People combine others’ dated and located posts to infer relationships with suspicion

Evidence

A friend, “Jill,” suspected that her boyfriend was having drinks with “Jane,” whom she strongly disliked. Jill first noticed that her boyfriend’s Twitter feed had been silent for several hours. She then saw Jane use Dodgeball to check-in to a bar on his street and subsequently tweet out a photo of the bar. Jill interpreted this information to mean that the two were together, and was convinced that Jane intended her to know about it. Combining information from both people’s lifestreams created a larger social picture that was interpreted through a lens of suspicion. In retaliation, Jill tweeted a message about trustworthiness without naming either party. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 570

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the reader’s silence-and-waiting work — an absent Twitter feed read as a meaningful signal, like a keynote sound noticed only when it vanishes. — connects to: Digitized social information creates a relational data layer that magnifies gossip and suspicion — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 570; Vague ‘suspicious behavior’ guidance leads citizens to profile by appearance
• FICTION: A vivid miniature of jealousy-as-investigation could seed a scene of contemporary paranoid storytelling.

Broader Connections

• Vague ‘suspicious behavior’ guidance leads citizens to profile by appearance #qualifies (0.72)