(US) Homeless Used As Internet HotSpots

RichieC

Homeless men are being used as 4G internet hot spots at this week's South By Southwest festival. Marketing group Bartle Bogle Hegarty is behind "Homeless Hotspots," in which homeless men walk about wearing t-shirts advertising the name of their hotspots, then, data-hungry SXSW-goers make a donation to the homeless man and can access the internet. The homeless guy gets some money; the marketing company gets some publicity; the convention goer gets some data... so what's the problem? Well, it's a little creepy.

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/721661/homeless-used-as-internet-hotspots/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

I mostly posted this because the title is hilarity.

What think ye?

Honestly, I think it's providing income and a job for the otherwise destitute. It can't be all that bad.

Nothingbetter2d

RichieC wrote: »

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/721661/homeless-used-as-internet-hotspots/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

I mostly posted this because the title is hilarity.

What think ye?

Honestly, I think it's providing income and a job for the otherwise destitute. It can't be all that bad.

would you trust your data with the roma & junkies we have here?

Seachmall

Great idea in my opinion.

They need money, I need wifi.

Nothingbetter2d wrote:

would you trust your data with the roma & junkies we have here?

It's a public wifi, regardless who's hosting it everyone on the network could intercept it (with some exceptions obviously).

Babybuff

when I grow up I want to be an internet hotspot

Rented Mule

Babybuff wrote: »

when I grow up I want to be an internet hotspot

Remember to take lots of drugs and drop out of school !!

The King of Moo

It does feel a little exploitative at first, but I suppose it's not so different from homeless people selling The Big Issue.

I should point out that when people log on, they have to offer a donation of their choosing which goes to the homeless person who gave them access.

pickarooney

So how does it work? Do the guys with the t-shirts give out a password or what?

CardBordWindow

If the homeless guys are walking about, you'll need to follow them around!!

The King of Moo

They way it works is that the t-shirts have a code with the homeless person's name as part of it, and a number to text it to. When you text the number you log in, giving a donation of your choosing to the homeless person.

More details here:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/sxsw-debuts-exciting-new-future-for-homeless-peopl,70789/

Yakult

So instead of "change?" they will now be saying "hotspot?".

mathie

Better than using them as Internet Wetspots.

MungBean

So rather than have them sell pointless big issue magazines to people who throw them in the bin, they perform a real service.

Sounds good to me.

Logical Fallacy

Do we have any research on whether a tin foil hat increases or decreases signal strength?

grizzly

Honestly I don't think this is such a bad idea. People have been crying about it saying it risks them becoming dehumanised, but I think it could put a positive slant on a group of people who get a pretty bad rap. Plus if it keep them off the bumwars it's a good thing.

The King of Moo

grizzly wrote: »

Honestly I don't think this is such a bad idea. People have been crying about it saying it risks them becoming dehumanised, but I think it could put a positive slant on a group of people who get a pretty bad rap. Plus if it keep them off the bumwars it's a good thing.

The only minor quibble I have with it is that the t-shirts say "Hi, I'm Clarence, a 4G hotspot," as though they're the commodity themselves, rather than saying something like "4G hotspot available" or something like that.

Logical Fallacy

I guess one positive of the project is people will interact with them more and possibly be reminded that homeless people are still people.

HUNK

They said I could be anything...

Teyla Emmagan

Surely the homeless person would have to stay in the one spot for this to work?

I thought homeless people were eh, migratory?

Seachmall

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Surely the homeless person would have to stay in the one spot for this to work?

I thought homeless people were eh, migratory?

They usually relax in the one spot for a few hours to panhandle or whatever.

I'm guessing the idea is that because they typically move around to more populated areas during the day they can reach a larger audience for the marketing company.