Fun with Digital Signposts
With so much discussion given to methods for attracting web traffic to a site, I thought I’d point out this neat article from CNN.com.
The article talks about a new frontier in graffiti - web-related tagging. Artists tag an e-mail address with the blue/underlined look of a hyperlink in public places. Users with web-enabled cell phones can send a message to the address and receive an image like original art or a promotional message in return.
Other similar set ups include yellow arrows with codes that return messages about a person or object and signs that offer a number people can dial to learn more about historic sites.
My favorite use of the technology was an art teacher in Australia who made a scavenger hunt where each image led to the location of the next e-mail address. It reminded me of the hobby geocaching where people hide little silly treasures in hidden locations, post the coordinates on a web site and people use GPS technology to find the caches. When the cache is found, the treasure hunter can take an item from the cache, but must leave a little treasure of his own.
The political uses for such technologies seem limited, excepting perhaps only the most technologically savvy campaigns. I could see using the graffiti type technology (more likely of the yellow arrow variety) in campaigns in technologically advanced cities like San Fransisco and Seattle, or on college campuses, but don’t think it would be very effective in a place like Washington, D.C.
The article talks about a new frontier in graffiti - web-related tagging. Artists tag an e-mail address with the blue/underlined look of a hyperlink in public places. Users with web-enabled cell phones can send a message to the address and receive an image like original art or a promotional message in return.
Other similar set ups include yellow arrows with codes that return messages about a person or object and signs that offer a number people can dial to learn more about historic sites.
My favorite use of the technology was an art teacher in Australia who made a scavenger hunt where each image led to the location of the next e-mail address. It reminded me of the hobby geocaching where people hide little silly treasures in hidden locations, post the coordinates on a web site and people use GPS technology to find the caches. When the cache is found, the treasure hunter can take an item from the cache, but must leave a little treasure of his own.
The political uses for such technologies seem limited, excepting perhaps only the most technologically savvy campaigns. I could see using the graffiti type technology (more likely of the yellow arrow variety) in campaigns in technologically advanced cities like San Fransisco and Seattle, or on college campuses, but don’t think it would be very effective in a place like Washington, D.C.
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