Bold Calling

Stick a technology in a society and strange things can happen.

Im not preaching gradualism and a l inear trajectory to technologisation, I am just gobsmacked.

Let me tell you what happened. But you need to remember that I have only recently rediscovered 'call waiting'. I'm on the phone to somebody and I get a call from a random number in Bangladesh.

I fear it is bad/happy/hopefull news, so bid by caller temporarily farewell and answer the bugger. Its a female voice, not particularly recognisable but it might have been someone I knew so I listened attentively. She went on boringly, and established what country I was in by which time I figured out what was going on. So I get on with my life and I shortly find myself in reception of an equally presumptuous, falsely familiar romanised bengali sms. This begum was playing with a stranger thosands of miles away at big expense to herself.

It is commonplace in Bangladesh for young people to use mobile phones is strange ways. Calling people they do not know, picking up numbers that they are tenuously linked to and trying to procure some kind of action from said activity. Let us call it 'Bold Calling', as it adds a cheesy sense of empowerment to the activity., before some lamo NGO actually writes a crappy report on it linking crank calling to the acheivement of some millenium development (own)goal. I've been around it and found it sad/amusing/interesting/random/scary if not just plain rude.

Ok so I guess the mobile sales industry is big in bangladesh. No brainer, them folks love to talk, they can consume you with talk. I'm interested to know who has studied the sociological stuff around this enabling device, which essentially enables you negotiating quite powerfully with your instinct, its own embedded values and the situation around you.

Theres probably a 'gender' aspect too. I remember whilst staying in dhaka the ISPwallah used to turn of the internet (LAN through your window anyone?) when there was thunder lest his gear be fried by a freak lightening bolt. He would regularly get an earful from local ladies who had become increasingly drawn into 'electronic relations management applications'.

How has social spastication evolved with technology?
How do our values express themselves through our visible/invisible behaviours in particular everyday communication practise?
Focussing on erm... 'love culture', whats going on? who is exploiting who? how have men and women been able to be more evil to eachother?
What kinds of dignified technological interventions can be produced in this space?
If we are going to delve into this remote technological sexualisation stuff, what other social forces need to be considered?