BBM, texting, and email

So we are all used to getting spammed on every email account we have. Last week for instance, I got an email from AVON, a company I have never made a purchase from, to my RIT email account, an account I use for nothing but school work. AVON's email did not even have a link directing me how to be removed from their email list.

Well I used to think that email spam was annoying enough, up until I got an email telling me that my phone number may or may not be on a text messaging list that will "allow" me to recieve promotional offers to my cell phone. Now, I can be solicited via all electronic sources, rather than just my email. This summer, a PR professional that I worked with passed on her newly found knowledge that the new wave of solicitation and advertising will be text messages sent to your phone via Bluetooth when you pass a billboard or advertisement or perhaps a company's office. I understand that Billy Fuccillo would like everyone to know how HUUUGE his deals are, but I prefer to not get direct text messages from him.

When I first started text messaging, I thought it was sort of cool that I could see when another Verizon customer recieved my text messages, allowing my to ensure that my text message made it to their phone. I then learned that on BlackBerry phones and smart phones, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) allows you to not only see that a message was sent, but also when it was received and even read. Forget trying to ignore an unwanted message, because everyone now knows that you opened your text, and that six minutes later you still have not replied.

I can see where these tools can be useful in some ways. However, for the sake f privacy, I don't always want creepy dude from work knowing that I am ignoring his BBMs, and I don't want William Mattar's law firm text messaging me about being hurt in a car while I am driving. I think that often, people are motivated by selling something, but forget that sometimes more is not better. Sometimes ignorance is bliss and less is more. I think back to class last week when we discussed life without the internet, and how simple life was. Yes, I was much younger, and more naive, but life was simplier. I didn't worry if my boyfriend got my message and hasn't called me back right away. I didn't feel the need to spend money just because Victoria's Secret was having a one day 20% every purchase over $120 dollars. I didn't need to be so connected with the world all the time, and I didn't worry about forgetting my phone at home because I didn't have a cell phone. I think that all of the ways we can distribute and transmit information is overwhelming and I think perhaps in the future it would be better to look at ways to convey information without all of these channels and outlets, but to focus rather on simplifying. After all, there was a time when the daily paper was all one person needed to get anything they needed, from Classifieds to Headlines, Obituaries to Comics.