Eavesdropping & Anonymity

Why It’s Not Just Okay, It’s Awesome

We’ve all been there.

You know, when we find ourselves at one of those events where we know a fewer than comfortable amount of people.

Everyone appears to be talking to everyone else and you’re just another dude (ladies can be dudes too) that’s trying to find the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to someone or find your way into a larger conversation, all the while attempting to not be the most awkward person there.

Social settings are strange that way; they encourage us to actively participate in dialogue with other people, as opposed to passively participate in it by taking a backseat. The moment we’re thrown into one, we feel pressured to contribute to the ongoing narrative.

But what if that’s not what you want to do? What if you just wanted to hang back and listen to what people are saying? Go from conversation to conversation as you see fit?

In real life, standing at the edge of a conversation, just to listen to it isn’t socially acceptable; it’s called eavesdropping and, let’s be totally honest here, if someone were doing it at a party it would be kinda creepy. Just imagine yourself having a conversation with someone only to see this person hovering around, clearly listening, but not contributing to anything. Suddenly, you’re distracted, you keep glancing at them, and now you’re wondering why they’re even there and why they’re trying to overhear you.

Weird, right?

Yet, we still catch ourselves eavesdropping in areas where it’s less obvious. Like during our daily commute on public transportation; it’s almost like we can’t avoid it because our curiosity always gets the best of us, therefore making it more acceptable.

We believe that anonymity makes eavesdropping okay, but only when all parties involved (both active and passive) are completely anonymous. It provides us the satisfaction of being able to appreciate a conversation that we aren’t actively engaging in, without feeling like a creep or feeling unwelcome.

So next time you think about Hear, just think of it as a party where you know no one, except you can eavesdrop all you want and no one (not a single person) is going to think you’re creepy for doing it.

That’s the Hear experience.

Hear is available for free on iOS. If you’ve had any experiences in Hear that you’d like to share with us or with other people, send us a tweet @GotHear or just use #hearsomething. You can also check out our website.