SSID As the New Community Bulletin Board and Yard Sign

Hugh Pickens writes "Megan Garber writes that wireless routers have become the lawn signs of the digital age, particularly in large apartment buildings, where almost every unit has a unique Wi-Fi network that will be detected in turn by all the other unique Wi-Fi networks. SSIDs can be a cheeky, geeky way to broadcast messages to your immediate neighbors. Most of us keep it simple with '275_Elm_Street,' 'Apt23,' or 'my_network,' but some get more creative with names like: 'Apt112IHaveYourMail,' 'PrettyFlyForAWiFi,' or 'WeCanHearYouHavingSex' — a great way to freak out your annoying neighbors without hiding in their bushes or peeping in their windows late at night. Now the team at OpenSignalMaps, which maintains a database of geolocated Wi-Fi access points, analyzed the data they've collected about wireless routers to see whether Wi-Fi names are 'being used to fly political colors' and have found, globally, 1,140 results for 'Obama' and an additional six for 'Romney' — an indication not necessarily of Romney's popularity relative to the president's, but of the attention that four years as president can confer. 'There's something uniquely contemporary and incredibly old-school about that kind of broadcasting: It's messaging meant only for your immediate neighbors,' writes Garber. 'The politicized network names are like lawn signs for people who don't have lawns.'"

Comments

Oh, a 'study' huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just another superficial pseudo-tweet by a politically ignorant populace. On CNN's story blogs an article about hairs on a zebra's ass will very soon collect a post or two about it being Obama's fault that there's 100 instead of 101. Romney is a business genius, apparently because he got hired into his father's corporation and an economic cohort where money makes money without intervention. But ask any of these intellectual inbreds for a real measured, thoughtful opinion on politics and they'll come up empty-handed. They're dunces, and their ssid is just another way to spew their particular tripe.

Welcome to McNation folks.

btw, the Pols like that; it makes us easier to control.