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back to article Twitter tells you what twits' where

Twitter, thrillingly, is adding location information to every tweet, so now you'll be able to avoid twits physically as well as electronically. The service will be opt-in, and the accuracy of the location information will be dependent on the Twitter client used, so the new API is being shared with client developers before it …

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  1. carey pridgeon

    I can see what happens next

    So the next big thing will be location spoofing, so that spammers can target twitter users as they move around in response to real world events.

    Probably this could be easily acheived by renting servers at locations around the world, so your spam could be inserted at the correct geolocation when required.

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  2. Winkypop Silver badge
    Stop

    Oh dear...

    Make it all stop, please!

    I'm so over this twitter fad.

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @carey pridgeon

    "Probably this could be easily achieved by zombifying PCs at locations around the world, so your spam could be inserted at the correct geolocation when required."

    There I fixed it for you :)

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  4. Bilgepipe

    Useful

    I might check this out, if it works I can pop round to twitters in my area and give them the slap they deserve.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    @carey pridgeon

    carey pridgeon,

    Spoofind will be easier than this. As apps just post the location data with the API. There will be no way for twitter to be able to verify this without being associated with the network provider.

    Im just waiting for the tweets ("On the Toilet, GPS Corodinates:...etc")

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  6. Paul Hates Handles

    Does that mean...

    ...we can locate all the twatter users and nuke them from orbit?

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    @carey pridgeon

    What you describe is actual presance not spoofing..

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  8. Spleen
    Thumb Up

    Brilliant

    So not only can you read up-to-the-minute, completely inaccurate twits about how there's an earthquake in Beijing (which in fact is happening hundreds of miles away in Szechuan), but you can then set Twitter to only receive twits from the place where something isn't actually occuring. In this way your Twitter experience will be considerably enhanced, as it ensures you don't get tweets you don't want, like if someone accidentally posted something accurate and useful.

    Then later maybe someone who's read a newspaper will tell you what's actually going on.

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  9. werrington
    FAIL

    eh....

    Surely people will just use proxies to fake their location?

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Huh?

    Proxies? Spoofing? These are twitter users, ffs! I can see it now:

    "Hmm, I want to tell people about the groaner I just passed, but I don't want them to know which crapper I'm on. Better use that proxy in Beijing..."

    And on the receiving end:

    "Hey, look! Joe took a crap in Paris, but is wiping up in Rome!"

    Get Real. Nobody Cares.

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  11. Charles Manning

    @Paul Hates Handles

    That's what flash crowds are for. Get all the twankers together so that you up the kill rate.

    But surely adding location info to the tweet will eat into those precious 140 characters? I guess it doesn't really matter since most tweeting is just narcissistic bollocks that can fit in 30 chars or less.

    "41.556N,115.6W: Fuck I'm cool! Look at me!"

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm on the TRAIN!!.. YEAH.. ITS CR@P

    Isn't tweeting the same as yelling down your mobile phone as loudly as you can?? I'm already waiting on the first break in where the tweeter has told the world exactly how far is from his house.

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