Link: https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2025/04/25/find-my-friends

Credits:

Reported, written, and produced by: Grace Tatter

Co-hosts: Grace Tatter, Amory Sivertson, Ben Brock Johnson

Editor: Meg Cramer

Show producers: Samata Joshi, Dean Russell, Paul Vaitkus, and Frannie Monahan

Mixer and sound designer: Emily Jankowski

At any given time, 110 people can tell you exactly where James Tatter is.

Every single iPhone user has the Find My app on their phone, which allows them to share their location with friends and family. Increasingly, for young people like James, it's also becoming a form of social media.

Endless Thread producer (and James's sister) Grace Tatter wanted to know how something that seems creepy to some people became so commonplace to others — and how it's affecting our relationships off the screen.

Show notes:

On the Grid: Surveillance as a Love Language (The Drift)

Dodgeball Shuttered By Google, Its Co-Creator Promises To Clone It (Business Insider)

Thinking Critically about Social Media (American Sociology Association)

Talking Tech with Apple's Senior Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue (SuperSaf)

The Impact of Location-Tracking Apps on Relationships (Psychology Today)