Saturday, March 21, 2015

What about anti-social media devices?

(I originally posted this on -- where else? -- Facebook, but since I tend to wipe my posts there after about a week or so and since I sorta like this concept, I'm reposting it here.)

I
 had an odd idea at the Faerie III opener. Lots of people were buzzing around the small space, most of them talking and observing, but quite a few also taking pictures and video to share later. I thought about a conversation I'd had with CM about how, more and more, certain people are obsessively documenting almost every stray event in their lives on social media, and that not everyone who accompanies them to various events has that same level of keenness for social media participation -- that there may come a time in the very near future when people turn down offers to go out with friends because they don't want the whole experience shared with the world for the sake of likes and comments. Those events in turn connected with several articles I've read lately about virtual cloaking devices that, under the right conditions, can make objects "invisible."

And I thought: How long will it be until you can go to a public event with some sort of tagging device on you that automatically renders you "invisible" to smartphones, digital cameras, etc. so you can mix and mingle with folks who physically attend the event, but you don't appear in any visual documentation for social media purposes? As someone who usually hates to be photographed, I see a blossoming market for a device like this.

You could call it Vampire Mode!

No comments: