Technology gets blamed for anti-social behavior, everyone staring at their phones, sucked into their own online worlds.
A quirky messaging app called Somebody by performer/filmmaker Miranda July aims for the opposite.
On Somebody, users post a message and bank on the kindness and courage of strangers to have it delivered in person. Picture users performing your text messages as a monologue, complete with emotions and actions as indicated in the note.
Odd and inefficient, but also an interesting concept. Of course, July, who will be performing this month at the Walker Art Center — a Somebody "hotspot" — made a short film about it. (See below.)
"I hoped it would simply be a way out, a portal that leads from ones phone to the real world," she said. "You can't use the app to deliver a message without looking up, looking around, seeing who is out there right around you."
What's with the "hotspot" at the Walker?
Well, the app only works when you've got a critical mass of users in the same area. The idea is that museum-goers use it while wandering among the art.
When the app works, it takes "the casualness of text messaging and emailing people and almost turns it into a ritualized performance experience," said Andrea Brown, associate director of digital marketing and e-commerce at Walker.
