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September 01, 2010
For the stalker in all of us
Say Hello to my new BlackBerry Bold, originally uploaded by Timothy TL.
I think it should be fairly obvious that I am not technology-averse. I write this blog, I have a twitter page, I have a Facebook page, and on and on. But even I have to draw the line somewhere - and for me, that is when people are able to keep tabs on what I am doing, without my tacit consent.
For example, suppose I want to avoid somebody, or I make up a lie to get out of going somewhere I don't want to go. I mean, even *I* just want to stay on the couch and veg out. Used to be, all you had to do was take your phone off the hook and turn on some Morrison Hotel. Now, you have so many other things to avoid - Facebook might randomly post that I am playing a game, or update my location to say that I am, in fact, stuffing my face at Philly's Best. These sorts of things are all well and good, except when the internet is ratting you out.
Now, I have no sympathy for people who get busted after deliberately updating a Facebook page - for example, the genius who called in sick to work, and then posted pictures of himself drunk at a Halloween party on his "sick day." But, I do have sympathy for those whose lies are uncovered by the work of others, such as when a photo of you gets "tagged" or Facebook uses your phone's GPS to say where you are.
Blackberry, meanwhile, seems to have come up with the mother of all annoyances. Blackberry Messenger, or BBM - which sounds a little too much like a personal-ad staple for my liking - lets you know if the person you have sent a text message to has read it.
What possible good does this do? I, for one, do not want people knowing if I read their stupid message. I can reply to that message when I want, if I want. This message-read feature basically turns you into a hostage of the sender, because now you can be subject to all sorts of "why didn't you read my message" accusations. (However, I also think it's safe to assume that a text message has been read after two or three hours, unless that person is on safari or something.)
Social media and the internet is all well and good, but not when it starts to put out information about you that you don't want broadcast. Yes, in the scheme of things, whether or not you read someone's message is innocuous, but it can be frustrating. I, for one, hope it stops.
entry no. 1507
Posted at September 1, 2010 09:10 AM