Textual Intercourse

What is the deal with all of those SMS subscription services? A proliferation of so-called ’services’ – ring tone downloads, flirting, horoscopes, prize quizzes -  with hidden subscription fees to hit the unsuspecting youths they’re targeted at. Sure, there’s a little message at the bottom of the screen that says they’ll be charged weekly until they send a message to unsubscribe, so the promoters can smugly say they’ve done their duty by disclosing the conditions, but in reality, they’re fleecing young people, or their parents who are often left paying the bill.

But of all of these so called ’services’, the most deplorable by far are those that offer relationship ‘advice’, particularly the “Match” and “Cheat” kind. Of course there is no way an automated service could determine whether two people are suited for each other. As for cheating, anyone who believes a subscription service can provide any accurate determination is beyond stupid.

Of the people who would use a “Match” or “Cheat” ’service’, there is probably the occasional person who uses it purely for fun. However, most people with the rationality to do so would be too wise to get sucked into a subscription service in the first place. But most of the customers would be a little more naive, and some of those would probably use the ’service’ because they’re already having doubts about their relationships. (Am I wrong??) For them, it’s probably not just harmless fun to check whether their partner is cheating on them. Companies are toying with those people’s emotions, and making money off them to boot. They’re no better than a pickpocketing gypsy taking advantage of a naive tourist. It’s sick, and it shouldn’t be allowed.

But it’s just for fun right? Well, is it? What kind of person wants to find out if their partner is cheating on them on a whim, “just for fun”? Many teenagers have no idea about the technology they use underneath the shiny back-lit surface, and the stupidest of the stupid may actually believe that there could be some way of determining whether their partner is a good match for them, or even cheating, because ‘Technology’ for many has become the new ‘Magic’ – they don’t know (or care) how or why things work. They just work.

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