To conceive someone else and a web app
Latelly I've been wondering about how we conceive the existence of others on the web. Through soc media we're exposed to their pictures and on twitter/mastodon we're shown a slice-of-life like take on their inner monologue.
But there's a nagging feeling that we're actually consuming what they are projecting of themselves. And while this is not exactly a bad thing, much of what's fun of meeting new people is getting to see them slightly out of place, adapting to the situation in front of them, like when struck by a conversation at a park bench.
I think some of that is due to the expository nature of IRL interactions. After all, you had to get out there, and you are taking the time to pay attention to someone else. And that person is both assimilating and reacting to you.
Apps like chatroulette make good use of this idea, but it can be a bit overwhelming. The whole synchronized opening of your home to the ever watching eye of the internet, it's a bit of a spook.
So I've been tinkering with getting half way there, and audio seems to be a kind of sweet spot: doesn't it feel warm and fuzzy receiving an audio message when its someone you love, and tortuously intrusive when you don't?
Being on random telegram group chats, I often receive audio messages from people I don't know, but I'm inclined to consider friendly and likable, and it's such a rich experience to assimilate their tone, metric, articulation and other mannerisms when I only ever read what they've been typing.
So I decided to go one step further: how would random people sound when asked to say anything, with the specific purpose of being listened to?
I've set up this simple app at https://guites.github.io/gritaria/, and have been sharing in some smaller groups I'm a part of. The result is a mix of senseless screaming, audio clips, and people gasping for what to say.
So, if you want to say something, feel free to drop an audio there (you just need to allow usage of the microphone and them tap on the gif while you say what's on your mind).
Be certain I'll listen to it.
Cheers, and thanks for reading :-).