Apple hasn’t launched a proper social network since the iTunes Ping crash. However, some Apple features still function like social apps, such as iMessage or the album sharing feature in Photos. The recent trend of this kind seems to have made Apple’s Find My a major social app for keeping in touch with close friends and family.
Social sharing features have become commonplace in recent years, especially among younger users. Services such as Snapchat and Instagram offer and test such features.
But Apple offers its own integrated location-sharing feature with the Find My app, and it seems to be proving popular.
Ellen Huet writes for Bloomberg:
I love sharing real-time locations with my friends. Over the last few years, I’ve slowly convinced about 20 friends to let me track their whereabouts 24/7, and in return, I give them mine.
We primarily use the Find My app on iOS, and a few Android users use Google Maps’ location sharing feature. Whenever I want, I can open the app and lovingly gaze at my collection of little friend dots on the map drifting around the city, the country, or sometimes the globe.
(…)
The digital habit has also become more popular among younger generations. Some of Generation Z see it as a ritual of friendship or a milestone that signals closeness.
Although Huet doesn’t provide any concrete data on this trend in his article, I’ve observed from my own experience that the “Find My” feature is becoming increasingly popular in my circles as well.
Apple’s awareness of this trend is evident in its recent Star Wars ad. The Mandalorian-inspired slogan of the ad is: “This is how you find your friends.”
The benefits of location sharing with Find My
With location tracking becoming more and more accepted as normal in general, it makes sense to go a step further and share your location with your loved ones.
Huet gives examples of how social sharing has created opportunities for her to make wonderful connections. She mentions a time when she was delighted to have an unplanned meeting with friends at the airport after they discovered her nearby on the app.
It’s also handy for scheduled meetings. You don’t have to wonder how close or far someone is when you can just open the Find My app.
Apple, for its part, has made it easier to view and share location information in recent iOS versions. In the Messages app, for example, your current location is now listed under a person’s contact photo. The keyboard also automatically suggests sharing your location in certain scenarios.
There are countless aspects to the Find My trend that are worth exploring, but it is a fascinating development.
Do you use Find My to share your location on social media? How does it work for you? Let us know in the comments.
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