Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
Facebook Arrests
So I happened to catch this little nugget in the morning news and what a great find. So looks like the New Zealand Police have found a way to utilize social networking sites to help solve crimes. This little guy decided to break into a pub and attempt to crack a safe, while in there, he also maybe thought it would be a good idea to take off his mask and gloves… then look around… giving the security camera a clear shot of his face. So the next day, the Queenstown police simply posted the pic on Facebook and let the community point straight to the culprit. He was arrested the day after they posted the pic. You can read the full article here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/14/nz.facebook.arrest/index.html
So this brings me to something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, have we as a culture lost any true sense of privacy? It seems like these days every aspect of our lives can literally be broadcast to the entire world. We’re followed by webcams, we constantly update our ’status’ and we run on about everything on our blogs. I think its a bit of a double edged battle axe (wait, aren’t all battle axes double edged?). In one sense, the ability to be connected to everyone at all times can be quite useful (and addicting) but at the same time, we become so vulnerable to relatively simple invasions of privacy. I guess to a certain degree that invasion is brought on simply by being a part of these massive online communities, but other times, its becomes a much bigger problem… like for this poor fool in New Zealand.
Either way, I think it will be interesting to see where this whole online social mega-sphere goes as we push through the years. Its still so fresh and new, in the grand scheme of things, that I think we won’t really see its true form for at least another couple years. What will it bring?
Jackie on January 14th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Well, on a similar note… I think that the younger generation is missing out on the art of verbal communication. “Text messaging” has replaced that first phone call from the boy who wants to ask you out on a date. I remember being nervous….What would we say, would i say the right thing etc. I dont know I just think it’s kinda sad how we’ve lost that voice to voice contact. Jackie