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    Just shoot me

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    I HAVE TO CONFESS, I’M A SCREENER.

    I received a letter by snail mail the other day. In big red letters across the front, it said ‘YOU ARE A WINNER!’ I binned it, unopened. I may not be a winner, but I’m not a loser either.

    I love my answering machine. It’s handy when I’m out and someone wants to leave a message. But it’s even handier when I’m in, to screen calls. It’s a known fact a telemarketer will not leave a message and that friends and family will always call during dinner or prime time.

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     Illustration: Allison de Kruiff

    Of course, the persistent relative or friend will then try the mobile. Like the landline, I have options. With caller ID, I can tell who it is. My phone asks me a simple question: ‘Answer?’ With the touch of a button, the caller is dispatched to voicemail.

    I can always call them back and start a game of phone tennis. Or, I could just send a text later, but this carries with it an inherent danger. Along with the text message a little bit of information is added. It goes like this: the person who has just sent this text message has their phone switched on and is probably pretty close to it. Sometimes, that’s too much information.

    The advent of the answering machine heralded the game of phone tennis. With the evolution of technology, phone tennis has morphed into paintball. Instead of the ‘leave a message/call back’ scenario, with mobile phones, instant messaging and voice-over IP, we can be targeted anywhere, anytime.

    Email is the same. What’s with the sticky beak return receipt? You used to open up a message and zoom, off went a reply dobbing you in, telling the sender (who had probably already left a voicemail) that, yes, you are at your desk and yes, you have opened their email. Possibly by popular demand, the email providers soon added a pop-up window warning that this email was sent by a sticky beak, do you want to give them the satisfaction of sending a return receipt? The answer is always ‘no’.

    Each new communication technology (often belatedly) brings new barriers so users can protect themselves from privacy invasion. Instant messaging is spreading like wild fire and is the preferred method of communication for a generation of teens who have never been out of touch. A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that three-quarters of teenagers use IM, while email is reserved for more formal communications, generally with ‘old’ people like teachers and other superiors.

    Instant messaging is the most intrusive communication technology to date. Once you are part of a ‘buddy list’, whenever you sign in your buddies will be notified, unless of course, you configure yourself as ‘invisible’. Teenagers like to be always on, however, and the ‘away message’ allows them to keep their buddies up-todate on the minutiae of daily life. For example, ‘Nature is calling and I’m answering’ or ‘I’m spending some quality time with my pillow’.

    How we communicate in the future is not only unknowable, it is unthinkable. As communications technology speeds ahead, making us more accessible and more connected than ever, we may be momentarily blind to the intrusion and its impact on our lives. Then, somebody will arrange some camouflage gear and a bunker, and it’s game on.

    Michele Crowley is configured as invisible, but her email address is
    [email protected]