This sponsored post is produced in association with Life360.
You’re out having a quiet dinner. Why announce it on social media? So your friends will come join you? Guess again. Surprisingly, a vast majority of teens and adults say they do so because sharing their location with friends and family makes them feel safe, according to a recent study.
Location-sharing apps let you broadcast where you are. They include things like check-ins, geo-tagging (like when you tag a photo of that great meal you’re about to dive into), and maps that continually track your whereabouts.
According to a new study commissioned by Life360 and conducted by VeraQuest, whether enjoying dinner out, going to the movies, or heading off to school, 87 percent of teens and 73 percent of adults say they feel better knowing a family member is aware of their location through an app.
When it comes to friends, those same feelings apply to a much lesser extent. Only 39 percent of teens and 42 percent of adults said they felt safer knowing their friends were aware of their whereabouts.
Location-sharing for safety may be driving the growing acceptance of these apps. In the same study, 41 percent of adults claimed they are more willing to share their location today through an app than they were five years ago.
A few other factors may contribute to the adoption of location-sharing apps. Smartphone use is on the rise, which means more people are accessing the Internet from their phones. Recent stats from the Pew Internet Project Research indicate that, for the first time, the majority of Americans (56 percent) now own a smartphone.
What’s more, technology advancements make it easier than ever before to use location-sharing apps. In the past, one of the biggest issues with always-on location apps was battery drain. It’s not as much of a problem now. Smartphones today, with their faster processors and longer-life batteries, easily can handle one or more location-sharing apps without much impact on performance.
This new study could also point to another trend: the decline of annoying “where are you” phone calls and text messages.
Sponsored posts are content that has been produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they’re always clearly marked. The content of news stories produced by our editorial team is never influenced by advertisers or sponsors in any way. For more information, contact sales@venturebeat.com.
