Check Me In

As technological advances continue to rapidly progress it is no surprise that, of the various social networking sites, Facebook has acquired a new feature. This innovative new addition allows members of the site to detail their exact location with the click of a button. As the article “Facebook Introduces Check-In Feature” from CNN states, this technology “will allow people to use the GPS on their mobile phones to let friends know exactly where they are”. CNN then continues to explain the working details and privacy matters associated with the “check-in” button.

However, I can’t help but note the lack of concern for the safety of its users, expressed throughout the article. Only briefly touching on the subject does CNN bleakly explain several techniques developed to utilize and protect the Facebook member’s privacy. Seeing as how this article was written over two years ago, I can say for myself that the check-in button, although seemingly harmless, has actually caused me my fair share of headaches.

When it’s existence first surfaced, I naïvely took part in the charade. Playing practical jokes on my friends,  I would check them into random places such as “the projection room above the auditorium”. Yet, it wasn’t until I was abruptly awoken one night, to the incessant ringing of my phone, that I realized the true horror of this devilish new entity. I had been, without my knowledge, checked into a hospital by one of my friends and was, as a result, being ambushed by my mother’s parental concern.

Regardless of the wondrous features this article may advocate, the "check-in" button will continue to remain an unnecessary violation of privacy, in my book. I will never fully understand the reasoning behind my friend’s foolish act of stupidity, nor will I comprehend why my mother was on Facebook during the middle of the night, but if one thing’s for certain, it is my recognition that this development of the “check-in” button is no more than the gluttonous result of a digitally consumer-driven world.

Cable News Network. "Facebook Introduces Check-in Feature." CNN. Turner Broadcasting System Inc., 18 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. <http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-18/tech/facebook.location_1_facebook-friends-facebook-executives-facebook-staff?_s=PM:TECH>.