Lauren McCarthy-Follower

In her talk at the 2017 Gray Area Festival, Lauren McCarthy spoke about her project called Follower. Users could apply to be followed and if selected, they would receive a link to download the follower app. This service would allow the user to be followed by an anonymous person for one day. The follower would have the GPS location of the user and physically follows them while remaining hidden. At the end of the day, the user will be told through their app that they will no longer be followed. They will also be showed a picture of themselves that their follower took of them during that day. With this project, McCarthy brings up a lot of interesting points about the idea of being followed. With the growing presence of social media, users may get too focused on their follower count that it count affect their behavior both on and offline. In effort to show off having a “perfect” life, or the image of it, people may become selective to what they post online, and/or modify their behaviors in real life just to get a picture or video that they can post online. It also brings up the idea that with social media, users may feel like they have to showcase every moment of their life, whether big or small. While it seems reasonable to share momentous occasions with friends and family, we are also able to share these personal moments with complete strangers online. This also brings up the issues with privacy and security when sharing information online and the question of when does following become stalking. But I think personally, I would be interested in having Follower for a day, to see how it may make me more conscious of my actions, knowing that someone could be watching me. However on the other hand, I also think that I would feel a bit paranoid over the idea that there is someone out there that is constantly watching me.