The Next Leap in Social Media
Software engineer David Zimmerman’s new Instagram inspired social media platform aptly named Realgram got off to a slow start but has since caught on and is now snowballing across America. The concept of Realgram is to show its users photos of other users, though the user interface is nearly the same as Instagram the concept is completely different. Realgram uses strategically placed hidden cameras in your home that snap daily photos of you without your knowledge that are posted for other users to view, and unlike Instagram every user of Realgram can view other users, it’s an open book with no privacy whatsoever. Zimmerman explains the concept from start to finish.
“I thought it would be neat for us as a civilization to drop the b.s. and start being real, my idea was to show the true nature of humanity, the terribly disgusting yet beautifully profound souls that we really are. I got together with Tommy Boland, a friend of mine who specializes in photography. Tommy helped me place the cameras in the homes of my close friends some of my family and of course my own home, the location and the way Tommy placed the cameras was genius, a lot of the photographs taken were very artistic in nature yet raw and real, others were humorous of course but never too embarrassing. We only had a couple of cameras in each house anyway usually in the living room and kitchen. It was a lot of fun but I wasn’t making the money I wanted to be making and the user rate was very low, people didn’t like the idea of not being able to show the world whatever false images they were trying to portray. A few months after I began the Realgram project I received a knock on my door from someone who said he represented a third-party that was very interested in my project, he offered me a substantial amount of money to help his employers bring Realgram into homes worldwide. Despite Tommy’s warning me that I’d pretty much be working for Satan and that the guy who came with the contract was clearly CIA I signed anyway, it was just too good a deal to turn down.”
When Realgram was bought out it had a slow start but when the new owners offered people $250 a month for a minimum of 2 cameras hidden within the home and an additional $125 for another 2 cameras thousands signed up. A month later they offered a package deal of $900 a month for an unlimited number of cameras in every room of your home plus another $475 for installing Realgram cameras into your automobile, since then nearly 983,000 people have signed up and thousands more continue to daily. Contracts are a minimum of 10 years and once signed there is no going back. As for Zimmerman’s thoughts on where his project has gone,
“I should’ve listened to Tommy, I have all the money in the world now but I may have sold my soul, I don’t know, I kind of feel like I did, at the very least I have this burning feeling in my gut that what I’ve done was wrong, on so many levels. On the other hand these people sign up for it and even though most of them do it because they need the money I can’t feel bad for them, I’m told they’re animals anyway and I just invented a better zoo.”
As of today neither Zimmerman, his close friends, or members of his family are on Realgram, if you’d like to sign up for Realgram please pick up any phone in your house and say ‘my name is (your name) and I would like to be a member of Realgram’s incentive program please contact me.’ Don’t worry about dialing any numbers they can hear you just fine.