Blippy: Telling the World About the Stuff You Buy

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Blippy: Telling the World About the Stuff You Buy


Are you a desperate attention whore with a credit card and no sense of discretion? Then maybe you should check out Blippy [http://blippy.com/], a new social networking site that tracks your buying habits and shares them with the world.

I just don't get it. Has the concept of privacy become so alien to the average mouth-breather that nothing in their lives is exempt from being broadcast from one end of the internet to the other? Do we just not care any more about the kind of information we put out for the world to see, not just with our knowledge but with our blessing? And why do so many people have this need to share the dull banalities of their day-to-day lives with everyone around them anyway?

Behold Blippy, a new social networking site that takes that concept to a whole new extreme. Users create an account, attach their personal financial information to it and then sit back and watch as their every purchase, online and off, is posted in Twitter-like fashion for all the world to see. Online retailers like Amazon, Netflix and Woot! can be linked directly, while banking and credit card information can also be entered, allowing the site to track and list purchases no matter where they're made.

"Typically what people do is they connect one credit card to Blippy, and then the rest of your credit cards are private," Blippy co-founder Philip Kaplan told CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/21/blippy.philip.kaplan/]. "So when you buy something that you think is vaguely interesting - it could be from a restaurant that you are at, or, you know, getting a bagel for lunch, or literally just buying gas, something that's not private - you use your shared card, your Blippy card, and it's automatically shared with your friends."

Kaplan was a little evasive when asked about the site's potential for abuse. "The way that we say it is, the worst thing that could happen is you're totally boring. There are people on the site who all they do is buy gas and groceries. Maybe that doesn't look great for them, you know. They should go to a restaurant or a bar or something," he said.

"I bought a bunch of holiday gifts for my wife on Blippy and they all showed up on Blippy," he continued. "She was like, 'Oh my god, I love you. Thank you!' It was fine! You know. It was a new way to give a present, in a way."

What exactly that has to do with protecting the security of your personal finances is beyond me, but it's pretty clear that Kaplan isn't too concerned about keeping his life hidden from prying eyes. In response to people who worried that their dildo purchases might show up online, he said, "I actually went to a store called 'Does Your Mother Know.' I said, first of all, the store has to have a name like that so everybody knows what it is. So I found a store with a name like that in the Castro section of San Francisco."

"So I went to that store and I bought a sexy gift for my wife, and of course it showed up on the site," he said. "And it was funny! I didn't really care."

I'm not sure what I find more distressing: The fact that people are willing to hand over their credit card information just so they can keep the world abreast of the stupid crap they buy, or that people think the rest of the world cares about the stupid crap they buy in the first place. It's a mindset I just cannot get my head around, although I suspect that the philosophy of "I didn't really care" figures largely in it. I also can't help but wonder if maybe this is all some kind of weird social experiment to see how much people are willing to give up in order to be at the cutting edge of the latest online hipness. Whatever the case, Blippy is one social trend that I won't mind missing out on - and I sure won't be above pointing and laughing if it all comes crashing down on someone.



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Korten12

Now I want ma...!
Aug 26, 2009
10,766
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well thats intresting... Though im not so sure I want people to know everything I buy...
I dont have anything to hide but it seems a bit stakerish.
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
11,940
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Hurray, the internet has ruined Christmas!

It looks like Twitter and Facebook put together. And then added more pointlessness [sub]Didn't think that was possible and yet, here is the proof[/sub]
 

Sir Ollie

The Emperor's Finest
Jan 14, 2009
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Why the hell would I want to put my financial information onto a social networking site?

Thats fucking stupid. Worst idea ever!
 

aPod

New member
Jan 14, 2010
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The only thing i like about his is that you can link your cards and if one of them got lost or something you'd see where and when something was bought by the thief.

Thats the kind of site i'd be trying to make not this wierd ass, look i bought a dildo im hip, site.
 

Citrus

New member
Apr 25, 2008
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Looks like they wanted to get in on the social networking action but all the good ideas were taken.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
5,630
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Sir Ollie said:
Why the hell would I want to put my financial information onto a social network site?

Thats fucking stupid. Worst idea ever!
Yeah...want to get ripped off quickly? here is the answer!
 

RabidusUnus

New member
Oct 7, 2009
214
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I... fuck it. I can't even think of anything more to say about how stupid the minorit- too much wishful thinking, majority is. Pitiful.
 

dududf

New member
Aug 31, 2009
4,072
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Kind of Ironic...

People freak out when the Government tries to monitor their population a little, they then freak out.

Then there's people like blippy users.

Funny contrast.
 

ActionDan

New member
Jun 29, 2009
1,002
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Why why why why why why why why why why. It's obvious what is going to happen. Someone is going to hack someones account and get their details. Stupid motherfuckers.
 

TheYellowCellPhone

New member
Sep 26, 2009
8,617
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I can imagine it when they get popular:

Blippy: Tell Us About Crap You Bought.

We either don't care, or are planning to rob you!
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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Hubilub said:
Hurray, the internet has ruined Christmas!
Wow, I didn't even think of that aspect of it. I mean, before I just thought it was ungodly stupid. Now it's ungodly stupid AND a killjoy.
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
11,940
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Susan Arendt said:
Hubilub said:
Hurray, the internet has ruined Christmas!
Wow, I didn't even think of that aspect of it. I mean, before I just thought it was ungodly stupid. Now it's ungodly stupid AND a killjoy.
It also killed birthdays and, possibly, a couple of anniversaries.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
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This is quite possibly the dumbest, most pointless thing I have ever seen.

I think we reached a point where social networking needs to die, or at least take a large step back.
 

wasalp

New member
Dec 22, 2008
512
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I really cant see why ANYONE would want to TARGET this website(piracy).

people deserve to get robed by some Russian hackers.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
9,745
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I....what...I can't even respond to this. It's just so...ungodly stupid? What kind of supreme deity would allow this to even exist? What kind of deity would allow these PEOPLE to exist?

*Heart of Darkness has ragequit server RL*
 

Cousin_IT

New member
Feb 6, 2008
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I suspect a few undeclared smokers, drinkers etc might find their health/life insurance premiums going up after signing up to this
 

XerxesQados

New member
Jun 27, 2009
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I think the point is that eventually when lots of people join it, advertisers will give people coupons and deals and stuff based on what they've bought (or, more likely, just send them useless spam). It would be a great business plan if Blippy weren't completely and totally fucking useless and profoundly unappealing to anyone but smarmy Silicon Valley assholes who are self-absorbed in the whole culture of these ridiculous "Web 2.0 social media" companies.

At least with Twitter there's a lot of different things you can say in 140 characters. Like, for example, "I just bought this thing." And you don't even need to give away your credit card number to say that.