Yesterday, the security company WebRoot came out with a study discovering similar results. After surveying 1,500+ social network users with geolocation-ready mobile devices, WebRoot found that more than half (55%) of respondents fear the loss of security and privacy, and 45% are very concerned about letting potential burglars know when they’re away from home (ah yes, the now shut down PleaseRobMe experiment comes to mind).

What’s most interesting to us is that 39% of those surveyed by Webroot said they use geolocation services, but take a look at the number of people that have fallen prey to social network cyber-criminals:

• Nearly a quarter of respondents (22.4 percent) were victims of a phishing attempt to steal their social network password.
• About one in six (16 percent) reported a malware infection in the past year that originated from a social networking site.
• One in nine reported at least one of their social network accounts had been compromised or hijacked.

Even in the face of these risks, many consumers admitted to engaging in risky behaviors:

• Nearly one third (31 percent) accepted a friend request from a stranger.
• A majority (76 percent) clicked a link sent or posted by a friend on a social network site.
• Twenty-nine percent have shared their geolocation with people other than their friends.
• One in nine used a location-based tool to meet a stranger (e.g. check out Scout – the new dating LB app)

While we all get excited when new features (like geo-lo) are added to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks (I know I do!), it’s worth taking a step back and thinking about the potential dangers of giving away so much personal information. So, why do you check-in? What do you see as the primary motivators for doing so? Are they worth the risks?

For this quarter’s competition/study, we decided to turn our testing community loose to compare and rank Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite — the top three check-in services that have a global footprint.

The high-level results were impressive: 300+ testers from more than 35 countries around the world reported nearly 900 bugs in the web & mobile apps of these three companies. You can get complete details in the Bug Battle report, but here are some of the noteworthy results:

• Foursquare had the least reported bugs (177), followed by Gowalla (316) and Brightkite (377).
• Foursquare was ranked #1 in ease-of-use, social media integration and connectivity with friends, while Gowalla took  top honors in the important category of location accuracy.
• Very importantly, 80% of participants said they are concerned about how check-in services could impact their privacy/safety.
• 49% of all respondents chose “privacy & security concerns” as the top reason they do not use check-in services more.

So who cares? Well, the testers who reported the best web bugs, the best mobile bugs and provided the most insightful feedback (to be announced later this week) will take home nearly $4,000 in prize money. Who else cares? A lot of thought leaders and social media gurus found these results as fascinating as we did.  In fact, this Bug Battle was covered by a collection of A-list pundits:

Mashable: Which App Does Checkins Best? [STUDY]

VentureBeat: Location check-in services are riddled with bugs

GigaOm: Checking In on Location-based Services: Foursquare vs. Gowalla vs. Brightkite

TheNextWeb: Some Reasons More People Aren’t Using Check-in Services

ZDNet: Study reveals bug factor in Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite

GoMo News: Foursquare beats Gowalla and Brightkite in mobile check-in Battle

Mobile Entertainment: Foursquare comes up trumps in uTest survey

WebProNews: Privacy and Security Still Obstacles for Check-In Services

Identity Blog: Why location services have to be done right…

Storefront Backtalk: Check-in Services Glitches Allow Customer Impersonation

InfoWorld: Location services: The security risks of oversharing

If you’re interested in the location-based apps space, these are must-reads. These social media savants made some great insights into our raw results. We’re always happy to compile the real-world data and raw feedback from our community, but these are the people who interpret, analyze and help make sense of all this. Apologies if we missed anyone (please add any links to other posts or articles in the comments and we’ll update this post).

This was, by far, our biggest and baddest Bug Battle to date. So special thanks to our community of testers, our special guest judges, and those journalists and bloggers who helped translate these Bug Battle results into interesting, thought-provoking perspectives on what it all means and where this space is heading.

Have ideas for our Q3 Bug Battle?  Drop us a note and tell us which category we should test & compare next!

So how’s it going so far? Well, with less than five days remaining, we’ve already had more than 350 testers participate and a combined total of  650+ reported bugs!  The depth and quality of the defects is nothing short of amazing, but we’ve come to expect no less from our tester community.

Of course, there’s still a long way to go – and nearly $4,000 in prize money still up for grabs. Remember, the Bug Battle ends Monday, May 24th at noon ET, so be sure to log in to your uTest account and start submitting bugs before it’s too late.

As with previous competitions, it’s all about quality and not quantity. If you want more specific tips on how to win the Bug Battle – by focusing on mobile bugs, social media integration, etc. – then check out this dedicated thread in the uTest Forums.

Happy bug-hunting and good luck!

And this time, we’ll be checking out the top location-based check-in services: Foursquare vs. Gowalla vs. Brightkite.  We’ll be letting our community put these innovators to the test (their public-facing websites, their check-in services, their mobile apps and their integrations with Facebook and Twitter).

And after the testing phase is complete on Monday, May 24th, we’ll be sending a survey to all participating testers to compare the usability and feature set of these three leaders.

What’s in it for testers?  Well, bragging rights, sure.  But we’ll also be doling out nearly $4,000 in prize money to the testers who report the most severe/interesting bugs and provide the most insightful survey feedback.

So it’s time to do what you do best, uTesters!  Log into your uTest account and scour these apps for quality defects and report them in a clear, concise way.  And if you do it better than your peers, you could be named the Q2 Bug Battle winner and earn some big prize money for your time.

Location-based apps like Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite – apps that let you check in, find hot spots and get rewarded with prizes & accolades – are attracting thousands of new users every day. Just how popular have they become? They’re sooo popular, even uTest CEO and co-founder Doron Reuveni has attained ‘Mayor’ status (see if you can guess where).

Why am I telling you all this? Because these  geo-based apps are the subject of our latest uTest Bug Battle. We figured that since Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite are all global in scope, that they would provide our global tester community with a challenge unlike any of our previous bug-hunting competitions.

The Bug Battle gets started this Friday, May 14 at Noon (ET). Testers will be given ten days to search these applications (both web and mobile) for the most compelling bugs, and to report them through our online platform. We’ll be dishing out nearly $4,000 in prize money for Top Tester, Best Bug, Best Survey Feedback, Best Mobile Bug and a bunch of other categories.

More details on this Bug Battle – as well the rules, prizes and deadlines –can be found in this uTest Forums thread. Of course, we’ll be providing frequent updates via our blog, forums and newsletters.

Special note: This competition is available ONLY to members of the uTest community. Not a member yet? Find out more about the benefits of joining uTest.

• uTest Finds 908 Bugs In Web Apps Of Major U.S. TV Networks

• uTest Rates Best TV Network Web Sites, And Catches Bugs

• uTest Finds 1,000 Bugs in Web Properties of TV Networks

• “Battle of the TV Networks” Uncovers Nearly 1,000 Bugs

Additional press coverage includes Radio Business Report, NewTeeVee, Broadcast Newsroom and VentureFizz.

Thanks again to all of our cunning uTesters for exploring these web and mobile apps voraciously and hunting down some very crafty bugs. And congratulations to all the winners of the Bug Battle of the TV Networks!

Until the next Bug Battle, happy bug hunting!

Remember, the software testing competition ends Friday, February 12th at 11:59am ET, and there’s nearly $4,000 in prize money at stake. So if you have not participated yet, seize the opportunity now by reporting at least one bug to qualify for prizes.

If you were not able to submit a bug, but have strong opinions regarding the usability and functionality of the major TV networks, you may also qualify by submitting a request for the feedback survey. Don’t forget, there are separate prizes allocated to testers submitting the best feedback.

Special Note: For those who have participated in this competition, be sure to share at least one bug in the uTest Forums. This is shaping up to be one of our best Bug Battles yet. Good luck the rest of the way!

With just under four days remaining in the week-long competition, we’ve already had more than 400 testers participate and well over 500 bugs reported. This is shaping up to be the most exciting Bug Battle ever, both in terms of the quantity of bugs submitted and the quality of the reports themselves.

Remember, the Bug Battle ends Friday, February 12th at noon ET, and there is nearly $4,000 in prize money at stake. It’s not too late to win the top prize so get started today (remember, it’s the highest quality bugs that matter, not the quantity)!

To join or catch up on Bug Battle discussions, be sure to check out our testers-only forums.

That’s right, we’re pitting the four major TV networks against each other in this quarter’s bug-hunting competition. And while there are multiple sources to find out which network has the highest rated shows, we’re going to compare their web and mobile apps to see who distributes that content best.  Here are the networks, in alphabetical order: ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC.

As an added twist, we’re introducing a mobile testing component to the Bug Battle. For more details on this – as well as info on rules and prizes – check out our Battle of the TV Networks page.

It’s now time to pull back the curtain to determine which network sites have the most bugs, the most critical bugs, and the best usability and feature set. And so uTesters, best of luck to you all as you begin another exciting bug hunting mission. May the best network win and may the top testers prevail. Good luck!

Special note: This competition is available only to members of the uTest community.  uTesters can get complete details and discuss the Bug Battle with their peers in the uTest Forums.

Which brings me to our latest bug-hunting competition. This quarter’s uTest Bug Battle will challenge testers to find bugs on the web AND mobile apps of the four major TV networks: CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX.

The competition gets started this Friday, February 5 at Noon (ET). At that time, testers from our community will be given one week to search these sites for the most compelling bugs, and to report them through our online platform. We’ll be dishing out nearly $4,000 in prize money for categories like Top Tester, Best Bug and Best Survey Feedback. As an added twist, we’re also including prizes for the Best Mobile Bugs.

More details on this Bug Battle – as well the rules, prizes and deadlines – after this commercial break. Just kidding, you can find them in the “Bug Battle” thread in the uTest Forums and we’ll be sharing more details here in the next few days.

So testers, you’ve got a few days to prepare for our most challenging competition to date. Until then, stay tuned.