Foursquare PR Safety Tips: Tweets, Posts and Check-Ins
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010Geotargeting is the new social media buzz, as long as you don’t become the target of the weird and creepy.
How to Unlock Your World With Foursquare
Howcast.com | MySpace Video
A marketers dream, Geolocation companies like Foursquare, Twitter Local, GoWalla! and Google can also make it easy prey for stalkers and cyber weirdos. These geo-mapping tools make it much easier for people who don’t personally know me to access where my physical location is any time of day or night. A big risk for women to become victim to cyber-stalking.
So I tweet, “like”, and post my daily thoughts to people who aren’t necessarily in my circle of friends to a vast digital world that is always growing. As I was thinking about these fundamental tools helping small businesses get on the map, I thought, hey, I just told over 800 people where I am, what I ordered, and gave them tips on what they should do when they stop in.
That is when it hit me!
The digital world shares way too much information and not everyone out there can be trusted –a light bulb flashed in my head. Wait, I don’t need to be scared! I have a solution. I can do this and not worry about who is following me. In fact, I will choose to give the information in my definition of real time. Perhaps I shouldn’t share my location and tips with the interactive yet sometimes dangerous cyber world until I am on my way out!
Few Tips
Check in when you on your way to the next stop. We must think quicker and one step ahead of these cyber stalkers. Always be conscious of your surroundings and the select “bad seeds” that are undoubtedly monitoring us.
Do you have a GPS in your car? Update HOME to a different place. Think about it, someone can steal your car, punch in “home” on your GPS, use the garage door opener and enter in right through the garage. Could we make it any easier for these robbers?
Avoid the Obvious Passwords: Don’t use your birthday as your ATM/Bank code! Someone can steal your wallet and take it all!
Protect the Children If your kids go to school; don’t show the world where they go. This is the most important tip I can give. Being cautious and protective can only benefit you.
