Last Thursday, during the WebbyConnect conference, there was a panel entitled “Hear, See Everything (Except This)” with Caterina Fake, the co-founder of Flickr, and Shawn Gold, Head of Marketing & Content Development for MySpace. The general topic was the issue of privacy in the age of social networking.
But it popped to mind because of a comment Fake made while explaining the history of Flickr. She talked about how we often base metaphors from the previous technology while describing some new disruptive technology; the classic example is “horseless carriage.” In the early days on online photos, collections would always be described as “photo albums” or “galleries.” The thing about albums (i.e., a book which holds a collection of photos) is that it’s meant to be shared with only friends and family. But Fake described Flickr as a digital native service and she’s right. Why not throw up your vacation photos, tag them appropriately, and let random strangers stumble across them? She said it was part of the “culture of generosity” of the Internet, with people contributing their voices.
I thought of this because of an ad in a recent issue of National Review (10/08/07). It’s for the Jitterbug cell phone, a phone clearly designed for older folks. Most cell phones are admittedly tricky to use, with small screens and smaller buttons, so it’s nice that the Jitterbug and other models are out there. But it lists this as one of its features: “Familiar dial tone confirms service (no other cell phone has this).”
This is ridiculous. In the old days, you’d pick up the phone and the human operator would answer and then connect your call. As automated dialing was rolled out, the dial tone was used as an audio signal that the line was free to use, because otherwise you’d just have silence. Now, if you want to know if your mobile phone is available for use, you look at the goddam display and see if you have a signal.
I don’t care how old the user is, a cell phone is a disruptive technology. It’s totally different from a landline phone and requires different behavior and different attitudes toward communication. Even if you don’t care about texting or Net access, you have to deal with a phone that follows you everywhere and can ring at any time. I’m just saying, even if you’re 80, I don’t see why you can’t learn to look at a visual display, maybe a nice big icon on the screen that tells you when you can make a call. Why use the outmoded metaphor?
[Rant over.]
Gold had some interesting comments about how today’s young people are okay with giving up their privacy because they have grown up under total surveillance (e.g. see this post on parenting styles). These kids have been totally protected and observed, so why worry about privacy? He also attributed today’s online openness to the desire to have an audience at all times. He referenced the famous quote (which he attributed to Oscar Levant, but I believe it’s actually Evelyn Waugh): “We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us, but for ours to amuse them.”
The panel noted that there is a new trend in services that erase your online trail, despite what we’ve been told about how this can’t be done. Is throwing those photos online of you doing tequila shots in your bra and panties during Rush Week like tattoos? You thought it was permanent and would come back to haunt you, but now you can get them lasered off?
[One of my fellow attendees also blogged about this panel.]
Tags: Flickr, MySpace, cell phones, seniors, disruptive technology, Caterina Fake, Shawn Gold, WebbyConnect, Jitterbug
One Response
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PPaul Says:
My 86 year old Dad loves his phone. One word of caution–we have had a couple of cases of questionable billing. I would recommend taking the credit card info off their file especially if it’s a Senior. It just seems a little too easy for Jitterbug to abuse and in many cases, the Seniors are less likely to follow-up on a questionable billing. My Dad would have paid his since the billing line was in bold red writing (and HAD in fact, already been deducted from his credit card). That kind of statement scares this generation and they pay bills even if they don’t understand them. In my Dad’s case, he would have paid $167 that he had already paid!