Turbulence Commission: “I’m Not Stalking You; I’m Socializing: Status Grabber” by Liz Filardi
http://turbulence.org/works/stalkingsocial/

A record of telephone interactions is gathered under the pretense of a social networking service called “Status Grabber,” in which a representative makes personal phone calls to request very short “status updates” from strangers. Call recipients are told that someone they know has anonymously requested a status update about them, and that they should provide the representative with an open statement about their career, family, social life, or literal whereabouts. The service mimics the social activity of users on Facebook and Twitter, where users stay connected without directly interacting. In creating an analog version of those services, “Status Grabber” places analogous pressure on individuals to relinquish privacy in order to participate in this new model of socialization. “Status Grabber” is part of a project called “I’m Not Stalking You; I’m Socializing,” in which the artist explores how social networking changes the ways in which we relate to one another and enrich our lives. Visitors to the website can directly request status updates through the satirical service, listen to phone records, and view rolling, one-line status updates.

BIOGRAPHY

Liz Filardi is an emerging New York-based artist and recent graduate of the Parsons Design and Technology MFA program. Through narrative experiments with social networks, her work examines issues of privacy, property, intimacy, and identity.