Twitter To Remove Precise Geotagging Feature From Tweets

On social media platforms, users have the ability to post status updates, photos, and so on and share their location at the same time. Some might view this as giving up your privacy and if you’re not comfortable with the feature, you might be interested to learn that Twitter has announced that they will be removing it.

For those unfamiliar, Twitter has a geotagging feature that will allow users to precisely tag where they are at. It is a completely optional feature and those who don’t use it won’t have their location shown, but it is (or rather, it was) there should users ever decide to take advantage of it. However, according to Twitter, it seems that the majority of Twitter users do not use it, so much so that they have decided to take it down.

This seems to be less about protecting privacy and more about saving resources that could be used for other projects. According to Twitter, “Most people don’t tag their precise location in Tweets, so we’re removing this ability to simplify your Tweeting experience. You’ll still be able to tag your precise location in Tweets through our updated camera. It’s helpful when sharing on-the-ground moments.”

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Most people don't tag their precise location in Tweets, so we're removing this ability to simplify your Tweeting experience. You'll still be able to tag your precise location in Tweets through our updated camera. It's helpful when sharing on-the-ground moments.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 18, 2019

That being said, there is no mention if this will mean that older tweets will have their precise locations removed, or if this will only apply to new tweets moving forwards.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Privacy, Twitter