Originally Posted by
masterson of the universe
I can certainly understand them trying to increase the usage of the site as well as get on the social networking bandwagon to try to increase awareness and revenue. When playing with "The app that shall not be named" (C:Geo for Androids) I noticed that it even had a "check in" option when logging the cache directly from the phone that would auto post a note to twitter and facebook. It definitely generated a few questions as to what caching was from some people who took up an interest and began caching themselves but I don't think I'd want to see notificiations everytime someone was on a power run. Honestly, would you like to see 1000 notificiations flooding your news feed on Facebook or Twitter as someone was doing the ET series or even 100+ while doing the SMR or Cars or any other large series? As the cacher, would you really want to take the time check in on every cache during a run like this espcially if you've already created stamps or stickers to avoid having to write? The technology is out there but doesnt always need to be combined. You know what they say...Too much of a good thing can ruin it...
I know its been discussed but if they are going to continue to integrate the technology, I fear that caching will become something like this....
You load the caches to your GPS and head out. All caches are now like WhereIGo's where you need to just get within a certain 3' zone for the cache to be claimed as a find. No more paper logs. As soon as you enter that zone, a find log is generated and automatically posted to the cache page, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Yelp, Foursquare, Gowalla, and any other "check in" site to let people know you made the find. Not only do you get a smiley, but you get a badge for finding a cache that day.
I can see a million different badges that can be generated which is crazy. Its all too much. When I do make time for caching, the only technology I want to be dealing with is my GPS and my camera. Otherwise I'm outdoors to enjoy the outdoors.