Nokia Purchases Plazes for the Voyeuristically-Inclined

Though I like the fact that Nokia took steps to acquire its own social platform called Plazes, I'm not a huge fan of companies trying to keep up with the Joneses. Those Joneses, in this case, would be Apple, which recently announced that a similar stalker-friendly tool called Loopt will be available for the iPhone at the debut of the Apps store.

The reason I call Loopt and Plazes tools for those with stalker tendencies is because both platforms aren't what you'd consider to be run-of-the-mill social platforms. Fellow Profy writer Cyndy Aleo-Carreira wrote a piece largely in agreement with my impressions of social location platforms like Plazes, and I think there is good reason to be both turned off and wary of this new breed of social locators.

Plazes is a platform for keeping your friends up to date on your location at all times. Once you set your location (which shows up on a social map), you can organize and invite friends to various activities. If you're bored and in the mood to go out, you can check your friends' locations and activities and see what interests you.

That's what the platform is intended for. In execution, the platform actually serves as a rather creepy way for random people to find you wherever you are at any point in time. Though I try not to offend people, I'd rather not be active on a platform where those who don't care for my views on Walmart (or anything else) could find me. Add GPS to the entire equation, a tool that will be active in the iPhone and no doubt many Nokia phones soon enough, and you have a full-on human tracker.

With that said, I don't think either platform will be unsuccessful. I think people won't realize the gravity of having a homing beacon in their pockets at all times and will see mostly the uses of such tools. Who can blame Nokia for jumping on the gravy train that Apple is operating? Personally, I will most likely abstain from partaking in the benefits of the platform until I see both wide adoption and security concerns addressed to my liking.

In the meantime, lovers of Nokia phones have a new social platform to look forward to. Just keep in mind that your loved ones might have a much clearer understanding of where all those vague "business" trips take you.