Chris Hardie's Blog

This is just a cautionary tale for those who perhaps trust the world of digital communications a little too much.

Anna Lisa was traveling in the northwest to visit some friends, and we'd had sporadic contact via cell phone, e-mail and text message.  One day when I hadn't heard from her in a while and was unsure of her specific travel plans, I decided to sit down and write her an e-mail, but before I could, a text message from her came in:

Hi Wachya doing

I didn't think too much of the uncharacteristically poor grammar (even for a text message), and wrote back, "Writing to you, actually!  And you?"

What are you wearing?

Hmm, okay, a little odd and flirtatious response (especially since we've had the talk about what's acceptable and not acceptable to communicate electronically given who's listening in), but I'll go along with it: "Green shorts and a black shirt - why?  Are you leaving tomorrow?"

I just ________ __ ______ ______.

To keep this post family friendly, let's just say that the message described an intimate act of personal hygiene, and used slang that I wasn't quite familiar with.  And now I'm trying to figure out what the heck is wrong with her.  Me: "What does that mean?"

I am ___ _____ down there.  _____ __ ___ ____!

More explicit commentary and suggestions that went beyond hygiene and appropriateness.  I was annoyed, and tried to end the conversation, but the messages kept coming, each one more crude and inappropriate than the one before.  I didn't get it.

Until I checked my e-mail, and read this waiting message from Anna Lisa:

> so, i lost my phone today. ugh. i retraced my steps, but
> don't think i'm going to find it...

Ah.

Phew.

Indeed, the phone had been stolen, and the person who now possessed it was apparently sending text messages to contacts in Anna Lisa's mobile phone addressbook.  I suggested she call her mobile provider ASAP to get that turned off.

The key moral for me was that you can rarely trust that a given electronic communication is actually coming from the person you think it is, although most of us do. In fact, we often make significant life decisions based on the information we receive electronically, sometimes getting really emotional or even upset with someone, sometimes costing millions of dollars, sometimes ending a life.  I'm glad that I didn't make any lasting judgments about Anna Lisa's character or our future relations based on those false messages, but that's only because I found out in time, perhaps narrowly avoiding a Shakespearean-style tragedy.

In the absence of suitable authentication mechanisms for everyday digital communications (which are available but are not in widespread use, especially not for SMS messages), I think I'll always tend to be a little skeptical of what I'm receiving and who it's really from.  I certainly won't make any major life decisions based only on a text message - I hope you'll do the same.