Has Technology Changed your Stance on Privacy?

You share your life online.  You can see what your friends and family are doing whenever you want.  You can face to face talk for free with family across seas that once cost you a butt load of money to do non face to face.  You can let the world know you arrived at a store and the store will reward you with something free or discounted.  You allow companies to access (maybe you didn’t know that) your personal Facebook account information online that in turn gives you a custom experience designed just for you and your interests.

All these things are absolutely amazing.  You stumble across new things now that you didn’t even know existed.  We are more connected than ever in the history of the world.

With all of these amazing technologies, my question to you is this:

Has the awesomeness of technology changed your stance on privacy?

Why Do We Demand Rewards?

As I looked into why kids and adults seek rewards for things that in the past never quantified such a response, I’ve come to the theory that video games are at the top of the list for our ongoing feelings of needing some kind of reward for our actions.

When playing video games, you unlock benefits either through finding secret places or completing levels and tasks. If you look at the current generation of kids all the way to the generation of technology leaders, video games have played a huge part in our upbringing. So much so, that we now want to bring the joy of unlocking rewards into our real life through the levels we complete on the variety of mobile checkin platforms.

Now if only there was a mushroom that could make me taller….

Rewarding Mediocrity

We reward children for things that never required a reward in the past. In early childhood sports, everyone gets a trophy and a pat on the back whether they win or lose. People bribe their children with money and gifts to clean their rooms. Are we teaching our kids that life rewards mediocrity?

A tough reality is headed their way – or so we might think.

Adults now are being rewarded for mediocrity as well. Last week Facebook Places moved towards offering businesses the opportunity to offer discounts and specials to people who checked in at their locations. The GAP company jumped on that and offered free jeans to people who came out and checked in.

It’s hard to gauge the future impact of rewarding children and adults for doing things that really required no effort (or reward in the past). But the fact is rewarding mediocrity has grown up, and from a consumer perspective, you’ll hear no complaints.

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