Performing a check-in

TLDR

Location‑sharing services have a long research history but only recently reached consumers, and unlike earlier studies they rely on manual check‑ins to link user location with semantically named venues, are visible to all users, expose location to large audiences, and use incentives. The study analyzed 20 in‑depth interviews with Foursquare users and 47 survey responses to uncover emerging social practices around location sharing. The results reveal a shift from privacy and data‑deluge concerns to performative motivations for sharing location, highlighting performance aspects enabled by public venue check‑ins and emergent, sometimes conflicting norms governing check‑ins.

Abstract

Location-sharing services have a long history in research, but have only recently become available for consumers. Most popular commercial location-sharing services differ from previous research efforts in important ways: they use manual 'check-ins' to pair user location with semantically named venues rather than tracking; venues are visible to all users; location is shared with a potentially very large audience; and they employ incentives. By analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with foursquare users and 47 survey responses, we gained insight into emerging social practices surrounding location-sharing. We see a shift from privacy issues and data deluge, to more performative considerations in sharing one's location. We discuss performance aspects enabled by check-ins to public venues, and show emergent, but sometimes conflicting norms (not) to check-in.