“We’re just Nosy ...”
I recently downloaded Life360, an app that I learned is used sometimes for families to track their whereabouts. To be honest, I downloaded it with a friend to see where we are and know if the other person is in class or at work. There are some fun features on the app that I’d like to highlight, but I also think it’s important to address the obvious intensity of an app like this when used in a family or a relationship. I have heard from some people whose parents use Life360 to track their locations, and it can be a form of control for some parents of teenagers. Junior Shyanne Sheehan told me that her family uses the app because it can be used with both iPhone and Android phones, “My whole family is within our circle, we don’t really use it to “track” each other, we are all just really nosy and feel the need to know where we are all at.” While there are good uses for the app like in Shyanne’s case, I always want to preface discussions of it by saying that it is crucial to use the app responsibly and not to control those in your life.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, this app is amazing and so much fun to use with friends. I quickly realized that you can have multiple circles of people, one for friends and one for family, and so on--plus you can name locations whatever you want, not just the actual names of buildings. We named my dorm, my friend’s dorm, my workplace, and all sorts of places in between. If you look at the map while your friends or family are driving, you can see what speed they’re traveling at and it updates so quickly that you can see when they slow down or stop at stop signs. I had a lot of fun watching my friend travel across the map and I knew exactly when he arrived. In addition, if I’m in the mood to call him, I can check to be sure he’s not in class or elsewhere, so I don’t annoy him during a meeting or while he’s busy.
These features make life easier because I know exactly where people are and at what time. If you have a friend group that you spend a lot of time with, it might be a worthwhile app to download because the features make it easier to find time to hang out. Plus, it alerts you when your friends’ phones have a low battery, so you can yell at them to charge it. All in all, I think it’s a pretty cool app to use, even on campus.
Caroline King - Staff Writer