SHELLY PALMER REPORT: Janet & Pete: An Analog Love Story with Facebook Complications

If she had a amp8220typeamp8221 heamp8217d be it Tall like her Dark hair broad shouldered well dressed and well teched It looked like he hadnamp8217t shaved for a couple of days but any uptown girl could tell that this was just additional proof a refined fashion sense It was just a chance encounter on the subway She noticed he had a blackberry and an Apple iTouch which he checked out only slightly less often than he checked her out After a few stops he walked out of her life She didnamp8217t think about it againThen just yesterday she found herself on the subway platform only a few feet from him He recognized her and positioned himself just close enough to get into the same car For five stops they simply looked at one another and smiled Nothing was said as you can imagine nothing needed to be said There are few things as powerful as a look and a smileAs the train approached the station she knew what had to be done It could be months before sheamp8217d see him again Maybe that was OK maybe not What would he think of her if she did it Would he ask her first The screeching brakes and slowing train made her decision for her Finding courage she did not know she had she handed him her business card Walking out the door he turned looked at the card and said amp8220Nice to meet you Janet Iamp8217m Peteamp8221What an awesome dayAfter work as she was walking home from the subway her cell phone rings Itamp8217s Pete Heamp8217s walking home too They meet at the corner He tells her how impressed he was that she gave him her card and they make the most important small talk they will ever make They talk about their pets check out his nurturing sensibility work amp8211 yes he makes a good living heamp8217ll be a good provider hobbies amp8230 heamp8217s well rounded and interesting this truly is an awesome dayThen Pete this polite seemingly shy gentleman suggests that they become friends on Facebook before they meet again To Janet a millennial who could pass for a digital native this seems like a perfectly reasonable request As they go their separate ways they agree to continue the relationship onlineJanet was on cloud 9 She couldnamp8217t wait to go out with Pete This had all the makings of a great New York love story She didnamp8217t know who to call first her Mom her best friend from back home yep this was an awesome dayWhen she got to her apartment Janet rushed to her computer to check out Pete on Facebook Maybe she typed his name wrong amp8211 this couldnamp8217t be him Staring at the computer in utter disbelief she tried to reconcile the man she had just met this evening with his profile Here were pictures of Pete in a wet Speedo with his junk on display He obviously had a girlfriend she was gorgeous In fact he had dozens of pictures of himself almost always shirtless with super hot girls all over him And what was up with the tight SpeedosBut that wasnamp8217t the half of it Peteamp8217s private profile was under an alias and it featured some details that went so far beyond TMI Janet had to stop for a minute to compose herself First Pete was almost 15 years older than he looked or acted He liked to frequent the kind of clubs nice girls from the Midwest have never heard of and the cherry on the cake of her day was a picture of Pete in a thong with tape over his nipples wearing a dog collarTwo more clicks revealed that his favorite sexual position was Cowgirl and his stripper name was Cinderella Goldstein not bad if you ask meHeartbroken Janet not her real name called me to tell me the story amp8220Itamp8217s backwardsamp8221 she giggled amp8220Iamp8217m supposed to meet a guy whoamp8217s too good to be true online and heamp8217s supposed to turn out to be a freak in person Not the other way aroundamp8221 She shared some of his pictures with me online and to be honest they were hysterical Out of context of course Secretly I think Janet was crushed by the experienceThereamp8217s not much more itamp8217s just a love story for our time Boy meets girl boys asks her to be Facebook friends boy turns out to be a SampampM freak with a coterie of other likeminded friends boy invites girl to get naked and freaky with him Yep just an average analog love story with a bizarre digital ending You know you just canamp8217t make this stuff upOn the other hand this isnamp8217t the only amp8220hard to believeamp8221 analog to digital love story this week Former NYS Governor Elliot Spitzer found out how unfortunate life can be on the business end of a digital investigation My heart goes out to the Governoramp8217s wife and his children I know they are in pain and I mean them no disrespect but amp8211 there is no reasonable expectation of privacy online If you use a computer to do something you leave a trace If you convert your voice to electronic signals by using a telephone you leave a trace If the device has an onoff switch and you use it to do something a motivated hacker will figure out it was you When you logon to your bank account over a secure connection someone somewhere knows that you are online and has complete access to your transaction It may be a bonded bank employee protecting you or a government investigator trying to entrap you amp8211 you have no way of knowing amp8211 it is one of the immutable laws of the digital ageShelly Palmer is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2006 Focal Press Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences NY the organization that bestows the coveted Emmyamp174 Awards He is the ViceChairman of the National Academy of Media Arts ampamp Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology media and entertainment Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmyamp174 Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media You can read Shelly39s blog here Visit Shelly39s website at wwwShellyPalmerMediacom or reach Shelly at shellypalmernetCheck out the Shelly Palmer Report archive

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SHELLY PALMER REPORT: Janet & Pete: An Analog Love Story with Facebook Complications

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