September 9, 2010

Page 1

Thursday, September 9, 2010

www.msureporter.com

Minnesota State University, Mankato

‘Checking in’ with Facebook

‘Places’ allows users to share locations with friends KELSEY SCHULTZ

staff writer

Facebookers now have a way to let friends, family and other acquaintences know where they are with the touch of a button. Launched Aug. 18, Facebook’s new brain-child Places is similar to locationbased social networking sites such as Foursquare or Gowalla. According to an August 20 article on PC World’s website, “Facebook’s new Places feature lets you share your current location by ‘checking in’ from your smartphone.” With about 500 million users, Facebook has the ideal sample group that any business would want to have in marketing their product

to.

Minnesota State mass communication professor Ellen Mrja said, “With movement-based services such as Foursquare, we’re pinpointing exactly where we are not only for our friends, but most of all, advertisters.” With Facebook Places, people can download the Facebook for iPhone app onto their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and can go to the “Places” tab under “Inbox.” With a touch of a button, people can “check” themselves into a nearby location by tapping the “Check In” button at the top right of the screen. If a person just

Places / page 3

Annual festival moves to Riverfront Park, LGBT community excited GRACE WEBB

staff writer

The Mankato Pridefest, sponsored by South Central Minnesota Pride, has been around for nine years, but this year it’s moving to a new location, Riverfront Park. To start off the event, there will be a “Pride Kick-off Queeraoke Party” featuring the Night Owls on Friday at 8 p.m. at Pub 500. Pridefest will then continue from 11 to midnight Saturday, featuring the traditional Pride Parade starting at 11:15 a.m., and including exhibits, music and great food. There will be a beer garden, dance classes, kids’ crafts, inflatable activities, a Rainbow Health Tent and

more. To wrap everything up, there will be a Pridefest dance from 8 p.m. to midnight, with bands including the Golden Bubbles, Tombstone Trio, Far from Falling and Rakstar Fusion Belly. People of all ages are welcome to attend the day’s events. Pridefest grew out of a vision by area activists Tamara Bervan, James Tyson and other LGBT allies. Jessica Flatequal, who has been co-chair since 2004, said the activists’ goal was to create a place where LGBT and allied community “could come together to celebrate their lives and love.” There are other monthly events besides Pridefest, but Flatequal calls Pridefest the “signature event of

the year.” Flatequal said she and her fellow workers are excited about Pridefest’s new location. “The venue is perfect for our festival, and I can’t wait to see the turnout and people’s responses to the new location,” Flatequal said. Flatequal said they are hoping to have a turnout of at least 1,200 people this year. She also mentioned that South Central Minnesota Pride will be working with the City of Mankato’s Verizon Wireless staff to have “the best festival to date.” Their only concern is the weather. “[We] have fingers crossed for a clear, blue sky!” Flatequal said.

internet photo

index

Location-based programs can be as harmful against users as they are fun. With constant updates about where users are, people are more vulnerable to to stalking and robbery. Websites such as pleaserobme. com have re-tweeted location posts from Twitter, giving people the opportunity to break-in when users are not home. These type of crimes could soon be committed against Facebook users. Voices......................................4 World & Nation........................6 Study Break.............................8 Sports......................................9 A&E........................................13

MSU wins home opener against Northern Michigan

INSIDE: Volleyball wins early tourney (11), MN Shorts Festival of Plays and Good Thunder Reading Series kick off (13-14), The Parking Problem (Page 2)

See Page 10

ONLINE: Weekend coverage of the Mankato Pridefest New podcasts by the Kid’s Cast with MSU Soccer and SuperMankato with The Great Typo Hunt


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.