It Takes a Village to Find a Phone

An interesting story was brought to my attention in chapter 1 of Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody, and it is a story that is becoming much more common than when the event happened.

Here's a quick overview: In 2006, a woman named Ivanna left her cellphone, a Sidekick, in the backseat of a taxi. Ivanna found out that her phone -- which contained important information regarding her wedding plans -- ended up in the hands of a young girl named Sasha. When Sasha refused to return the cell phone, what followed was amazing and uncommon in 2006. Ivanna's friend Evan set up a website and filled the Internet with the story of the stolen Sidekick, catching the attention of thousands of people who quickly rushed to support Ivanna in getting her cell phone back. The attention gained from Evan's efforts eventually convinced the NYPD to change the nature of the situation from "lost phone" to "stolen phone" and intervene, eventually returning Ivanna's phone to her. The full story can be found here: Evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick

In 2006 it wasn't quite as common for the world to be connected via the Internet, nor was this type of support from strangers common. Now we see images on Facebook every day claiming that if the picture of an injured child can get a certain number of "likes" then doctors will miraculously heal the child. These photos often have thousands of "likes", even if it's a complete hoax. (From my understanding, it pretty much always is).

On page 21 of Shirky's book, he states something that really expresses what is happening today with Internet connectedness: "And as we would expect, when desire is high and costs have collapsed, the number of such groups is skyrocketing, and the kinds of effects they are having on the world is spreading." Because of technology and the Internet, we no longer have to go door to door with a petition to get a large group of people to rally to a cause. It no longer takes a lot of money to start an organization and get more donations or to sell products. Instead, these sorts of things can be done on a website or a Facebook group at almost no cost whatsoever, and they often have even greater results.

This can be a great thing, but it can also be tremendously damaging. For instance, Ivanna got her cell phone back, but at the same time Sasha was being scrutinized by thousands of strangers, and often discussions about race and the military came into play. (Sasha is Hispanic and her brother Luis was in the Military Police). People often threatened violence towards Sasha and her family, and some of them found out where she lived. This type of behavior can easily get out of hand, and the Internet is often seen as a mask that keeps users anonymous so they can get away with such things.

The story of the stolen Sidekick is yet another example of how technology is neutral, but can easily be used for good or for bad. It is hard to say just yet which usage is more common.