Foursquare. Now launches an "always on" notification. Online privacy is becoming a big issue.

Foursquare, like all geo-location Apps, has come in for its share of criticism.
It's as much about privacy (people knowing where you are) and frankly, intrusive sharing. Foursquare is basically a way of tracking your location on a map.

There are absolutely some great geo-location Apps and in particular those that deliver coupons/deals based on your location but generally, people location proves somewhat unacceptable.

Today Foursquare went a stage further with an "always on" notification.
What it means is, that any of your friends or family, no matter where they are, "check in" to Foursquare, you receive a notification.

Even if they're not near you or indeed, if you have your notifications switched off! So a friend in Perth, goes into a bar, I get to hear about it. No problem about that, except if every time a friend goes into a bar, I'll get a lot of notifications but....it also means, they'll get notifications about me.

So when I walk into a bar, they hear about it and probably like you, I'm not too sure I'm happy about that at all. Indeed, for women, it raises huge safety concerns. 

Already people are becoming more and more concerned about privacy, notably with Facebook but geo-locators take it to another stage. A stage perhaps, too far. The other problem is that few of us every understand the t&c's when we sign in nor do we ever really read them. 

So if you're considering using these types of Apps, be careful.

They won't stop at this and for some of us, it's quite scary.

Especially now, if it's "always on".

Online privacy issues is going to become a big discussion point when people begin to realise just what they're signing up to. And anything that's deliberately hidden in the small print, is not a good thing.

Companies argue that if you're concerned about disclosing your location, you shouldn't be using the App in the first place. True. If the company clearly told you in the first place what they were doing, indeed you might not have.

GetGlue. A Social network that's going to be big.

I've mentioned live streaming and the new power of youtube and the Love Film/Netflix drive to generate their own content before. It's all about the role of the web in new broadcasting and indeed, in delivering news to traditional publishers.

Now we have GetGlue (which we've actually had since 2008) driving forward with nearly 3m users (100m "check ins" during 2011) as a Social networking site purely about broadcasting content.

What GetGlue does is that it allows interaction (called "check in") of users about TV, Movies and Music in a social networking way. Largely on mobile, users talk about the entertainment they consume in a like-minded way. It partners with brands like HBO, 20th Century, MTV and Universal Pictures to name really, but a few of its 75+ partners. In turn it rewards users for their comments.


So the TV Guide for example, is not really tailored for your own taste and GetGlue gives you a guide that knows the shows you watch by giving you reminders/alerts but also lets you know when your friends are watching. Integration with Foursquare, also gives you friends locations. Clearly too therefore, it can give you recommendations and in so doing, push content to you on behalf of a broadcaster. That's a real change here and as more and more sites have users, they can talk to those users with relevancy.

It's a key change in the way the web is doing business. No longer do I need to go looking for content, it's coming to me and flipboard a clear another example of that.


Well funded (having raised 12m usd recently on top of other funding) they'll be able to offer more features - like sneak peeks/trailers and interviews as well as giving broadcasters back feedback on say, a pilot show.

It will have big brand appeal too as users in an "entertain me" mode, will be more willing to accept advertising messages. The content has huge Ad traction.

What it does show is a further opportunity in Social that brings users together albeit in a niche way, but does so succesfully enough to achieve high levels of funding. And you thought Social Networking was over?


GetGlue is a brand that's bound to be a success.
And a brand that's cool enough to be integrated into all broadcasting sites. It works for the broadcaster and it works for the user.

Social Media Day in the US is June 30th and one of the participants is Get Glue founder Alex Iskold. You'll find stuff about him on Mashable no doubt, after that.

(If you're still reading Mashable.
And that was last week's blog http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012_06_03_archive.html. VC's Mashable and how it can go horribly wrong.)

Have a good look at GetGlue.com and see something interesting....from the start. Or in other words, pre-ipo!


LASTLY, One Cry for help http://www.independent.ie/national-news/search-for-irish-fan-missing-in-poland-enters-third-day-3143935.html An Irish football fan is missing. If you pass it on, it might be the difference in finding him. Photo is on the link.