The fact that you can do almost everything on your cell phone these days is really nothing new. People have been updating their Facebook statuses or tweeting on-the-go for a couple of years now. We’ve been able to tell our friends where we are and what we’re doing without even having to directly talk to them. However, there is a new phenomenon occurring right now that is taking this constant stream of information to the extreme… It’s the mobile upload.
Just a couple of weekends ago, while out with friends in Boston, I received a text from my friend in Connecticut about the outfit I was wearing. Needless to say, I was very confused. Did I tell her what I was wearing earlier? Is she stalking me? Turns out it was neither, she had just seen a picture that my friend mobile uploaded of me minutes earlier. Creepy? A little. Cool? I’d say so.
The mobile upload first gained popularity a couple years ago. It was definitely not as popular as it is today, but every once and a while you would see a picture taken from a cell phone camera on your Facebook photo page. It was usually something funny or strange that someone saw and wanted to share with the rest of the world. For example, my friend once mobile uploaded a picture of ‘the perfect orange.’ If she didn’t have her cell phone and the ability to mobile upload when she spotted the orange, how would she have shared such a fantastic find with the rest of us?
However, the content of mobile uploads has drastically shifted from things like perfect oranges to more socially relevant subjects like nights out with friends. Now instead of hearing, “Take a picture!” you often hear, “Mobile upload that!” These ‘muploads,’ as they are now called, are no longer just pictures of something interesting you see and want to share. They are pictures you would have seen being taken with a regular, old-fashioned, digital camera back in the day. Maybe a picture of friends taking a shot at a bar or dancing at a party. These muploads are yet another way to let the world know exactly what you’re doing, where you are, and who you’re with at all times. Muploads are like Facebook statuses on steroids. Now you can visually show people where you are and what you are doing instead of just writing about it.
So is this a good or bad thing? I know many people mobile upload because they don’t like bringing out bulky cameras and others enjoy the candid quality of the mobile upload. However, is this constant need to tell and show people what we’re doing taking away from the idea of living in the moment? Is this just another form of technology that is taking us out of the real world and putting us in this alternate social networking universe?
This question is obviously not easily answered and varies from person to person or muploader to muploader; however, I’m sure those that mobile upload frequently would say that it’s a great thing. It’s a way to share the fun and interesting parts of your day or night with the rest of the world. So if you’re a mobile upload virgin I suggest you try it. You might ditch your digital camera forever!
Photo Sources:
http://www.blackberry.com/newsletters/connection/owners_lounge/i209/imag…