Twitter wants to add your location to tweets.

According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, the microblogging social media community that is Twitter is taking a cue from Facebook and its location settings. The company is currently testing a feature that has merely been called “Nearby,” a feature which would change the way Twitter displays tweets.

Of course, if the update makes its way to mass implementation, a Twitter user would still be able to see the tweets of all the people they follow in their feed. However, they would also see a number of “local” tweets made by people in a nearby geographical radius. These “Nearby” tweets would appear regardless of whether or not the user was following – or even familiar with – the people making them.

In other words, geographical location and close proximity would overtrump the original concept of Twitter as a customized news feed of sorts. However, the “Nearby” tweets would have  their own menu and  feed and would not simply crop up in the regular Twitter feed. Instead, mobile users would notice a “Nearby” tab added to the bottom bar of their screen, along with options for “Home,” “Connect,” “Discover,” and “Me.”

After selecting the “Nearby” menu, mobile Twitter users would be treated to a split screen. The upper half would contain a map, with a blue dot indicating the user’s position and the lower half presenting tweets recently made in the same geographical space. In essence, the feature offers new ways to connect with people through Twitter, both in real life and in the social media space.

It isn’t clear whether or not the “Nearby” feature would work only on mobile, where close GPS tracking is possible and viable. This also isn’t the first time Twitter has tried to implement location aspects into its tweet model. The social media service added a location option in 2010, giving users the option to broadcast their geographical location along with ever tweet they make.

However, the location feature as it stands currently is turned off by default. In order to make “Nearby” not only operational, but popular, Twitter would either have to get users to switch on their location setting or to force their hand in the matter. It’s an obstacle for Twitter to face before this feature becomes mainstream, and it’s one that could cause a big privacy uproar.

Privacy issues are something Twitter could stand to do without right now. Just last week, the company came under fire for making the block feature less effective and effectively opening up Twitter to stalkers and other unsavory criminals in the process. The same critics will likely be up in arms about the stalkerish implications of the “Nearby” feature.