Friday, November 12, 2010

What Is Geotagging on Twitter? ==By Hosea Lim

Geotagging on Twitter allows you to input your exact location in a tweet. It is a new feature by Twitter, where you post your specific location down to the exact latitude and longitude coordinates. These coordinates are known as the GEO tag.
Why would you want to GEO tag Twitter? You would not want to risk your own privacy. People will know your specific location, at any time and place. This is a potentially dangerous tool that can be abused by stalkers and criminals.
First of all, you do not have to go all paranoid. Twitter is, essentially, a public broadcasting system. It is more of a public message for your friends to know who, what, when and where you are. You can pretty much say as much or as little information as you can. You can brag about your current trip in Italy. Or you can invite your friends to visit you at the café you are currently at. You can even tweet about robbing the bank in your local town. That will help the local police a lot.
How do you GEO tag? It only takes a few steps. First of all, turn on your Geotagging feature on your Twitter account under the Settings menu. Geotagging option in Twitter is turned off by default. The next thing to do is to download cell phone applications that can attach GEO tags. Twitter alone cannot attach GEO tags. You will need third party Twitter applications for this. One good app for this is Tweetdeck, Gowalla or Foursquare.
Many people fail to see the importance of Geotagging, but they prove an invaluable tool for marketing and promoting businesses. It is an innovative tool for informing your customers about your business. How? For example, a tourist comes to your town and would like to find a place to eat. They can do so by checking Twitter to see nearby restaurants in his location. He can also read reviews, recommendations and comments posted by others. This will prove invaluable to your business and the customers as well.
What are other instances where GEO tags will prove helpful? An individual may have heard of great recommendations from a friend and would like to try your services. Maps may prove helpful, but they can be confusing and they are hard to come by. GEO tags are easier to access.
For now, many business establishments have used this method for their business advantage. Whether Geotagging remains a mere fad or a lasting marketing tool remains to be seen. For now, it is very effective in expanding your reach to a wider audience.

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