ispy Wrap Up

Andrejevic wraps up the final few chapters with several key points as well as a summation of previous chapters. Along the lines of virtual communication, Andrejevic discusses social networks and the world of online dating. Social networks such as facebook, myspace, friendster, etc. all allow for social interaction. They are simply platforms in which people can customize their own user profile as they wish. With more than 100 million active users, Facebook is the 4th most trafficked website in the world and the most trafficked social media site in the world. The fastest growing demographic that utilize this service is 25 years old and older.

There are countless services for online dating. Imagine the convenience of not having to leave the privacy of your home when looking for a companion. All done behind a screen, someone can set up a match.com user account and begin the search. Not just match.com, but others such as eharmony, jdate, search your love, yahoo, etc. all serve the same purpose. People looking for other people and in most cases desiring some form of a relationship. How do you know if someone is being truthful or not? People commonly misrepresent themselves. There are certain services that will offer complete background checks on the individuals you are inquiring. Even with this added safety feature, there are still many holes within the system. Unfortunately this leads to much frustration on behalf of the user who is misrepresented.

This segways into another realm of surveillance. The ability to google or research information regarding a certain someone can very easily be done. As Andrejevic addresses background verification... is it right for people to have access to a background history or possibly criminal history of someone else? Lateral surveillance or peer-to-peer monitoring encompasses romantic interests, family, and friends or acquaintances. This type of surveillance is engaged via google, cameras, lie detectors, cell phones, and instant messages. Has this gone too far? Is it appropriate to be keeping track of friends like this. Does that represent the qualities of a true friend? This peer-to-peer monitoring is done indirectly and appears to be second nature for most people. Constantly text messaging on the cell phone, checking email all the time, and facebook are prime examples. It will simply become more and more difficult to put a hamper upon this form of surveillance as technology will only continue to grow.