Abby Merola

Hi Abby!

Loved reading your article about the IoT and how beneficial it is to society! It’s funny you mentioned Marty, the Giant Food Stores Robot, because while I was shopping for food for dinner today I swear every corner or aisle I turned, he was there. I swear I could not escape him. I think it is really cool though how Giant was able to create a robot that simply navigates the store and looks for messes to clean up, it really is a cool invention and definitely seems to save time on the employee’s part. I also liked reading about your other examples of the IoT and how it is or can be used in everyday life. I really do hope that it stays around like you said because it is such an integral part of our society now.

Thank you for sharing your post! What an interesting read.

Sara

Hi Abby,
The majority of people use these apps frequently including me. Some of them might not even be aware that their data is being collected and tracked. It is one thing to collect data and whole another to use it to build revenue. Hardly do we read the privacy notice when we join an app or start entering our data into one. If we do take out time to read them they are very vague and hard to understand. I stopped using Facebook a few years ago, I was aware they tracked our activity but I wasn’t aware they tracked the apps we have visited.
Sure they ask if it is okay for them to use your information but do they don’t tell you what they will be using it for.
Tiktok for example, collect our demographic data by default based on our SIM card, IP address, and GPS. Makes me wonder why they wouldn’t give us a choice. I recently discovered some privacy settings on Instagram when I opened a business account. They are significantly different from than one’s we get in a regular account.

Hi Abby,
This doesn’t surprise me at all! I have been aware for some time that these apps have been tracking what we do. I am not a big Facebook user, but I am a big Instagram user! I knew that app was tracking me since every time I go on a website, once I log onto Instagram I see an ad or something similar on Instagram. It’s honestly crazy how much data they are taking and tracking from us. Our purchase history, our likes, our comments, what groups we join. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were tracking who we are talking to in our DM’s. I understand the tracking of certain data due to marketing to customers. However, there is certain information that they DO NOT NEED TO KNOW or track. Whenever I can, I do opt out of an app tracking my location or opt out of cookies.

Hi Abby,

Great Post! I am always on Facebook and Instagram and I am aware they do lots of tracking, but I don’t like to think about it. I find it a bit scary. I created my instagram account when I was about 14, so thinking that they have been tracking things about me for 10 years is a bit worrisome. Makes me wonder how much they truly know about me. Also, I’m not a fan how it shows your followers when you were last online. I turned this feature off because I read this one article that mentioned how someone could know your location by having that feature on. The example they gave was about sharing a post or a story about waiting for the bus. Someone could notice that you’re waiting at a bus stop at a certain time everyday because your green active light is showing on Instagram or Facebook. You never know who else can be tracking you with a simple friendly app feature.

Hi Abby,
The privacy wall for users is paper thin! There are so many apps that have been working hand in hand to collect information on users without the person even knowing. It didn’t shock me that Facebook and Instagram were collecting information to support their system. They collect information from your purchase history, comments, and post that they can generate ads and other content to the user’s individual experience. Today, apps are collecting information and generating content that we as user aren’t aware of like in the case of Tik Tok user noticing content they wouldn’t have looked at or even know about.

Abby,

I remember discussing this in class and I think I was one of the only people who said that I truly don’t mind when an app is tracking me (or if my Alexa listens to me) and to be honest I have not thought much about it since that discussion in class. I personally do not mind if an app tracks me, sometimes I find it even funny that it is going to these lengths to stalk what I do on my phone outside of the app to create ads for me. After reading through your article and the comments above I realize that I may be the odd one out. I will admit that I am never aware of how much an app is tracking me, as I did not know how much Facebook was tracking me until I read your post, but I do not exactly see the harm in it. (Although Iridian’s comment about the Instagram location tracking is a little scary.) If a company uses some of my data to better themselves, so be it! For now, I am okay with all this tracking, even if this makes me the crazy odd one out!

Hey Abby! I have been trying to convince my parents to sign up for HelloFresh as I constantly find it as the most convenient option for my busy schedule. Unfortunately, they will not give up going to the store to socialize with other people from our community. I believe that for most marketing efforts, the target market is in a specific age range but for apps that provide food shopping services, there are two drastically different markets. One being the busy millennial and the other being the elder who has physical difficulties in a store. I see most of these apps focus on the younger crowd as they are tech savvy, but the elder crowd is in need of such services as well.

Hi Abby,

I think as technology evolves, we’ll start to see more and more platforms like this pop up. I find it amazing that a global pandemic pushed the world ahead in technology! While a pandemic like this is very unfortunate, there has been a few good things that came from it.

I’m like your dad, I like to go to the store and pick out my own groceries. I actually enjoying walking up and down the aisles. I have never used any of the platforms you listed above. But I will say, sometimes it’s very stressful going to the grocery store if it’s crowded and you have to wait in line to checkout. I’m not very patient when it comes to things like that! So, I often wonder if I shouldn’t give one of these apps a try. It’s definitely a time saver and a chore that you can now easily check off the list.

It will be interesting to see the adoption rate for these apps moving forward. But I definitely think we’ll start to see them being used more often.

Hi Abby,

It’s such a coincidence, last night around 9 pm I realized I had forgotten to get Almond milk. I was so tired and contemplating whether to go to the grocery store later or earlier in the morning. I logged into my instacart account ordered two things and got my delivery by 10 pm. Saying that I have not been using apps like this as frequently as I did when the pandemic first hit. Because I live with my parents, they usually do the groceries and they prefer going to the store themselves. Occasionally they will ask me to order the groceries or pick them up. I prefer ordering ahead of time and picking them up because it gives me a chance to find substitutes for items that might have been canceled in the order.

Hey Henry,

I used Hello Fresh last year and loved it. The meals are actually really good but it does take a lot of prep to make the meals. I would highly recommend it to anyone. You get to pick the meals the week ahead of time so you know what you are getting. Let me know if you end up using it!

Abby! Loved this post, it is so relatable. I was early to the Instacart game, I actually used it while in undergrad at Temple (even though I did have a car on campus but it was so hard to get to the grocery store sometimes, or carrying the groceries for blocks at a time was just not it for me) and I liked it. It was merely okay. Like your dad and Henry, I love going to the grocery store and picking out my own food. Unlike your dad, I do not use it as alone time, I just consider myself a control freak… also a visual buyer, I need to see the aisles and usually buy as I go. For the few times that I did use Instacart, it did satisfy my every need, but at the end of the day, I do still prefer going to the grocery store on my own and shopping for my own food. However, I do believe what Instacart has created and started is wonderful, and to answer one of your questions. yes I would love to see more apps like Instacart in the future!