[LINK] Twitter to become 'Location Aware'

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Twitter to Become Location Aware
 
By Chris Crum - Fri, 08/21/2009 - 07:18 
 
Readying Launch of Geolocation in API, Then Site


Twitter just announced that it has plans to launch a feature that makes 
the service location-aware. They're rolling out a new API that will allow 
developers to add latitude and longitude to any specific tweet.

"Folks will need to activate this new feature by choice because it will 
be off by default and the exact location data won't be stored for an 
extended period of time," says Co-founder Biz Stone. 

"However, if people do opt-in to sharing location on a tweet-by-tweet 
basis, compelling context will be added to each burst of information."

"For example, with accurate, tweet-level location data you could switch 
from reading the tweets of accounts you follow to reading tweets from 
anyone in your neighborhood or city — whether you follow them or not," he 
explains. 

"It's easy to imagine how this might be interesting at an event like a 
concert or even something more dramatic like an earthquake. There will 
likely be many use cases we haven't even thought of yet which is part of 
what makes this so exciting."

It is worth noting that our own Twellow already has a feature called 
TwellowHood, that lets you find local Twitterers based on their city of 
residence. This can be a useful tool for connecting with people in your 
area, or from areas from which you are familiar.

Twitter will be adding the feature to Twitter.com as well, but will 
release geolocation to developers first. So look for this functionality 
on various Twitter-apps before finding it on the site. 

--

Cheers,
Stephen