the class seemed to agree that because these apps are not popular enough within social networking many users do not feel the need to take part in geolocation services by posting their locations online. Several people commented that the apps are generally creepy and others said that they don't see the point behind them. The consensus was that it's too risky to post your location online in real time with all the possible privacy threats when the only thing to gain is a discount or two.

The question of the week was, "What social and economic forces shape communication infrastructure?" Researching for this presentation has allowed me to see the way geolocation is changing the face of social networking. These services are incorporating physical and online social experiences by allowing users to interact with others in the real and digital worlds simultaneously. Services like google maps have already overlaid virtual maps on the places we live and work. However, I believe that geolocation apps will further cement this change in the way we visualize the world around us by linking it to our social experience.