Wisdom of the Crowd

  Last night I started watching Wisdom of the Crowd. It's a great show about social media and how it could be used to solve crimes. While it is a work of fiction created by Ted Humphrey, it's not so far fetched. 

  Social media follows our every move. Thinking about a winter get-a-way? Check out a few websites and chances are the next time you check Facebook there will be a post from a hotel or airlines. I get shoes ads daily...no idea how they got there...wink wink. Twitter suggests things daily based on who you follow and what you like or re-tweet.  Big brother is now a reality.

  So why wouldn't the police use this network of amateur detectives to help solve crimes? It could be done so easily. Just last week a local restaurant posted a CCTV picture of two men who didn't pay their $100+ bill on their Facebook site, which I don't follow, but within an hour of them posting I saw the photo. All of my "friends" two hundred plus "friends" saw it too. If only one of them shared it that could be over a thousand people from one share! What an easy way to get info out.

   Lots of people "check in" when they go to a restaurant, theater, bar etc. I see it immediately on your feed. I know you are not at home. Or worse yet you check in from an airport or a Caribbean resort. Now I know you are gone for at least a few days. If I'm a criminal well I've picked my next target. It's an easy way to pick them. Don't believe me? Ask Kim Kardashian. The idea that the police can use the same information for good is heart-warming.

  We are all guilty of sharing too much. Sharing our lives with friends and relatives who live far away via social media is technology at it's best in my opinion. But it comes with a cost. We lose privacy. And our own addiction to these platforms is to blame for our loses. I've heard this statement from many, many people...if it's not on Facebook/Twitter/Snapchat/Instagram it didn't happen! Interesting.

  I'm okay with the police using my social media activities to solve crimes. At least my many hours on line wouldn't be just wasted time!

  Ang