Tag: Apps

Creepiest Facebook App Ever

Posted on by Brian Lee

Not many people my age agree with me, but there are times when I think social media has gone too far. Case in point: the Facebook app If I Die.

This app allows you to record a message to send to your family, loved ones, and most importantly, your Facebook friends. Once your death has been confirmed it sends out your prerecorded message to your Facebook friends or posts what you have written to be your last status.

In theory I think this isn’t a strange idea. For those with a terminal illness it might be a useful way of saying goodbye, and people have been writing their loved ones goodbye letters for years. In today’s world, wanting to spread your final words to your timeline seems like a natural progression.

What really gets to me is the app’s new campaign, If I Die 1st.  Essentially, the company has teamed with various outlets and is offering to promote and share the parting words of the first person to die. Morbid, right?

Not only do I think it’s a bad idea to basically encourage people to be the first to die (imagine the problems that could arise with suicide attempts), but it’s the way in which the campaign’s video does it that really makes me uncomfortable.  The video highlights the need for fame, and since most of us won’t be conventionally famous, what’s a better way to make it happen than by having your dying words spread all over the internet?

The video itself is especially creepy, practically glorifying death and positioning the first person to die as the “winner” (Fun Fact: their website has a running total of Facebook deaths since August 2012, along with the estimated time of death of the winner).  When did our society decide that dying in order to broadcast your message to the world via social media was acceptable? I’m sorry, can’t we all just focus on living?

Creepiest Facebook App Ever

Posted on by Katelyn Youngblood

Not many people my age agree with me, but there are times when I think social media has gone too far. Case in point: the Facebook app If I Die.

This app allows you to record a message to send to your family, loved ones, and most importantly, your Facebook friends. Once your death has been confirmed it sends out your prerecorded message to your Facebook friends or posts what you have written to be your last status.

In theory I think this isn’t a strange idea. For those with a terminal illness it might be a useful way of saying goodbye, and people have been writing their loved ones goodbye letters for years. In today’s world, wanting to spread your final words to your timeline seems like a natural progression.

What really gets to me is the app’s new campaign, If I Die 1st.  Essentially, the company has teamed with various outlets and is offering to promote and share the parting words of the first person to die. Morbid, right?

Not only do I think it’s a bad idea to basically encourage people to be the first to die (imagine the problems that could arise with suicide attempts), but it’s the way in which the campaign’s video does it that really makes me uncomfortable.  The video highlights the need for fame, and since most of us won’t be conventionally famous, what’s a better way to make it happen than by having your dying words spread all over the internet?

The video itself is especially creepy, practically glorifying death and positioning the first person to die as the “winner” (Fun Fact: their website has a running total of Facebook deaths since August 2012, along with the estimated time of death of the winner).  When did our society decide that dying in order to broadcast your message to the world via social media was acceptable? I’m sorry, can’t we all just focus on living?

An Instagram worth a thousand words

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

Some might assume that the news of Instagram’s Android debut being delayed would disappoint my nerdy, amateur photographer self.  They would be wrong.

The social media site and app does seem to fit with my compulsive need to take and share pictures.  And I am excluded from joining because I actively refuse to join the cult of Apple.  But I am not particularly disappointed by the delay nor am I completely sold on Instagram’s potential for something beyond a photo sharing site.

My first hesitation is about the app and it’s fairly petty and more than a little pretentious.  With the ability to filter every picture into an “artistic” shot, I worry about oversaturation and a lack of ability to discern between a truly great picture and a picture that just mimics something truly great.  While I support art for the masses, I don’t think all pictures are created equal even if they are created by the same filter.   I mean, how many color distorted photos of cups of coffee or someone’s lunch are truly great pictures? Or how many do we really need for that matter?

But my second, and more valid, concern about Instagram is the need of its own social media site.  You can upload your Instagram photos to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.  It’s the redundancy of existing sites that has me concerned.  Obviously, for personal use it doesn’t matter as much but for marketing it might.  Other social media sites were able to find a unique niche for businesses that elevate them as a branding tool.  While businesses are using Instagram and using it well, I am not sure the site itself is a necessity.

I guess I am a little curious for the Android version to be released.  But not to join, instead I’m interested to see if my Instagram-apprehension is well-founded or not.  Though, I am willing to place bets that in a few months I’ll back track on everything I just said.  And then you will be able to enjoy all the vintage looking pictures of coffee cups I can upload.