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Freaky Friday: Google's Mail Goggles |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Bidness
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Friday, 10 October 2008 |
In terms of corporate culture, Google is known to be a pretty freewheeling place. I did some contract work in the Ann Arbor office a few years ago, and was suitably impressed. The atmosphere is very laid-back indeed, and creativity is encouraged. I particularly enjoyed the Extremely Casual Fridays tradition, in which employees work the whole day in their underwear. Well, I did, anyway. Come to think if it, that was more of a personal tradition than an office policy.
Google's creativity is evidenced in my favorite news story of the week: The company announced on Wednesday
the release of their Mail Goggles program. This is just genius. The
idea? To prevent those embarrassing drunken emails, the program poses a
few simple math problems that must be answered within a number of
seconds before the message can be sent. If you're too drunk to manage, your message is held until the morning.
 The problem of drinking-and-typing is a well-known phenomenon.
Typically, the recipient is an ex of some sort or another, and the
regret the sender feels in the morning can be profound. At least,
that's what I'm told. I wouldn't know, since I'm careful to unplug all
communication devices any time I indulge. This follows from an unfortunate incident last year with Greta Van Susteren.
You didn't ask, but I'm telling you anyway: Apparently there’s a
scientific name for this now -- the “online disinhibition effect” --
which psychologists use to describe the way in which people behave with
less restraint in cyberspace. A study published in the journal
CyberPsychology & Behavior suggested that several psychological
factors lead to online disinhibition: “the anonymity of a Web
pseudonym; invisibility to others; the time lag between sending an
e-mail message and getting feedback; the exaggerated sense of self from
being alone; and the lack of any online authority figure.” Add in several White Russians, and you've got trouble.
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