Sarah Slocum: the infamous face of Google Glass

There's no shortage of celebrities who have donned Google Glass, from Desmond Tutu to Wolfgang Puck. But perhaps no one has become as famous for wearing the gadget - or as infamous - as Sarah Slocum.

A month has passed since the social media consultant became a social media phenomenon. She did so by saying she was harassed and attacked for wearing Glass, the head-mounted computer and camera, at a San Francisco bar where she had been carrying out a mission to promote the boundary-pushing product.

Still, the hullabaloo continues. This week, new video spread of the bar feud - footage that Slocum filmed using Glass and posted to her YouTube channel over the weekend. It shows her cursing at the people who she said had accosted her.

When a woman at the bar told Slocum, "You're killing the city," a reference to a larger backlash against tech workers in San Francisco, Slocum announced that she wanted to "get this white trash on tape." A man then ripped the device from her face.

'They instigated the fight'

Sarah Slocum posted a video on YouTube of the Google Glass incident at a bar in S.F. Sarah Slocum posted a video on YouTube of the Google Glass incident at a bar in S.F. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Sarah Slocum: the infamous face of Google Glass 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Slocum said Tuesday that she only started filming and name-calling after being insulted. "They instigated the fight," she said. "I'm only going to put up with so much abuse." She said she posted the new video because she wanted to be transparent.

No matter how the video is judged - and whether Slocum is deemed a victim or provocateur - it underscores the power of a narrative in the Twitter age: Slocum, 34, has become the outspoken face of Google's face computer, for better or for worse.

The San Mateo resident is reveling in the role of unofficial ambassador of Glass, and some in the tech community have lauded her for the unapologetic embrace of the new technology. But others have saddled her with a moniker that Google is fighting hard to minimize: the "Glasshole."

"There will always be people who try to knock you down," Slocum told The Chronicle in an interview. "It's a fact of being out there and gaining influence."

Slocum has both stoked the story and absorbed the recoil. After the Feb. 22 dispute at Molotov's bar in the Lower Haight, she was quick to parlay the skirmish into appearances on CNN and "Inside Edition" - fielding questions while wearing Glass, of course.

She won Facebook and Twitter followings with comments glorifying the product and suggesting critics of the technology are Luddites who eventually would accept it. Slocum even asked Google to fly her to the popular South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, to educate people about the gadget.

Her advocacy, though, hasn't worked out as planned.

Slocum's account of the bar dispute was picked apart. Her assertion that she was the victim of a hate crime was ridiculed. And her past came to light, including a series of restraining orders filed against her - one for video-recording people through an open window of their home.

Critics have said Slocum is not someone who deserves sympathy but is a pushy pioneer in the art of privacy invasion at a time of growing concern about public surveillance.

Glass ban

Since Slocum's rise, some bars have banned the wearing of Glass in their establishments, though one went the other direction, offering free drinks to Glass wearers.

Valleywag, a news and gossip site focused on Silicon Valley, summed up its take on the accidental media star in a headline shortly after Slocum asked Google to fly her to the music festival: "Glasshole 'Hate Crime' Victim Not Too Traumatized For Free Trip."

'Hit a nerve'

Jason McDonald, an Internet marketing consultant at JM Internet Group in San Jose, said Slocum's emergence comes as the public is looking for something tangible to latch onto in the debate over Glass.

"People are quick to condemn the person, or come to a person's defense, because they really hit a nerve on an issue," McDonald said. "In this case, she's become a flash point. She's like the guy in font of the tank at Tiananmen Square."

McDonald and others also noted that Slocum's fame is bolstered by a backdrop of heightened anxiety over what some see as an insular and privileged tech community - a tension that has given rise to protests over gentrification in San Francisco and the private buses that whisk tech employees to workplaces elsewhere.

In this atmosphere, Slocum's promotion of the exclusive Google Glass may have backfired, according to some marketing experts.

"Companies normally love early adopters of their products. They're so passionate," said David Mitroff, a marketing consultant and founder of Piedmont Avenue Consulting in Oakland. "The problem is that those people can go overboard, and this is one of those situations."

The spotlight on Slocum has shined all the way to her legal problems. Former neighbors in Santa Cruz County once obtained a restraining order against her after they saw her recording them through a window with a smartphone.

Restraining orders

Court records show that Slocum's mother and her ex-husband have also filed for restraining orders against her - though neither case had to do with video-recording.

Slocum defended her actions in Santa Cruz County, saying that neighbors who lived on the same property as she did threatened her and conspired against her, forcing her to document evidence. She declined to discuss the other two cases, saying only that she is on good terms with her mother and ex-husband.

"Unfortunately, I've had more than my fair share of dealing with restraining orders," she said. "I'm a super-nice person, but I'm also someone who will stand up for myself."

Slocum said she never anticipated becoming a symbol in the larger controversy over tech growth and culture.

"I didn't realize there was such a tech backlash," she said. "I had read about the Google bus thing, but I didn't expect to receive any animosity or hatred."

Not everyone is critical of Slocum. Many early users of Google Glass and some in the tech community have defended her zealous push for the technology. One supporter on Twitter suggested that Glass wearers meet up at Molotov's to show solidarity.

It's unclear exactly how Google feels about its unsolicited envoy. Slocum said her only contact with the company occurred when a representative checked on her after the initial bar conflict.

Google silence

Google hasn't pursued any professional ties, she said, nor did it respond to her request for sponsorship at the Texas music festival. Google representatives declined to comment on Slocum.

The company, though, has been vocal about what it expects of Glass wearers. It released an etiquette guide, asking users to avoid being "creepy," standing in the corner recording people, for example, and acting like "Glassholes."

The device is currently not available to the public. It remains in a test phase, though Google says more than 10,000 people are using it - and coughing up the $1,500 that it costs. Glass is expected to be released in stores this year.

Police are investigating the incident at Molotov's, but no arrests have been made. The woman who told Slocum she was "killing the city" was fired from a bartending position. Slocum said she is considering suing the bar.

Despite the controversy that surrounds her, Slocum said, she has enjoyed being a public face for Glass and is unscathed by the mudslinging.

"I've been trying to turn lemons into lemonade," she said.