SVPPLY: consumerism, tastes and the “virtual self”
“All media are extensions of the human being”. So said McLuhan, that Canadian visionary who, besides silencing the “pompous know-all” at a cinema queue in Annie Hall, established the theoretical foundations of the 2.0 future. Yes, at present we all have an extension of ourselves on the Internet: the “virtual self”. That sometimes dangerous virtual construction of the being.
We started by creating a Facebook profile a few years ago with some biographical information. We then “decorated” that profile with our musical and film tastes. But the thing is that we also liked to take pictures, so we opened a Flickr account –because, in the unceasing 2.0 hustle and bustle, Fotolog was by then Prehistory–. And, as it turns out, we didn’t only aim to display our photographic work, we also wanted to collect and show our favourite snapshots and artists, a deficiency that Pinterest cleverly solved. Everything shared and published to the rhythm of instant clicks.
And Twitter, LinkedIn and Spotify… We could be all day listing all the social networks we use to exchange all and every one of our interests. These networks –almost every one of them now available in the shape of an app– model that “virtual self” and, at the same time, start to organize that vast information that’s loose on the Internet.
Well, let’s add another one. It’s called Svpply and it has recently launched its app for iPhone and iPad –although the site opened some time ago. A virtual space where users can buy and sell helped by search filters and which also functions as a showcase for our textile and decorative tastes, among others. From the shop, the designer, the book or the shoes that fascinate you, to the sofa or the poster you would use to decorate your home, everything can be published on your personal board so that –in a similar way to Pinterest– others can access your recommendations.
A relief for those suffering from shop-phobia, a way to promote themselves or sell for others and another tool for the configuration of that sometimes distorted extension of the being on the web.
