False Sense of Security

Ahh, modern technology. How did we ever manage to survive without it? Sometimes I find attempting to remember life without cell phones now conjures images equivalent to Paleolithic man attempting to master fire. But with the convenience, the amusement and the constant staying in touch offered by smartphones comes what I consider a huge, glaring problem that's largely overlooked -- privacy. To be more specific, your privacy when it comes to using apps.

It's no secret that sites like Google, Facebook and LinkedIn farm our personal information for a variety of purposes. Whether it's to expand business reach or to improve direct marketing, websites are becoming more and more invasive. But what I'm finding most disturbing recently is the invasive nature of smartphone apps, and the fact that we knowingly choose to let them blur (or cross) the privacy line.

A partial list of app permissions

Sure, we may initially feel uncomfortable with allowing our apps to have carte blanche access to our devices, but most of us cave and click "accept" anyway. Does my Yahoo fantasy football app really need to be able to "add or remove accounts, create accounts and set passwords"? Should Twitter be able to "modify or delete the contents of your USB storage"? Why should the Washington Post need my "approximate (network-based) location, precise (GPS) location"? None of those things are necessary, yet more and more apps demand such concessions from the user.

Is a silly app THAT important that we should sacrifice our precious privacy? Deep down we know it's like signing a deal with the devil, basically opening us up to marketing phone calls and identity theft, but for some reason we ignore common sense and do it anyway. In fact, I believe most people don't even read the laundry list of permissions apps demand before clicking "install." We spend time creating passwords and security measures to prevent other people from getting into our phones, yet we completely ignore those who are already in because we allowed it.

I've started to draw a line. A while back my Facebook app stopped working on my phone unless I would upgrade to the newest version. I noticed that the newest version had added some new, more invasive permissions that I needed to approve before upgrading that app. I decided enough was enough when it demanded to use my device's hardware to "record audio, take pictures and videos". Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to be OK with Facebook taking pictures of me and my surroundings at any time? No thanks. App deleted.

One of the reasons I find people's lack of attention to invasive app permissions rather amusing is the recent uproar over the NSA's spying practices. I find it infinitely comical that the average person would grow angry at the NSA for reading personal emails, when millions of those same people gave companies like Google permission to do the very same. The NSA is doing it for national security, Google is doing it for profit. Sure, the NSA invaded privacy, but is reading your lame, boring emails worse than Facebook using your smartphone camera to watch you change clothes? Let's put things in perspective here.

As I previously mentioned, I've become more discerning with the apps I wish to download and more diligent about reading the permissions they demand. I'd recommend everyone takes a few seconds to read through the list before rushing to install Candy Crush or Yelp. Sure, we'll probably keep installing the invasive apps anyway. But at least if we read the permissions we can't be surprised when someone at Instagram posts a nude video of us on YouTube... taken directly from our own phone cameras... with our permission.

Living Social

I hearby declare dead the days of referring to someone as a social butterfly. Why the death of the term, you may ask? Because it inherently refers to being social, an act that is more or less degrading into a curious form of being social without actually being social. It's gotten to the point that often we're no longer interacting with people, we're interacting with their electronic personas.

Confused yet? Me too. I contend "social" media has warped us into non-social beings. 

Before I am accused of being holier-than-thou, let me admit to my zealous use of social media. I do my best to keep it at a manageable, sane level. Admittedly, I do not always succeed.

Gone are my evenings spent returning one call after another, chatting and giggling with friends and family. Instead, I tend toward an online chat session that better allows me to multitask instead of focusing undivided attention on an individual. The same goes for texting or posting a message on someone's online message board or "wall", which allows for an even further lack of undivided attention because of the added lag time of waiting for a person to see the message and then respond.

Although older generations tend to blame the younger generation -- Gen Y or Millennials -- I don't think that's where all the blame for the social evolution (or is it devolution?) should fall. I've seen plenty of people aged 40+ walk into traffic while texting. Countless members of older generations can be spotted in public gazing intently at iPads, oblivious to those around them. The difference is that older generations grew up with classic social conditioning but millennials have grown up in an electronic society. The reality of it may be simply that our activities are changing the definition of the word "social" and the various generations will view the term differently over time.

I actually miss the days of not being tied to an electronic device and being able to tune out. Remember the refreshing time of saying you didn't receive a phone or email message and nobody questioned it? Now saying such a thing opens us up to criticism, considering so many of us carry smart phones and can respond to every person's every need every time.

Have we become so rude and removed that we outright prefer NOT to interact with humans in real time? Are we becoming social hermits? It sure seems that way when I look around in public and watch people engrossed in their mobile devices, yet I get a blank stare and sometimes even what appears to be a look of fear if I speak to them. Certainly, this is not always the case, but it's becoming increasingly the norm to succumb to the addictive grip of mobile devices and social media outlets. People would rather follow someone on Twitter, post a photo on Instagram or check how many "likes" they received on a Facebook post than talk to a fellow human in real time. Interacting with other humans without the aid of electronic devices now often leads to socially awkward situations.

Historically, humans needed to be more social simply to survive. Some hunted, others gathered and others kept watch over the young. Now we appear to believe we can do it all alone. I contend that the increasing distancing behaviors humans exhibit could not only negatively impact society, but ultimately lead to its demise. If there is a massive earth-changing event that threatens our existence, we will need to lean on others for support and survival. The way I see things progressing in today's society, we may be doomed.

The de-socialization of society will likely swing further into the anti-social hemisphere before it comes back around, if it does. I'll be curious to see if in 20 years or so the act of genuinely being social is so far gone that it actually comes around again in a new craze. I fully believe that the hipsters (or whichever group takes the place of the hipsters in 20 years) will look at classic social activities as being retro and will make them trendy once again.

Get Over It

Trends come and go, that's just how it is. But there are some that have come and I wish they'd go. Pronto. The speed with which technology spreads ideas has created quite the inundation of memes, videos, Tweets, etc. that allow plugged in people everywhere to get in on trends that previously may have remained (mercifully) localized and largely unknown. Everyone has some "in" things that they're "so over" and here are a few I'm ready to see fade into oblivion:

Tiny head or gargantuan cap?

-Flat brimmed caps -- I just don't get these. They look weird and enormous on people's heads. The fact that The Biebs adores them certainly doesn't elevate their status in my mind. Let's get back to the gently curved caps that look like they actually fit on the wearer's head. Flat brims are sort of like the ridiculous baggy pants trend. Which brings me to...

-Ridiculous baggy pants -- I know this is not something new, considering it was mentioned by the oh-so-eloquent Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) waaaay back in the 1995 movie Clueless, but it's still worth mentioning. We all fall victim to horrible fashion trends (ahem, ladies who showed thong straps in the early 2000s) so I can't be too harsh on the guys who let the pants hang down their butts. The underwear showing doesn't bother me so much as the dudes who sport so much of a pants droop that they can't walk down the street without holding their drawers up with their hand. The odd penguin waddle that ensues just seems uncomfortable and inefficient.

-"Old" Instagram Photos -- I think Instagram is fun, but I think putting certain filters on the photos to make them look old and weathered is just dumb. I know that the younger generation may not have yet experienced the fading, yellowing or even reddening of their childhood photographs so this seems novel. But let me assure them, that wasn't something that was typically celebrated... people usually did their best to PREVENT that from happening over time because it ruins the photo. Since the introduction of the smart phone in 2007, we have done nothing but compete to have the biggest, baddest, clearest cameras on our cell phones. But the introduction of those filters that makes photos grainy and faded instantly negated all the camera progress. Stop the madness and just post your gorgeous, crisp photos.

-Tom's Shoes -- Please note that I positively love the idea behind these shoes (for every pair purchased the company gives a pair to an impoverished child in a developing nation), but I just think they're ugly. The popular original Tom's design looks like the old lady canvas shoes that Kmart has been selling each summer since about the mid-1980s. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just don't find them attractive. There's even a Facebook page called "Tom's Shoes are Ugly and Annoying." Although Tom's has expanded its offerings slightly and now has a few less-ugly options, perhaps it could team up with Steve Madden or BCBG for a killer combo of fashionable charity. Until then, I'll just have to spend a little extra time buying cute shoes and then donating my running shoes to children in Africa instead of embracing the ease of buying from Tom's.

-Cleanses, Juicing, Diet Fad du Jour -- It seems like everyone wishing to be more health conscious is trying a "cleanse" these days. The reality is many people just use the purported health benefits as an excuse to try these diets which also claim to shed pounds at record speeds. Some of them, like juice cleanses, are downright ridiculous. And for some reason, people who are doing a silly diet insist on bludgeoning those around them with every silly detail of the silly suffering. Instead of jumping on every get-thin-quick fad that isn't sustainable over the long term, I'd really like to see people embrace better exercise and daily eating habits which can be practiced for a lifetime.

-PBR -- Having grown up in Milwaukee, I'm fond of this former-hometown beer. But we always picked it up for dirt cheap prices. Now the hipsters have ruined everything and prices for the blue ribbon of beers are jacked up at the bars. Pabst Blue Ribbon is one of my examples of "I loved this before it was popular and now I hate it."

 Gross Facial Hair Anonymous

-Hipster Facial Hair -- Sure, at first those little staches with the funny curled ends looked retro and cute. That is, until every post-pubescent hipster or hippy or downright dirty or wannabe cool male started sporting real life molester mustaches. Full blown unruly, raggedy beards followed, often complete with holes where the hair won't grow in right. Dudes, cut the porn staches because for the most part they just look creepy and stupid. If you're going to go full beard, at least groom it. I'm curious to hear how people regularly kiss these men with copious amounts of scraggly facial hair... my face is raw just thinking about it. You know the trend has gone overboard when scores of women and kids join in on the facial hair trend and sport stick-on staches.

Just no.

Enough!

OK, rant finished. I'm sure there are countless other trends I missed that need to be over, ASAP. Let me know if you have other groan-worthy examples of overly-hyped ideas society needs to let fall to the wayside.