Commentary

Blippy Announces Your Credit Card Purchases to the World

credit card/ eyes

Sometimes you come across an online social network based on an idea so totally foreign and bizarre that you have sit there for a minute or two, awestruck, and just take the time to wonder: "WTF?"

Let me be clear: I'm a big fan of social media in general and social networks in particular. And I know people have a remarkably wide range of interests and goals they may want to share with each other, not all of which I will necessarily understand. But then I come across something like Blippy -- the social network that instantly updates all your friends on what you're buying on your credit card -- and I am frankly at a loss. Wait, who...? Wha... WHY?

The Blippy updates include the location and the amount of each credit card purchase, and the Blippy member can add extra information including photos of venues and comments on their purchases. If I had to guess I'd say the target user group for Blippy is people who like shopping and also like subjecting every aspect of their finances to communal surveillance by the great all-seeing Eye of Sauron.

However I can't even speculate who might belong to this special, unique group, except to ascribe some generally qualities like "woefully naïve," "boundary issues," and "no interior life." I'd say I'd like to meet them, but I really wouldn't -- they might start posting stuff about me ("met Erik at Starbucks where he spent $11.70 on coffee and two croissants. he needs to cut back. he has a Mastercard. couldn't see the # tho. i think he keeps his wallet in his jacket. will update when he goes to bathroom").

Unfortunately it seems Blippy recently has some issues with -- wait for it -- credit card security. According to an article on VentureBeat, a simple search of the site using the term "from card" revealed a half-dozen credit card numbers. Now, obviously the site is not supposed to do this, and this kind of security breach is pretty inexcusable. But I can only sympathize so much with the victims in this case. I mean ... WTF?

5 comments about "Blippy Announces Your Credit Card Purchases to the World".
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  1. Shelli Strand from STRAND Marketing, Inc., April 23, 2010 at 4 p.m.

    That is hilarious and unbelievable! As weird as it is, there is probably a group of people out there naive enough to go for it.

  2. harlen smith, April 23, 2010 at 4 p.m.

    haha. mind blowing!

  3. Denise Baker from Clary Communications, April 23, 2010 at 4:14 p.m.

    I simply cannot believe that anyone would think this is a good idea. Shall we take bets regarding how long it will take the company to change what they are posting or even how long it will take them to close the site?

  4. Arun Sinha from Access Consulting, April 23, 2010 at 4:34 p.m.

    Sounds like what people were saying about Twitter when it first came out.

  5. Steve Sarner from if(we), April 23, 2010 at 4:38 p.m.

    I already have over a dozen friends using Blippy and like you Erik - I am at a total loss as to why. I guess it comes down to how you want to use the medium. I have been astounded by how many people I know like to Tweet and Post every mundane detail of their day or random thoughts. Adding what - where and how much they buy just makes me appreciate that FB built in a "hide this user" button that much more.

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