Digital Footprints

Overheard on the 8:22pm Metro North Harlem Line train to Southeast -

Young Man (speaking into Cell Phone): Yo, Chris, it's me.
(pause)
Young Man: Listen, if you get a message on your MySpace or your Facebook from Maria looking for me, tell her you ain't seen me.
(pause)
Young Man: Nah, man, I told her I moved to Miami.
(pause)
Young Man: No, yo, I'm on the train to Brewster.

For those of you not familiar with the town, Brewster is about 60 miles north of Manhattan and about 1,347 miles north of Miami.

Some observations:

1. Note how the brand (MySpace and Facebook in this case) is becoming the thing - the idea of a MySpace page or profile is simply expressed with the brand name. Classic examples of this are Kleenex and Xerox, but that's only mildly interesting.
2. Covering your tracks used to be much easier. If you wanted to hide out for a while, you could simply not answer your phone and peep through the peep-hole before opening the door. It's not that simple any more. As we engage with the various forms of social media, we leave a record of ourselves behind and an expectation that this history will be maintained. Regardless of whether Chris follows his instructions to tell Maria he's not seen the Young Man, Maria will surely wonder why The MySpace or The Facebook doesn't show the Young Man in short sleeves standing under a sun drenched palm.