In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, I thought I’d look for something mildly scary (for wussy people like me) and found this article on the New York Times Blog, Mysterious Site Creates a Horror Movie, Starring You.
This site works by mining Facebook information, willingly given by the owner of the account (or, as in my case, given with great reservation). In the name of research, I allowed ‘Take This Lollipop’ access to my Facebook account.
To quote the author of the article, Jenna Worthham, the mastermind behind this online interactive site, Jason Zada, a television and music director who works in Los Angeles and San Francisco, “…promises that the site is intended purely for entertainment, and a fun, seasonal thrill.”
I was unnerved by how quickly this video assimilated my personal information, including my friends and photos, into its environment. It’s frightening to remember that anyone with these coding skills can hack into our social media accounts and cause catastrophic damage (i.e. the ‘Love’ virus on Facebook).
Paranoia aside, I’m a big baby when it comes to the horror genre in any medium and this interactive video creeped me out!
I’m not so sure I would participate again as I’m not sure if the creator, Jason Zada, will continue to have access to my Facebook account. I can only assume that the author will live up to his word by discarding my personal information (like my ‘Friends’ list) afterwards. I truly hope that he’s an honest man or this really will be a horror story!
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/mysterious-site-creates-a-horror-movie-starring-you/?ref=socialnetworking
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