Monday 9 December 2013

Resisting the Hijack.

I had an email the other day:

Joe Soap wants to add you to his Linkedin network.

It gave one option button:

Confirm you know Joe Soap.

Well, Joe Soap used to have a publishing company which printed a couple of my stories. We got on perfectly well, so I clicked the button. It took me into a page which required me to give the usual catalogue of personal information in order to first join their club. I don’t join clubs, and I don’t like giving personal information, so I deleted the whole thing.

This morning I got another email:

You haven’t replied to Joe Soap’s invitation yet. Confirm you know Joe Soap.

It irritated me; it reminded me of letters which say: You haven’t paid your phone bill yet. Do so immediately. I found a button which said unsubscribe, so I tried that. It irritated me further that I never subscribed in the first place.

It seems to me that the modern world is full of cyber people trying to waylay you into joining their clubs. They feel like hijackers and I dislike them.

But, of course, life generally is all about being hijacked into the club of rampant consumerism. I dislike that, too, but modern life has the insidious capacity to leave you largely isolated if you decline to succumb to the pressure. It's partly how I got here.

I continue to take what bits are valuable to me. They don't amount to much.

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