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See - Sada Elbalad
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Instagram Launches ‘Map' Feature
Israa Farhan Instagram has rolled out a new feature called 'Instagram Map,' enabling users to share their latest activity locations with friends and discover location-based content. The Meta-owned platform is also introducing post re-sharing and a new 'Friends' tab on its short-form video service, Reels, available globally. The 'Map' update closely mirrors a popular feature on rival Snapchat, following Instagram's earlier adoption of the Stories format from Snapchat in 2016. With more than 400 million monthly active users, Instagram surpasses Snapchat's Snap Map in reach, making the new feature one of its most prominent additions in recent years. According to Instagram, location sharing on Instagram Map is switched off by default. Users' location data will only update when the app is opened, meaning it does not provide live location tracking. By contrast, Snap Map allows users to choose between updating their location only when using the app or sharing it in real time. Instagram says the new tool will make it easier for friends to coordinate meet-ups and for users to explore content linked to places shared by friends and favorite creators. For example, if a friend attends a nearby music festival and posts a Story, it will appear on the map. Similarly, if a creator uploads a short video about a new restaurant, its location will be tagged on Instagram Map. Regardless of whether a user shares their own location, the map can still be used to explore geographically tagged content. The feature also allows users to leave short 'notes' on the map for others to see. read more UAE's Lunar Mission Delayed to Tomorrow Twitter Lifts Trump's Account Ban Scientists Find Evidence Of 10،000 Black Holes Surrounding The Center Of The Milky Way Galaxy Greenhouse In Antarctica Able To Grow Vegetables Without Soil Or Sunlight Moving Over China: U.S. Is Again Home to World's Speediest Supercomputer Technology The 10 most expensive cars in the world Technology Top 10 fastest cars in the world Technology Lasers Could Make Computers 1 Million Times Faster Technology Smart technology taking control of our lives News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date Videos & Features Story behind Trending Jessica Radcliffe Death Video News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- 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
Washington Post
a day ago
- Washington Post
Location sharing was cool for Gen Z until Instagram made it weird
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. '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.' 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. '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?'' 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. '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. '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.' 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 physics 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.' 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.'
Morocco World
a day ago
- Business
- Morocco World
Backlash Over Instagram's New Feature That Shares Real-Time Location
Rabat – Instagram users are raising alarms over a new location-sharing option and warning it could put people at risk by revealing where they are without their knowledge. The Meta-owned app introduced the feature on Wednesday, which allows users to share their real-time location with friends through an Instagram map similar to Snapchat's 'Snap Map.' Some users said they were shocked to find their location visible without them manually enabling it. 'My location was blasted to all and I have no idea why nor was I ever prompted to choose this. It wasn't until a follower reached out to tell me that I even knew,' American content creator Helene Sula commented on Instagram. Another user said the new feature is a 'terrible idea and a HUGE security risk.' 'My location was automatically shared to all my followers before the feature was even rolled out. HUGE security risk,' another Instagram user said. In response, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri posted on Threads to say that location sharing is off by default and must be turned on manually. 'Your location will only be shared if you decide to share it, and if you do, it can only be shared with a limited group of people you choose,' Mosseri wrote. According to Instagram's blog, the feature aims to help friends connect and share posts from interesting places. The platform said users can control who sees their location and switch the feature off anytime. The controversy comes just a week after Meta faced another privacy scandal. A federal jury in San Francisco sided with women who accused the company of exploiting sensitive health data from the Flo menstruation-tracking app to target ads. Lawyers said internal evidence showed some Meta employees even mocked the data. Damages in that case have not yet been decided. Tags: InstagramlocationMetaprivacy
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Instagram's new 'Map' feature has users nervous about who's watching
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Instagram has introduced a new feature called 'Instagram Map', similar to Snap Map , allowing users in the US to share their recent location and discover content based on places the rollout has raised privacy concerns, with many users fearing their exact location is being shared without their consent. In response, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has clarified that location sharing is off by default and only becomes active if users choose to enable Meta's reassurance, posts are spreading across social media urging people to disable the user, Lindsey Bell, replied to a warning video shared by 'Bachelor' star Kelley Flanagan on TikTok, writing, "Mine was turned on and my home address was showing for all of my followers to see. Turned it off immediately once I knew but had me feeling absolutely sick about it."In her video, Flanagan described the new feature as "dangerous" and showed viewers how to make sure it's turned responded with a post on Threads, saying, 'We're double-checking everything, but so far it looks mostly like people are confused and assume that, because they can see themselves on the map when they open, other people can see them too.''We're still checking everything, though, to make sure nobody shares location without explicitly deciding to do so, which, by the way, requires a double consent by design (we ask you to confirm after you say you want to share),' he believes much of the worry is caused by a misunderstanding of how the feature works. For example, some users see a populated map and assume everyone's live location is visible. In reality, the map pulls location tags from recent Stories or Reels that include a place tag, not necessarily real-time location many users disagree, saying they're not confused and claiming their location has been visible to others, even after the feature is manually turned says the map only updates a user's location when the app is open or running in the background, unlike Snap Map, which allows users to choose whether their location is updated only when they open the app or in can also opt not to share their location in specific places or with certain individuals.
