Technology has taken the fun out of bragging, ordinary bitching and gossiping because you never know who is listening in, recording or tweeting whatever it is we say.
The ladies who work at US Vogue are yet to recover after finding out that a spy in their office elevator has been quietly overhearing their conversations and tweeting them to the world!
In just three days @CondeElevator had 15,065 followers as it revealed how catty the she-devils who work at Vogue are.
Tweets like ‘Girl 1: “Is this skirt totally see through?” Girl 2: “No! No! Looks great.” Guy, after they exit: “That skirt was totally see through.” And, ‘Girl 1: “I love that necklace, I saw it at Banana last week and almost bought it too.” Girl 2: “This is Gucci,” entertained thousands, but for the girls who ride that elevator everyday, this must have been an online nightmare.
Today even non-celebs have to be careful about mindless chatter in lifts, restaurants, flights, beauty parlours because someone apart from the person you are talking to, is listening to what you say.
Actor RaNa Daggubati read about all the critical comments he made about his actor friends to a pal, over a meal at a restaurant after a snoop at the eatery reported his conversation to a newspaper gossip columnist.
He is not the only one. Kareena Kapoor once flashed the contents of her SMS to the world to read when she was checking her phone oblivious to the cameras around her. And designer Diane Von Fürstenberg revealed to the the world that Padma Lakshmi was dumping her writer husband Salman Rushdie, when she was overheard telling a friend, “I can’t believe she left him!”
Walls really seem to have ears because conversations, especially of the catty variety never remain private anymore. Since we can’t always chat from the comfort of our homes, what do we do?
Learn cellphone etiquette says etiquette expert Ruksana Eisa. “If you need to talk to someone when you are out, excuse yourself and go somewhere private where no one can overhear,” warns Ruksana. Also suppress the need to chat when you are out in theatres or beauty parlours, where there are lots of people around.
Gossiping into your phone in public places is not a safe bet because, “When people get into a conversation, their voices rise and everyone’s ears then pop up to listen to your conversation,” warns Ruksana. She has even seen diners leaning over their tables to pick up on the conversation on the next table at restaurants.
To keep safe it is best to steer clear of any controversial talk when there are plenty of ears around as socialite Ameeta Seth shares an incident which may be funny now, but was not at the time. She says, “When I was working in New York, one day my colleagues and I went for drinks after work. We girls then went to the loo and were discussing another colleague’s girlfriend since we didn’t like her. Just after we were done talking, a bathroom door opens and the girl we were discussing walked out!” Ameeta said this caused problems between her and her colleague.
While Ameeta feels it’s wrong on the part of snoops to tweet conversations or spread tales, to protect your interests, you just have to watch what you say to avoid embarrassing yourself.