To give away total control
Telling each other where we are demonstrates trust and, above all, reliability: it's a preemptive certification. And it turns the control of our movements into a test, a thermometer of willingness: the more you tell me where you are, the less you have to hide. It's much more powerful than handing over your phone - remember, there was a time when, in the midst of certain marital disputes, a husband would get himself out of trouble by offering to show his entire messaging archive, so that his wife could verify that he had nothing to hide.
Now, it's about love, flirting, courtship. And a cage.
But more than erasing infidelity, geolocation serves to surrender oneself to the other, to tell them: I don't take a step without you knowing, I carry you with me, we are roommates, cohabitants on a map.
Before, geolocation was a matter of necessity: it was used exclusively to reach each other. Now, it's about love, flirting, courtship. And a cage. The New York Times wrote that some friendships are put to the test by what is becoming, in fact, a need not to meet but to monitor: a moderated, agreed-upon, consensual form of stalking, but still stalking.
If Francesca goes to the park without telling Daniela, and Daniela discovers it when she asks her to share her location, there's trouble: Daniela falls into a tragic whirlwind of jealousy, resentment and feelings of abandonment. Betrayal happens with much less than a lover: betrayal happens by not sharing the intention to go for a walk, by keeping a visit to the museum to oneself, by avoiding company. Betrayal happens in silence.
On the bright side...
Of course, there's also the positive side, which is quite complex as well: reassurance, above all. Parents who, in the past, when their children didn't answer the phone, resorted to more serious solutions to survive their anxiety (some: calling the police, news broadcasters, classmates, other parents, the mayor, emergency services, firefighters and so on to ask if they had seen their offspring and, if yes, where, when, with whom, wearing what) — they now have a very valuable ally.
Then, there are generous Gen Z philanthropists who connect to their friends' geolocation apps for a simple reason: seeing them move, shift, makes them happy. Elisa gets excited knowing that Olga is heading to the beach, and instead of imagining her in a car, or on a bike, or not imagining her at all, she wants to see her zoom by, in the form of a dot, a cursor, on Google Maps.
It's a joy similar to the one we feel when we look at an electrocardiogram of a loved one (or even a stranger) and understand they're alive from the signs, the impulses.
