A few short months ago, I finally made the ultimate upgrade from my beloved Blackberry to join the beautiful and growing iPhone club. Although I had considered myself “creepy” at times and “awkward” (most of the time) before this switch took place, my level of understanding of what is socially acceptable went way downhill with the ‘help’ of a few apps.
1. SnapChat
The app that makes it completely acceptable, even encouraged, to send someone a selfie of yourself, because you know, they really need to see what you look like in that exact moment, and you really want to show them (even if that includes a double chin). Often you include a message that could have just as easily been texted to them like a normal person, but for some reason it just adds so much when your face is attached, maybe with a funny mustache or something drawn on as well. This app is great for those who might forget what their friends look like every time they talk to them, however the pictures will disappear in an average of about five seconds. SnapChat is for the ultra-creepers, the procrastinators, and the self-lovers, who can confidently send the most ugly picture of themselves to 15+ people at a time.
2. Twitter
It may not seem creepy at first, maybe silly at best; telling all your followers where you are, what you might be doing or eating, who cares? If used “correctly” however, Twitter can give you the easiest access to talk to celebrities, corporations, professors, and then of course camp friends or random people you went to high school with, all in the same tweet! Each tweet I favorite of Jason Segals’ give me the slightest bit of hope that maybe he’ll recognize how intently I follow him. Because yes, Twitter has made me feel important enough to reach out and attempt to talk to celebrities, and although I am beginning to be more aware that I may never get a response, I still hold out hope, constantly checking to see if just maybe I’ve gotten on their radar. I await some recognition of my extremely unoriginal attempt at being a funny and loving fan.
3. Facebook Mobile
As if procrastinating on Facebook during class wasn’t enough! Here’s an app that gives you all the creepiness that embodies Facebook, in a more concise and immediate forum. Find out what’s on people’s minds, who they are with, and where, in literally, one swipe. Want to know where someone will be this weekend? I’m sure they’ve clicked ‘attending’ to an event or two so you definitely know where to find ‘em. And then, because we all know this has happened to you: talking to someone in person, hearing about their weekend, and having to pretend that you didn’t stalk them. You pretend to seem interested as they tell you about the concert they went to, and that their boyfriend or girlfriend was in town, although you’ve already seen it come up on your newsfeed and seen the the photos, status updates, check-ins or videos that give you a play-by-play. Why post all these things if it’s not really social acceptable for people to admit they’ve already seen them within seconds? How about when you’re on facebook mobile while walking to class, waiting for food to cook, or in the bathroom (let’s be real) and scrolling down your entire newsfeed. For whatever reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to have the access to all of this right in your pocket.
4. Synched Contacts
Now lucky for me, when I first received my iPhone, it was already updated to the iOS6 software. This software, as many of you may know, gives you the opportunity to automatically sync your Facebook contacts into your phone contacts, allowing you to ‘text’ or ‘call’ someone from your phone, directly to their Facebook account. As an avid Facebook user and friend requester (I’m in a sorority after all), this meant that for the short period I did have my contacts synced, people I had barely spoken to before already had a place in my contact list. When people would give me their number, the option to “create a new contact” was no longer, rather their number would be added to all the other information my phone seemed to already have about them, from their birthday to their first AIM screen name in fourth grade to what high school they went to. This has not only made me much more “knowledgeable”, but also slightly afraid to put people’s numbers in my phone. Although I guess it means something to add an actual phone number or means of communication to someone’s name rather than the obscure screen name piggyPrincess4eVr123.
5. Find My Friends
Find My Friends gives you the ability to check the exact location of a friend with the click of a button. Whether they are at a bar downtown, or in their sorority house in California, my life went from “where are you?” to “I know you’re at the library, what are you working on? Can I join?” very quickly upon downloading this app. Although it has the potential to be extremely helpful in regards to making plans and literally being directed to someone (attempting to give a friend directions to the bus stop I was stranded in, she simply plugged in my location from FMF into Maps and found me!), it just might be the creepiest app of them all, the app to have crossed the line on the spectrum of social media. I’ll never forget the first time someone told me they knew I had just left my apartment because FMF had sent them a notification…and this person lives 3,000 miles away!