Circle of Bots

It was inevitable. Someone invented a social network for one. Just you. You and all of your bots. Apparently it looks like a robust social network filled with people who are solely focused on what you have to say. But those people are bots. Bots who ask for nothing in return and are simply there to laugh at your jokes, tell you you’re clever, or console you when you’re down.

I don’t know if I think this is the smartest thing in the world — like a social network version of Her — or if it’s a dangerous way to circumvent social situations. I don’t feel the impulse to try it, and I’m glad it’s there for people who want it, though I worry that it will leave behind a residue of emptiness. Sort of the emotional equivalent of trying to exist on potato chips.

I also get nervous whenever an app maker promises that your words are private. Of course they’re not private. They’re being typed into a machine. Plus, I feel like if they need to point that out as the benefit that it may not actually be a benefit.

I don’t know. What do you think about this?