Foursquare: four better or four worse?

It's finally happened. While the world has been busy talking about the upsurge of question and answer based social networking website Quora , fellow social networking site Foursquare has hit the headlines as the first ever case of cyber stalking has impacted upon the online world.

Reports from various national newspaper titles, including Metro and Scotsman, are detailing the account of a 26-year-old man who was cyber stalked by a 22-year-woman tracking his location constantly through location-based social networking site Foursquare.

It took me a while to sign up to the location-based website, that asks you to 'check in' at venues from your mobile. Facebook was my first social networking guilty pleasure and then when that lost its charm, I turned to Twitter. In fact, only late last year did I finally succumb to Foursquare. Why did it take so long for a self-confessed social media addict to sign up? For the very reason it is hitting the headlines now.
The victim states that they were "left under siege for nine months by dozens of e-mails, calls and texts every day from a woman he only met for a matter of minutes." The alleged stalker is reported to have started showing up at a number of places the victim checked in at and harassing him as she took up the pretence that she was interested in employing him.

I saw the dangers associated with Foursquare from the very beginning. Surely letting everyone know where you are will leave you vulnerable to potential stalkers? Just like the furore over Facebook places (which, like Foursquare, asks you where you are situated in the world) which erupted over the statement that to share with everyone when you are away from home can leave you vulnerable to burglaries, there is a lot of privacy leakage within Foursquare.

Originally, I didn't particularly want anyone to know where I was and equally did not think many people I knew really gave a damn either way but the added incentive of achieving Mayorships and unlocking badges each time you check in at a destination makes the website strangely alluring and it was upon this basis that I signed up.

Before you ask, no I have not been stalked or burgled as a consequence of using Foursquare (touch wood!) and neither am I likely to be purely for the fact that I am careful how I use it. Only a fool would put their own home and full address onto Foursquare and repeatedly check in (believe me, I have seen some full addresses on there, which would have been very useful had I been a thief!) and even to check in to your local area is a risky business for those that like to keep their privacy. However, to check in elsewhere surely poses no risks?

Foursquare: Is it really a dangerous website?

In truth, it is actually incredibly difficult to stalk someone on Foursquare. The only people that see your check-ins are those that you have requested to be your friend on there, or whose friend request you have accepted, (except the handful of updates on the site's homepage, which, due to the amount of users signed up, are only there for a few seconds before changing!) beggaring the question why our victim accepted his stalker in the first place. OK, so he did not know she would turn out to be a complete obsessive but when she kept turning up at the same places he visited, did the thought never occur to him to delete her as a friend? (A resource that Foursquare offers with very simple instructions!) Just as with Facebook Places, it is nigh on impossible to stalk someone you are not 'virtual friends' with, even if you are their friend in real life.

Of course, no web developer is going to bear in mind of the risk of a complete nutjob stumbling across your online profiles when creating a new social networking website for in reality, there are few and far between. However, as with any social networking site the need for careful use by the user is of paramount importance. I'm sure you wouldn't put the dates of your holiday on your Facebook status, even if it is just 'friends' that can see (as long as your profile is set to private!) just as you would not paste your entire address on Foursquare in the knowledge that when you checked in somewhere else everyone knew you weren't home.

More than simply a bit of fun, Foursquare also offers significant benefit to businesses, as there is an option within the site to leave tips on check-in points, such as 'try this particular coffee bar for cheap, great-tasting espressos.' Furthermore, as the Wetherspoons trade once tried themselves, a business can offer exclusive deals to their Foursquare mayor as an incentive to keep visiting the establishment (Foursquare works on GPS so it is almost impossible to cheat the network.)

Foursquare is not a dangerous website and although the idea of it can potentially breach privacy, it is down to the individual user to filter the information they share themselves. Just like any other social networking site, Foursquare must be used with a pinch of common sense in order for it to become a fun and safe medium for expressing your views. In this particular case, it would not have taken a genius to work out how is was possible that the alleged cyber stalker kept turning up at the same places as the victim! When using social networking, you are putting yourself at the helm of the public domain and must reserve some dilligence at all times. If something is suspect, act to bring it to a halt or report it to the relevant authorities before it cascades out of hand!

Last year, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that cyber stalkers who harass people on social networking sites could face jail under a new crackdown. Restraining orders are available that can ban offenders from posting ‘any material relating to a victim on sites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter’. Social networking is beginning to hammer away at your everyday life and as such, is being treated seriously by the authorities but at the end of the day there is no better way of securing privacy than by monitoring your own online activity.

Clegg's cuts cause capital chaos

"I rang the Liberal Democrats office yesterday and asked if I could purchase a written copy of their manifesto. 'I'm sorry,' I was told. 'We've sold out.' I said 'I know, but could I get hold of your manifesto please?"

Nick Clegg: A sell-out?

I voted for them. Nick Clegg impressed me during the infamous live Leader's Questions broadcasts. He portrayed his party as the only real alternative to a struggling Labour and an old fashioned Conservative rule. I never expected them to gain any sort of power but a vote for them was a vote against the other parties. Democratically, they didn't gain any power and yet somehow we now have a Tory-Liberal (Con-Dem-Nation) coalition at the helm and already the country's government is beginning to crumble.

The Liberal Democrats have sold out on so many levels since they joined the coalition but University fees was perhaps their biggest turnaround yet. Pre-election, Clegg and his band of merry men targeted the young people's vote by promising to abolish university tuition fees altogether. Students were leaving university with record levels of debt under fees of £3,100 a year and Clegg wanted to make life easier for those looking to learn. However, upon the dawn of the General Election, he began to creep backwards on his pledge and insisted that to abolish tuition fees altogether would be very difficult, instead pledging to 'significantly lower' the amount. The last thing anyone expected was for him to veto the Tory idea that universities in England will be able to charge tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year from 2012, as the government transfers much of the cost of courses from the state to students. Understandably, the nation's students petitioned against the ruling.

I sympathise with those youngsters who want to better themselves by going to university and originally agreed with their decision to petition - after all, this is allegedly still a nation of free will and speech so let them take to the streets to voice their opposition. However, my sympathy abruptly left me when I saw just how the students chose to protest. Three weeks of violence, vandalism, graffiti and disorderly behaviour followed on the streets of London and other large cities. Rather than the peaceful, diplomatic protests we were expecting from our young minds, we got behaviour that can only be described as feral. These people are meant to be our future and yet rather than tackle government the most effective way, by leaving a lasting impression from a peaceful and carefully orchestrated protest, they quickly turn against the entire British public by defacing such landmarks as Nelson's Column. Following such behaviour as that shown on the video below at 30 Millbank, (home of the Conservative offices), I am now all in favour of doubling the tuition fees again to £18,000 to pay for the repairs and maintenance that our country's streets and buildings need after students' violent reactions.



I never saw the true merit of university for myself. Throughout my educational life, I always wanted to avoid the route to university. I always wanted to be a journalist and didn't want to spend 4-6 years of my life proving I was worthy. No, instead I wanted to get the required qualifications as soon as possible so I could start doing the job that I so wanted. I did an intense 6-month NCTJ fast-track course. It was tough, but I did well and left to go straight into work on a local newspaper. Keeping in touch with my old school and Sixth Form friends who went onto university I only ever heard bad reports. Regrets that they are still studying and accruing more debt whilst I am in work doing the job I always wanted to do and earning. OK, I'm far from rich - in fact, I just about earn enough to scrape by but at least my figures are not in the minus as they could have been if I had gone to university!

On the other hand, they too have their stories. Unfortunately they are not always tales of remarkable academic achievement. Some have left university and nosedived straight into unemployment facing a UK jobs market that doesn't look like picking up any time soon - four years of their life wasted when they could have gone for a job prior to university when jobs were more widely available. Other tales are of mass drinking sessions, parties and general debauchery whilst at university - the kind of behaviour that we saw in the protests; far from the settles, clever academic youth that we expect to lead our country forward.

Of course, for some careers university is a must. It is the only place where you can learn all the necessary skills that you will need in order to succeed in your chosen career - where would potential lawyers be without a university education? Yes, university has a wealth of plus points but it is not the be all and end all of your life. Depending on your chosen future career, university is either invaluable or an unnecessary commodity. Plenty of people have boycotted the institution and gone on to do well enough without it. £9,000 is a tough amount to rake up in fees that aren't always necessary for the career you want to go in and if you are facing financial problems at university, try not wasting what money you do have on wild, overblown parties. The odd one to let your hair down is fine but every month or term is ridiculous! Finally, if you would like to show you displeasure at a government decision, do it peacefully and respectfully. Governments are far more likely to listen to diplomatic protests than they are to respond positively to violence and vandalism.

Think about it....university - and debt - is not the only option..........

Why I'm rooting for Wagner to take the X-Factor crown

I'm not about to pretend I'm too cool for the X-Factor like a lot of journalists like to dupe you into believing but nor am I an addict. Having watched a few series in the past and being rather unsurprised at what had come out of the show, something about the current series really has me gripped. No, its not the quality of the acts and nor is it the judge's comments, rather the fact that the show has become so old, its now something of a bad joke.

Whilst it is true that not since the 2008 show that featured such contestants as Alexandra Burke, JLS and Diana Vickers, the X-Factor has produced such gripping entertainment, nor that there will ever be as popular and successful a winner as Leona Lewis, I wouldn't have thought that those involved in the show would have succumbed so openly to public opinion that the series really has become old hat.

You don't agree? Then let's look at the blatant bias and ignorance of the X-Factor by first looking at contestant Wagner.

The X Factor: The series really has become 'old hat.'

“He can't sing,” is often the cry of many who return to work on a Monday morning shocked that the alluring Brazilian has managed to escape the public vote for another week. To a point I agree. The songs that he has been given to sing, he cannot perform vocally but anyone who insists that Wagner cannot sing is just downright ignorant. What strikes me as odd is that the X-Factor is a singing competition, as music mogul Simon Cowell repeats on the show almost every five minutes and by vocal ability, Wagner is one of the best! 

Did you see him in the audition stages? He was not talking the words to a camp disco song in embarrassing style but instead, exhaling some of the finest, note-perfect opera that you are ever likely to hear from a non-established performer. Yet opera is apparently not popular with the Saturday night television-viewing public and so instead of singing what he wants to sing, Wagner is given camp disco songs and made to look as talentless and humiliating as Jedward, the jokes from the last X-Factor series. And yet, we know that Wagner – unlike Jedward – does possess a powerful, commanding voice but its an opera voice and according to Mr Cowell, that's not popular enough (despite the fact that he signed opera quarter Il Divo in 2004!)

Elsewhere, arrogant, self-loving Cher is allowed to sing whatever she wants on the show. Apparently, the X-Factor is a singing competition but that doesn't mean Cher isn't allowed to rap week in, week out. With all due respect to rappers – it isn't hard. Its fast-talking and you can easily notice when Cher does attempt to sing that her voice is less than average. So Cher is allowed to rap but Wagner can't sing his powerful opera?

Let's see the judges put Mary Byrne in colourful Lycra and have her singing Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. OK, it wouldn't be the nicest sight ever but it would definitely make the competition a lot fairer. Yet instead, Mary, who does have an impressive voice, is allowed to sing her old fashioned big-bang songs every week, drawing nothing but praise from the judges for her vocal talents. Yet Wagner isn't allowed to sing opera? Are old fashioned big bang songs more popular than opera songs? I certainly wouldn't have thought so!

And so it is that poor Wagner, a potential opera star in the making, is forced to make a complete fool of himself on national television every week as he looks for a lucrative record deal doing what he loves most.

Wagner: One of few talent show contestants that actually has talent.

Elsewhere, Simon Cowell has turned his groups category into an equally poor joke. Instead of persisting with Pussycat Dolls – like group Hustle to the live finals, he chose the two groups he put together himself and as these are now the only groups left, he is choosing to put all his weight behind boyband One Direction, seemingly ignoring his girl group Bel-Amie, neither of which, by the way are particularly interesting, nor are they as vocally talented as Wagner!

Then you have Katie Waissal (or Katie Weasel) as I like to call her. Not only did she cause outrage after allegedly having a record deal over in the USA* before the show began, but she is probably as bland a singer as you can get. No spark, no stage presence and certainly no talent, Weasel should be thanked for finally making me realise that the show is a complete joke this weekend. For instead of coming out on stage and singing a reputable, interesting pop song she went traipsing round like a monkey, singing King Louie's “I wanna be like you” from something out of The Jungle Book stage presentation. Cringeworthy it was, entertaining it wasn't and yet somehow, the four judges (one of which has a failed music career, the other a career born out of marrying a footballer and the other two reputations as big-money label owners, not singers!) found it one of the best performances of the night. Add to that the judge's pathetic schoolboy spats and grudges and you have a programme that is well past its sell-by date.

And yet, I'm still watching. Why? Because there are some poor people in this show who are genuinely talented. No, not Cher Lloyd, not Katie Weasel but the likes of Matt Cardle, Mary Byrne, Rebecca Ferguson and yes, Wagner who should be given his chance at singing opera in a live show.

I'm no opera fan but I appreciate talent and see it in Wagner in abundance. So, whilst the X-Factor judges insist on making the entire formula of the show a joke, taking sides and favouring specific acts with rules for some and different rules for others, I'm one of the few that are trying to turn the joke back on them and actually create a worthy winner. Full credit to Wagner – he doesn't complain and returns each week with a smile on his face and bags of energy and passion, despite being made a mockery of. Wagner can sing and is more of a talent than these alleged talent judges can see – that is why I am rooting for Wagner to win the X-Factor!

*X Factor contestant Katie Waissel already has a record deal

"I give it six months"

It only seems like a week ago that the Birmingham Press were proudly announcing the launch of their website and the fact that it actually was only last week is evidence of the shocking downfall of the publication – an event that many joked about but never truly saw coming.

Born in April 2010, died in October 2010, six months hardly justifies an impressive business plan for the newspaper that was meant to rival BPM Media. Its 50p introductory price never actually changed from 50p meaning that the initial £1 retail value never saw the light of day. So what is it that belittled the Birmingham Press' claims that it will take readership away from BPM's Birmingham Post? Is it possible to rival a company so widely reputed as the Midland's biggest publishers or are newspapers in fact a dying breed of which only the established, traditional titles can expect to survive?

The Birmingham Press - even when pressed,
failed to deliver

The truth is, the Birmingham Press' independent publisher Chris Bullivant, shot himself in the foot when he announced upon the newspaper's launch in April 2010 that it was going to rival BPM's weekly Post titles. Its a bit like Bristol City gaining a shock promotion from the Championship and insisting that they are to challenge Chelsea and Manchester United for the Premiership title – not going to happen. And what was Chris armed with in his battle against Birmingham's most established and popular paid-for title? A host of redundant Post journalists and a couple of freelancers thrown in for good measure. In effect, The Birmingham Press became the Birmingham Post mark two from its very conception!

Had Mr Bullivant simply undergone his independent business away from the media spotlight and not immediately challenged BPM, who knows how long he could have traded? His Observer series has survived battle from smaller, city-wide BPM publications and even The Birmingham Independent and Midland Independent titles managed more than a year trading, without threatening BPM's business empire.

Of course, a business can develop too quickly. Within only a couple of months of The Birmingham Press being launched, Mr Bullivant decided to introduce a free title that was delivered to households throughout the West Midlands – The Birmingham Free Press. Again, this was only launched to challenge The Birmingham Post Lite – a free newspaper run by The Birmingham Post that was delivered to South Birmingham homes. Then, just six weeks later they launched their website, leaving a total of 1-2 months to really work on the brand identity for The Birmingham Press, undoubtedly not long enough. And let's be honest – their website was horrific to say the least.

The Birmingham Free Press was never
any competition for The Birmingham
Post Lite

As a personal web user I have issues with the navigation and presentation of the Birmingham Mail website but compared to the Birmingham Press the Mail have the most impressively designed website in the world. Let's be honest, The Press site looked as though a five-year old had designed it. Enormous tabs only linking to the contact us page and scruffy text and image boxes with no css input, all squashed against each other with no room to breathe. If I wanted to get up-to-date with Birmingham's latest news stories, I wouldn't be able to do it properly here! In fact, the very fact that this British business had a .com domain and used their .co.uk domain as a holding page told you that their web developer was anything but a senior.

Is it at all possible to release a weekly newspaper that can rival BPM's titles or is the newspaper industry just completely dead? These days, setting up a new printed product is a risky move with the launch of online news and in particular, video news and social media but it can be done. All you need is your own unique target audience and a firm social media presence. The Birmingham Press had none. Their readership target was the same as The Birmingham Post's as they looked to take readers away from a newspaper as opposed to bringing in a new market to Birmingham's weekly media industry. What's more, The Birmingham Press has never been anywhere near present on websites like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. Not only is social networking vital in the media industry to get to know your PR and business contacts, but also to develop your brand amongst those in the know. The Birmingham Press had no real brand – it was not allowed the time to develop any kind of reputation or prestige in the media industry.

And so I am reminded of the words of former Birmingham Post and current Business Desk Editor Marc Reeves . Upon the first ever issue of The Birmingham Press going on sale, Marc said five words which have rung true to this very day - “I give it six months.” Or perhaps PR Guru Chris Brown's quote on Twitter is more relevant: “What a waste of money.” Whilst it is always a shame to witness the destruction of any new form of printed media, you could not help but think that this was coming throughout the newspaper's small existence. As Bullivant complains to The Office of Fair Trading about BPM's alleged unfair advertising prices, he can only blame himself for his newspaper's failure after he seemingly did everything wrong.

To read more on this story at Hold The Front Page, click here

Is Steve a right little Jobsworth when it comes to trainee journalists?

Much has been made online about a young trainee journalist, currently in the middle of studying for a journalism degree, contacting Apple's press office and receiving a less than polite response. The student in question, Chelsea Isaac's was set a simple task by her college - to write an article about the implementation of an iPad program at the campus. Naturally her first port of call for comment was Apple's press office, whom she phoned – six times. Becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of reply, she plucked out an email address from the web that she believed to be none other than Steve Job's and sent him an email asking for comment, stressing that the article was vital to achieve a high grade.

Steve replied putting bluntly that the firm's main aim is not help people achieve high grades but to deliver an efficient service to users of Apple products – fair enough, right? However, Chelsea had tried the press office to no avail and like any dedicated budding journalist, she pressed for an answer. Again, Steve replied stating that he would be unable to help her with her request as she was not contacting him in regards to a complaint about an Apple product.

Steve Jobs - A man who simply did what I would have done.

Chelsea persisted, insisting that she is an Apple user and had a query that could only be answered by the Apple press office, again stating that their co-operation was vital to help her achieve a high grade. Steve replied simply: “Please leave us alone.”

Is Steve wrong to refuse to co-operate with Chelsea or is she not going about the job of a young journalist correctly? Perhaps Apple's press department are to blame for not answering any calls – God only knows there is nothing more annoying than someone having a phone they never answer.

Many would argue that your opinion depends on the industry you come from – everyone knows the (healthy?) rivalry that exists between journalists and press officer's. Many a time I have called a large global corporation myself and not had any sort of reply from their press department or furthermore, been promised a call back that I had never received because they just can't be bothered with regional press. But then, you come to expect that in this line of work. Regional journalists and regional PROs depend on each other just as national journalists and global PROs co-exist together. Swap one with the other though and more than often the 'little' people just repeatedly get ignored. I'm not knocking Chelsea for her persistence – for that she gets top marks and has certainly proved that she possesses one of the most important skills to become a successful journalist but the severity of her issue is questionable. Did she really have to go directly to the Apple press office? Could her local store not have helped her or perhaps the college's own IT department? There are many people you can approach before you need to go straight to the top in business!

Of course, I'm not defending Apple's press office. What is the point of having a press office if they are not happy to liaise with the media? OK, so she is a student, not a qualified media agent but why should this prevent her from getting the information she needs? One day, she could well be a journalist and in a few years, could even be the person that Apple rely on to publicise the launch of their latest newfangled product. The fact is, the press office of any corporation exists to provide comment and information for the press, whether it be national reporters, regional press or trainee journalists and Apple's own press office is doing the brand a huge disservice by not responding to Chelsea's calls.

I've attacked everyone so surely now it must be the turn of Steve Jobs to get a bit of stick? I'm no fan of his or indeed Apple's – I was strictly a Blackberry user until it crashed and burned on me and even now am reluctant to turn to the iPhone - but here, Steve is not personally at fault. If I was the CEO of one of the biggest brands in the world, I would probably do the very same – ask an irritating, nagging wannabe journalist to just go away and leave me alone. At the same time though, he must accept some responsibility for his lacklustre press office. They are not helping his brand by ignoring upcoming journalists and only further the pessimistic opinion that Apple's PR only get in touch when they have something new to promote – a                                                       theory I have myself experienced in the past. 

Whether it actually was Steve Jobs replying to Chelsea's emails or not will always be debatable but whoever it was must have come from within the Apple family and are therefore hitting their own career-self destruct button. I doubt that Chelsea ever got the comment she was after from Apple's press office but must understand that hassling the CEO of a global corporation is not always the best way to get what you want.

To read more on this story or to see the email exchange between Chelsea and Steve Jobs, read the story on the Guardian website