On the train last night a usually quiet carriage was filling with laughter as a fairly loud woman shouted down her mobile phone about a relationship issue she was currently having. The relationship issue, to put it politely, was not something that should've been shared with an entire carriage of people, or for that matter, anyone but her nearest and dearest and the public declaration of her issues were causing quite a stir.
But as I watched people laughing, at the concept of this woman sharing publicly her woes, I then gazed round to see all the mocking passengers whack out their iPhones or laptops and start Tweeting about the event, being as equally public about their reaction to the hilarities in front of them. Right now, I'm blogging about the moment hoping that as many people read this as possible. So, a carriage full of people laughing at someone for being open in public have actually gone and done exactly the same thing.
Is it a bad thing? It would be too judgemental of me to make a decision here and now, but what can't be argued is that very little in this world now is private. The development of mobile applications means people type or talk on impulse and react quickly to their surroundings. People walk past funny adverts and send images immediately to their friends. People have bad meals in restaurants and immediately slate the place on their Twitter feed.
The point I'm making here is that like it or not, information is shared and made openly available like never before. Privacy barriers are being broken down and there is one big world of insight, opinion and reaction just crying out to be read. If you're a business, why wouldn't you use this to your advantage?
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