Highlight Is Like the 'ChatRoulette' of iOS Apps

10.03.2012

For each one of them, I have their profile picture, the city they live in, and where they work. I have a map displaying where they were at the moment Highlight detected and notified me, and a button to connect to the person's Facebook page. It seems a little TMI (Too Much Information) to be sharing with someone you don't even know--sort of like .

Granted, you have some control over the information you share on Highlight and who can see it. For example, I haven't filled in my "Neighborhood" because I don't think strangers need to know (I suppose I could put "Houston" since that is quite vague and it's information I willingly shared in this article). I also limited who can see me on Highlight to "Friends of friends only" rather than "Everyone". Frankly, I'd rather limit it just to my actual Facebook friends, but that isn't one of the two available options.

I realize that the idea is to broaden your horizons and meet new people, and to some extent these people have been "vetted" by your own social network. I have to admit that I was more inclined to seek out people who had three or four Facebook friends in common with me than just one. I assumed--right or wrong--that if four of my connections like this person they are probably OK.

But, for all I know these people could be thugs or serial killers too. I'm not sure it's a great idea to have my iPhone automatically spewing my current location details and with a tenuous virtual connection to me who might be nearby.