Why journalists should be wary of Foursquare

I know where you are right now. No, I’m not skulking my way through hedgerows to watch your every move. You’ve just told me exactly where you are, on Twitter, using Foursquare.

PC World blogged “Why You’ll Use Foursquare“. I’m going to tell you why, if you’re a journalist, you shouldn’t.

Foursquare is usefully summarised by PC World:

You install an app on your location-aware phone. When you launch the app, the service figures out where you are, more or less. You’re presented with nearby locations, which are mostly businesses. If you’re in one of them, you pick it. If you’re not, you can create your own location.

From that location, you can “check in” by pressing a button. Optionally, you can type in a Twitter-sized message. This check-in alerts your friends on that service where you are. If you’ve connected Foursquare to Twitter or Facebook, messages are posted in your stream or on your wall telling of your location and status.

Whoever has the most check-ins at a specific location becomes the Mayor of that location. Other users can see who the Mayor is. And Foursquare awards “Merit Badges” based on where you’ve checked in and how often, such as “Gym Rat,” “Super Mayor” and “I’m on a boat!”

All very (un) entertaining. PC World then suggests that people will get sucked in by it because there will be incentives, like a free coffee if you become mayor of a coffee shop. It’s also argued that the interactive element – being able to chat to people nearby, leaving and reading reviews/recommendations, etc – will encourage people to join.

But is a free drink really worth letting everyone know your exact location all the time?

A tutor of mine sums up journalism as “if you’re pissing someone off then you’re probably doing a good job”. I’ve pissed a few people off with my writing. And those are just the ones I know about. The last thing I want is for my location to be constantly posted publicly on social networking sites. Being the mayor of my local pub and getting freebies would be nice, but picking shattered glass from the back of my head having been bottled by a former news-story subject would not.

This might all seem very cautious, but I’ve heard stories of irritated locals walking into newsrooms of the local paper to have a fist fight with a journalist. I’ve read and received angry letters, emails, and threats. There are plenty of instances where journalists have been attacked because of their journalism. Shall we not give nutters a head start on tracking us down?