It is hard to judge how connected we are to others through our phones. The reality of human connectivity is evident in the reading It Takes a Village to Find a Phone, when a woman, Sasha, left her phone in the back seat of a cab in New York City. She searched for the phone, or Sidekick, offering a reward for its return because it held important information for the woman. However, after a few days without an answer, Sasha purchased a new phone and was able to transfer the information from her old phone to her new one.
The turn in the story is, when the information was transferred, Sasha saw that the person who had her phone was using it to take pictures The Sasha’s friend, Evan, took over and confronted the girl with the old phone. He created a webpage, after the girl refused to give back the phone and made rude, threatening remarks. The webpage was created to raise awareness and deliver a message on “the etiquette of returning people’s lost belongings.”
Evan shared his original post on his own webpage, which was then shared by his friends and family and began vicious cycle of sharing. The word of the stolen phone spread quickly across the country. The media and New York Police caught wind of the situation, and stepped in to help Sasha and Evan with this woman.
The main reason the story blew up was because of the power of unity and connection. This particular story “demonstrates that the old limitations of media have been radically reduced…It demonstrates how a story can go from local to global in a heart-beat. And it demonstrates the ease and speed with which a group can be mobilized for the right kind of cause.” A few years ago this story would never have made such a huge impact with the media. This is a perfect example of how scarily connected to everyone around the world is.