Promotion & Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Promotion & Information Systems - Essay Example The use of social networks and location based services have opened a door on the privacy of individuals that can be exploited by advertisers, but also by those who have ideas that can use that information for criminal purposes. Location based services are designed to provide information based on tracking the location of the user through the use of the cell phone. Several services can be provided through location based services, including turn-by-turn navigation or finding someone or something. GPS navigation allows the user to have a moment by moment update of how to achieve finding a location. Using location based services to find a specific need, such as asking the application to find the nearest business that provides a certain product or service, allows for quicker mobility and access to businesses. The technology is engaged as the user’s location is stored through a location provider object which is then configured to the specification of the builder of the application in order to react in a way that creates a benefit for the application that is being created (Fitzek & Charaf, 2009, p. 199). The use of the website Twitter has been designed to provide a short description of what is being done by the user so that followers can know what they are doing at any given moment. Foursquare, however, has developed the use of business and services and the reporting of that use so that networks of friends are updated regularly into a game that rewards users with badges and sometimes free goods and services from businesses based on the reported use of those businesses through the website combined with the application on the smart phone. According to Levinson & Gibson, (2010) using the gathered information about a competitor and its patrons can provide a business with the ability to contact those patrons and provide a special Twitter coupon in order to divert users of one business to your own competing business.