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Toronto Sun
09-08-2025
- Toronto Sun
Location sharing was cool for Gen Z until Instagram made it weird
Published Aug 09, 2025 • 6 minute read The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, USA, Oct. 14, 2022. Photo by Michael Dwyer / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS It wasn't shocking that Danni Gladden's mom tracked her. Plenty of the parents of kids at her high school tracked them, whether that was through Apple's Find My iPhone app or via Life360, which provided live updates on their teenagers' whereabouts. At first, after Snapchat unveiled the 'Snap Map' in 2017, Gladden's mom wanted her teen daughter's location on the social media platform. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 'It was frustrating when I was that age,' Gladden said, noting she resisted her mom's Snapchat requests. 'I kept lying, like, 'It's not working. I don't know why it's not working,' because I didn't want her to know where I was. So then she randomly was like, 'Oh, I got this app, Life360.' And I was like, 'Oh, great.'' But as high school proceeded, Gladden began using Apple's location app – rebranded as Find My in 2019 – to keep up with her friends. For a generation raised on GPS, sharing your location is essential for socializing, being nosy and making sure everyone arrives at their destination safely. Most notably, it can solidify which friendships are most important. 'It just has a lot to do with the generation we're in, where it feels like your friendship is stronger when you have someone's location,' Gladden, now 22, explained. 'It just feels like you're trusting them.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Plenty of young adults like Gladden treat Find My like another social media tool, a place to find out what's going on with the people you care about. While Snapchat had made location tracking a part of its personalized appeal, it was only a matter of time before other social media companies followed. On Thursday, Meta announced the Instagram Map, a new feature where users can opt into sharing their last active location. But even as Gen Z adopts tracking apps, they remain controversial, especially as Instagram Map can share their location beyond close friends if they're not careful about the settings. Location apps often get installed because of parents' safety concerns. As those teenagers who often grumbled about being surveilled by their parents grew up and moved out, they began using Find My or Life360 to check on their friends in potentially risky situations. Laura Kelly, a 23-year-old who works as a prison reentry case manager in Boston, shares her location with her friends in case of a potential emergency, like when someone goes missing from a large group or if they're Ubering home after drinking too much. Over time, she's amassed 45 people on her Find My account. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'There's been times where one of my friends got way too drunk and was a wanderer, so we were like, 'Oh, just checked her location and tracked her down,'' Kelly said. 'I found her on a stump and I was like, 'Thank God.' It reminded me why I do it.' As Gen Z's parents and grandparents get older, the roles have reversed, with their children now keeping tabs on them. It's helpful for the same reasons that tracking friends can be, whether that's figuring out if someone is running late or going somewhere unexpected. For Kelly, looking at Find My is useful to see if her parents are busy. 'Whenever I call them, I'll check beforehand to see if they're home because I feel like they're more likely to answer,' Kelly said. 'If they don't answer my call, I'll look and be like, 'Well, what are they doing if they're not talking to me?'' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. For many, tracking a friend's location is just an extension of stalking someone's social media. You don't have to ask to know what swank new restaurant your friends are trying, where they're seeing a concert that night or if they're hanging out with your other friends that you have on Find My. The Instagram Map correctly assessed people's desire see what their friends are doing in real time, while adding an additional layer of public posts about any given spot. And yet nearly everyone The Washington Post spoke to is uncertain about the point of the Instagram Map. Some said it feels like an inevitable end point for a deeply surveilled, voyeuristic culture. Nearly every day, Rachel Suleymanov checks in on her friends' locations. She described the Find My map as a form of social media, even without the input of Instagram. As a 24-year-old Manhattanite whose friends live in Brooklyn, she's gotten used to seeing hangouts that she can't make it to on the Find My app. To trade locations with the current 25 friends she tracks, Suleymanov said, 'was almost like saying 'I love you' in a relationship.' But the Instagram Map is a step too far, she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I just think about the amount of people that are following me that I barely know,' said Suleymanov. 'I feel like the point of Instagram is that I can post about where I am, should I want to do that. I don't know if a Snapchat map equivalent is necessary in any way.' Location sharing goes hand in hand with Gen Z's quest to be authentic online, said Jessica Maddox, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Georgia. But, she argues, many don't necessarily trust Instagram parent company Meta. RECOMMENDED VIDEO 'They've been on social media long enough, and have been wronged by social media enough, that they are right to be suspicious of this Instagram feature,' Maddox said. 'I think back to earlier this year, when TikTok was going to be banned, right? [Young] people literally joined a Chinese app instead of going to Instagram.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Gladden uses Find My to check in with friends who don't use social media as regularly. But she isn't sure those more private friends would appreciate her snooping: 'If I check their location, I can never say anything about it because they might unshare it.' The fear of an unshared location is real for Find My obsessives, especially because they get a notification if a friend drops them. For Caty DuDevoir, a graduate student of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, unsharing a location usually results in tension in the friendship. 'When you unshare your location with someone, it feels wrong,' said DuDevoir, 23. 'It feels like a hiccup in a relationship, in a friendship. Are you hiding something? What does this mean for our friendship? That is sort of weird because it's just not that deep. We're on a floating rock. If someone wants to stop sharing their location, I don't think it's a big deal. And yes, it sometimes feels hurtful.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While there are safety and social benefits to tracking friends, it gets tricky if you catch them in an ill-advised situation. Surprising hookups, hangs with disliked friends and embarrassing hobbies are all noticeable if someone has your location. 'We found out that [a friend] was back with her ex-boyfriend via the Find My Friends thing,' said Montse Cuetos, 23, who recently graduated from IE University in Spain. 'I was scrolling through and I was like, 'What? You didn't tell us that was happening.'' It varies from person to person, but Find My users often find themselves unsure of what to do if they spot a situation unfolding from a map's-eye view. Confronting a friend about something seen on the map would be a violation of privacy for DuDevoir, even if the location was shared freely. 'I just wait for that person to tell me the story that goes behind why they were in a certain place,' said DuDevoir. 'If they don't feel comfortable, it's not something that I'm going to push them on.' That balance becomes a problem, especially as Instagram and Snapchat have made people's locations so readily available. Besides, isn't there something magical about naturally running into a friend at the coffee shop? Cuetos thinks so, despite her collection of 21 friends on Find My. 'Having unrestricted access to so much information about your social environment is kind of messed up,' Cuetos said. 'It's like if you had super powers, would you want to read minds? No, it would ruin everybody for you.' Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays World Editorials
Leader Live
21-07-2025
- General
- Leader Live
D-Day veteran and TikTok star ‘Papa Jake' Larson dies aged 102
An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was 'cracking jokes till the end', his granddaughter wrote while announcing his death. Tributes to the veteran quickly filled his Story Time With Papa Jake TikTok account from across the US, where he had been living in Lafayette, California. Towns around Normandy, still grateful to Allied forces who helped defeat the occupying Nazis in the Second World War, paid homage to him too. 'Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17 at 102 years young,' granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. 'He went peacefully.' 'As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,' she wrote. Born on December 20 1922 in Owatonna, Minnesota, Mr Larson enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age as he was only 15 at the time. In 1942, he was sent overseas and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He became operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. Mr Larson was among the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha Beach. He made it unhurt to the cliffs that overlook the beach, then studded with German gun emplacements that mowed down American soldiers. 'We are the lucky ones,' Mr Larson told The Associated Press (AP) at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June. 'We are their family. We have the responsibility to honour these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.' Mr Larson went on to fight through the Battle of the Bulge, a gruelling month-long fight in Belgium and Luxembourg that was one of the defining moments of the war and of Hitler's defeat. His service earned him a Bronze Star and a French Legion of Honour award. In recent years, Mr Larson made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations — and at every stop, 'Papa Jake' was greeted by people asking for a selfie. In return, he offered up big hugs. One memorable encounter came in 2023, when he came across Bill Gladden, a then-99-year-old British veteran who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle. 'I want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,' Mr Larson told Mr Gladden, their hands clasped tightly. Mr Gladden died the following year. In his TikTok posts and interviews, Mr Larson combined humorous anecdotes with sombre reminders about the horrors of war. Reflecting to AP on the three years he was in Europe, Mr Larson said he was 'no hero'. Speaking in 2024, he also had a message to world leaders: 'Make peace not war.' He often called himself 'the luckiest man in the world', and expressed awe at all the attention he was getting. 'I'm just a country boy. Now I'm a star on TikTok,' he told AP in 2023. 'I'm a legend! I didn't plan this, it came about.' Small-town museums and groups around Normandy that work to honour D-Day's veterans and fallen shared tributes online to Mr Larson, one of their most loyal visitors. 'He was an exceptional witness and bearer of memory,' the Overlord Museum posted on Facebook. 'He came every year to the museum, with his smile, his humility and his tales that touched all generations. His stories will continue to live. Rest in peace Papa Jake,' it read. 'Thanks for everything.'
North Wales Chronicle
20-07-2025
- General
- North Wales Chronicle
D-Day veteran and TikTok star ‘Papa Jake' Larson dies aged 102
An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was 'cracking jokes till the end', his granddaughter wrote while announcing his death. Tributes to the veteran quickly filled his Story Time With Papa Jake TikTok account from across the US, where he had been living in Lafayette, California. Towns around Normandy, still grateful to Allied forces who helped defeat the occupying Nazis in the Second World War, paid homage to him too. 'Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17 at 102 years young,' granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. 'He went peacefully.' 'As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,' she wrote. Born on December 20 1922 in Owatonna, Minnesota, Mr Larson enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age as he was only 15 at the time. In 1942, he was sent overseas and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He became operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. Mr Larson was among the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha Beach. He made it unhurt to the cliffs that overlook the beach, then studded with German gun emplacements that mowed down American soldiers. 'We are the lucky ones,' Mr Larson told The Associated Press (AP) at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June. 'We are their family. We have the responsibility to honour these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.' Mr Larson went on to fight through the Battle of the Bulge, a gruelling month-long fight in Belgium and Luxembourg that was one of the defining moments of the war and of Hitler's defeat. His service earned him a Bronze Star and a French Legion of Honour award. In recent years, Mr Larson made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations — and at every stop, 'Papa Jake' was greeted by people asking for a selfie. In return, he offered up big hugs. One memorable encounter came in 2023, when he came across Bill Gladden, a then-99-year-old British veteran who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle. 'I want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,' Mr Larson told Mr Gladden, their hands clasped tightly. Mr Gladden died the following year. In his TikTok posts and interviews, Mr Larson combined humorous anecdotes with sombre reminders about the horrors of war. Reflecting to AP on the three years he was in Europe, Mr Larson said he was 'no hero'. Speaking in 2024, he also had a message to world leaders: 'Make peace not war.' He often called himself 'the luckiest man in the world', and expressed awe at all the attention he was getting. 'I'm just a country boy. Now I'm a star on TikTok,' he told AP in 2023. 'I'm a legend! I didn't plan this, it came about.' Small-town museums and groups around Normandy that work to honour D-Day's veterans and fallen shared tributes online to Mr Larson, one of their most loyal visitors. 'He was an exceptional witness and bearer of memory,' the Overlord Museum posted on Facebook. 'He came every year to the museum, with his smile, his humility and his tales that touched all generations. His stories will continue to live. Rest in peace Papa Jake,' it read. 'Thanks for everything.'
Rhyl Journal
20-07-2025
- General
- Rhyl Journal
D-Day veteran and TikTok star ‘Papa Jake' Larson dies aged 102
An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was 'cracking jokes till the end', his granddaughter wrote while announcing his death. Tributes to the veteran quickly filled his Story Time With Papa Jake TikTok account from across the US, where he had been living in Lafayette, California. Towns around Normandy, still grateful to Allied forces who helped defeat the occupying Nazis in the Second World War, paid homage to him too. 'Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17 at 102 years young,' granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. 'He went peacefully.' 'As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,' she wrote. Born on December 20 1922 in Owatonna, Minnesota, Mr Larson enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age as he was only 15 at the time. In 1942, he was sent overseas and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He became operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. Mr Larson was among the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha Beach. He made it unhurt to the cliffs that overlook the beach, then studded with German gun emplacements that mowed down American soldiers. 'We are the lucky ones,' Mr Larson told The Associated Press (AP) at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June. 'We are their family. We have the responsibility to honour these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.' Mr Larson went on to fight through the Battle of the Bulge, a gruelling month-long fight in Belgium and Luxembourg that was one of the defining moments of the war and of Hitler's defeat. His service earned him a Bronze Star and a French Legion of Honour award. In recent years, Mr Larson made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations — and at every stop, 'Papa Jake' was greeted by people asking for a selfie. In return, he offered up big hugs. One memorable encounter came in 2023, when he came across Bill Gladden, a then-99-year-old British veteran who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle. 'I want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,' Mr Larson told Mr Gladden, their hands clasped tightly. Mr Gladden died the following year. In his TikTok posts and interviews, Mr Larson combined humorous anecdotes with sombre reminders about the horrors of war. Reflecting to AP on the three years he was in Europe, Mr Larson said he was 'no hero'. Speaking in 2024, he also had a message to world leaders: 'Make peace not war.' He often called himself 'the luckiest man in the world', and expressed awe at all the attention he was getting. 'I'm just a country boy. Now I'm a star on TikTok,' he told AP in 2023. 'I'm a legend! I didn't plan this, it came about.' Small-town museums and groups around Normandy that work to honour D-Day's veterans and fallen shared tributes online to Mr Larson, one of their most loyal visitors. 'He was an exceptional witness and bearer of memory,' the Overlord Museum posted on Facebook. 'He came every year to the museum, with his smile, his humility and his tales that touched all generations. His stories will continue to live. Rest in peace Papa Jake,' it read. 'Thanks for everything.'
South Wales Guardian
20-07-2025
- General
- South Wales Guardian
D-Day veteran and TikTok star ‘Papa Jake' Larson dies aged 102
An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was 'cracking jokes till the end', his granddaughter wrote while announcing his death. Tributes to the veteran quickly filled his Story Time With Papa Jake TikTok account from across the US, where he had been living in Lafayette, California. Towns around Normandy, still grateful to Allied forces who helped defeat the occupying Nazis in the Second World War, paid homage to him too. 'Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17 at 102 years young,' granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. 'He went peacefully.' 'As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,' she wrote. Born on December 20 1922 in Owatonna, Minnesota, Mr Larson enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age as he was only 15 at the time. In 1942, he was sent overseas and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He became operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. Mr Larson was among the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha Beach. He made it unhurt to the cliffs that overlook the beach, then studded with German gun emplacements that mowed down American soldiers. 'We are the lucky ones,' Mr Larson told The Associated Press (AP) at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June. 'We are their family. We have the responsibility to honour these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.' Mr Larson went on to fight through the Battle of the Bulge, a gruelling month-long fight in Belgium and Luxembourg that was one of the defining moments of the war and of Hitler's defeat. His service earned him a Bronze Star and a French Legion of Honour award. In recent years, Mr Larson made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations — and at every stop, 'Papa Jake' was greeted by people asking for a selfie. In return, he offered up big hugs. One memorable encounter came in 2023, when he came across Bill Gladden, a then-99-year-old British veteran who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle. 'I want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,' Mr Larson told Mr Gladden, their hands clasped tightly. Mr Gladden died the following year. In his TikTok posts and interviews, Mr Larson combined humorous anecdotes with sombre reminders about the horrors of war. Reflecting to AP on the three years he was in Europe, Mr Larson said he was 'no hero'. Speaking in 2024, he also had a message to world leaders: 'Make peace not war.' He often called himself 'the luckiest man in the world', and expressed awe at all the attention he was getting. 'I'm just a country boy. Now I'm a star on TikTok,' he told AP in 2023. 'I'm a legend! I didn't plan this, it came about.' Small-town museums and groups around Normandy that work to honour D-Day's veterans and fallen shared tributes online to Mr Larson, one of their most loyal visitors. 'He was an exceptional witness and bearer of memory,' the Overlord Museum posted on Facebook. 'He came every year to the museum, with his smile, his humility and his tales that touched all generations. His stories will continue to live. Rest in peace Papa Jake,' it read. 'Thanks for everything.'
