A journalist from a midlands paper phoned a couple of weeks ago to ask about thoughts on the appointment to a new parish.
“How did you know? There’s nothing on any church website yet.”
“You put it on your blog. I have a Google Alert for the names of the local towns”.
“Ah, yes”.
There was the realization that Google Alerts mean that as well as watching others, you can be watched yourself. The only alerts I have are for the blog and my own names, but any number would be possible. Journalists can set alerts for particular names and places of interest and get a daily update on what is going on.
The alerts are fine, but if a more proactive approach is desired, then searches throw up all sorts of unimagined information. Sometimes people have been careless in posting their details, or in not controlling their social networking settings, or in not watching what others are doing with their information, but in very short time it is often possible to build up a picture of someone without them ever knowing.
There was a Stylistics song back in 1973, Peek- a-boo, a very gentle song about a young man’s devotion to his beloved:
Every single day
As you pass this way
I know just what to say
But I can’t find
The words to tell you
Each and every day
My love grows and grows
More than before
So maybe, I’ll just sayOh, Oh! Peek-A-Boo!
Guess who’s watching you
Oh, Oh! Peek-A-Boo!
Guess who’s loving you
Oh, Oh! Peek-A-Boo!
Guess who’s watching youCan’t you realize
As you pass me by
the love that’s in my heart
So what’s keeping us apart
Even though I know will win your heart
I’ll wait just one more day
Just to see youI’ll wait just
One more day
Just to see you’.
How many of us have tried to engineer chance meetings with those we have found attractive? How many times have we waited in certain places at certain times in the hope that they might pass by? How many times have we pretended that it was sheer coincidence that we were somewhere when the other person happened to come along?
Had there been, in 1973, the technology we now have, how might the lyrics have changed?
But if a text message saying ‘Peek-a-boo’ was sent to someone whose mobile number was publicly available on the Internet, how might they respond? It would be unlikely to be the response hoped for in the song!