Strategically Communicating

In our reading for tonight’s class, “Linking Consumers to Your Cause with QR Codes,” by Waters, and MacDonald from the book Cause Marketing for Dummies, we learn that QR codes, which use RFID tags to operate, are a great way to get information about a cause. QR codes use RFID tags to work. Just take a picture of those abstract art-like-squares and they’ll magically redirect you to a web page, calendar event or gelocation.

These RFID tags are becoming ubiquitous in our lives. Already, says the site How stuff works, “Outside the realm of retail merchandise, RFID tags are tracking vehicles, airline passengers, Alzheimer’s patients and pets. Soon, they may even track your preference for chunky or creamy peanut butter.”

There are advantages. I’d love to install one on my keys and my work badge. In fact, I just used the Find my iPhone app today before I rushed off to work.

But this Orwellian advancement can have some unintended consequences, as everyone from Homeland Security to the State Department begins using them. This recalls something Intel Futurist, David Johnson, who spoke at the PRSA conference said a few weeks ago. Technology is neutral. It doesn’t care whether you turn it on or off, so don’t be afraid of it. But do have those conversations around the best use of it. A question: How do we use technology to better our lives without surrendering ourselves to it?