I was contacted this week by Google to be a ‘trailblazer’ for a new app they are testing called Shoestring. Shoestring aims at connecting people through user-reported or -created events that will “loop,” swoop, and pull you in based on your interests.
Which, while flattering, kind of just felt like future me reaching out to present me, if future me also had the backing of a massive tech conglomerate, and saying, hey- we’re just trying to do the exact same thing that you’re trying to do here. I see that you’re trying to connect people, to tie up the loose ends that we’ve made of ourselves now that technology has become such that we can be socially satisfied with little to no human connection at all. I see that you’re just trying to connect people based on the things that they like to do and unique events that can only be found here, in this city. We’re trying to, too! So now, try to do it using our expensive little interface and let’s see if we can make the world better.
I see you Google, trying to bring it all back home a bit, to a time when, instead of saying, “Ok, Google, what’s the temperature outside?” we just walked outside and decided if we had to go back in for a scarf. I see you trying to scale it back, to make us all human again. And I sure as hell hope that people will follow the digital little trail I blaze, that they’ll want to follow my footsteps via your Shoestring, and that someday soon, we can all be together again.
But I hope too that they recognize the little “Beta” flag on your app. And mine? Well, mine’s been thoroughly tested and I think, approved. But ok, Google… let’s both keep trying.
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