The Lives of Others

May 13, 2009 • 10:04 am • POSTED BY anna hartley

I’m a pretty voyeuristic person. I look into people’s living rooms when the blinds are open. I wonder about the lifestyle of the bus driver. I eavesdrop—at cafes, in line at grocery stores, walking down the street. It’s bizarre how frequently I catch snippets of conversations so illogical that I struggle to put them into context. My imagination can stretch only so far.

“…And then he just jumped out the window. It was awesome…”

“…No I’m not kidding. Swordfish are host to over 40 different kinds of parasites. Worms like, burrow into their flesh…”

“…Dude. Jasmine’s the hottest Disney Princess, hands down. F*** Cinderella…”

I think it is this curiosity about the bizarre details of strangers’ lives that interests me in the psychology of marketing and advertising, as well as the nuances of language and writing. All of the random people you encounter on the street are potentially impacted by a given campaign, depending on placement, marketing strategy and style.

My interest in the internal lives of complete strangers is also the reason that I’m so intrigued by a site that I discovered a few months ago: Tweaktoday.com.

TweakToday was founded by some people who work at the digital services company The Barbarian Group, and assigns random tasks (usually photo-based) to the tweeters each day. (Previous tasks: Take a photo of everything you eat in one day. Write a love letter to a random car and leave it on the windshield. Take a photo of your favorite piece of clothing and tell us why. Post a link to the song with the highest count on your iTunes playlist. Take a picture of the coolest thing in your room.)

It’s interesting to see how different people respond to the same creative task, and allows a glimpse into random lives, apartments and refrigerators. Plus, it takes my habit of eavesdropping one step further.

Anyone can contribute, but I have not yet entered the crazy world of twitter, and my digital camera lies broken in a drawer somewhere. Besides, in my creepy way, sometimes I just like to observe, unnoticed. Maybe you will too. Enjoy!