Hell Really is Other People

You know social media gives us an awful lot when it comes to staying connected. We can see things like where our friends are or have been recently on a host of platforms. This is, of course, all well and good but what if you have a lot of time-demanding friends you would just like a break from? It can so easily happen that you are out running errands and run into every damn person you know. This turns an hour of errands into several hours of catching up and blowing your free time with chit chat.

Well, as seems to be very normal these days, a university project may be the answer to ensuring a little alone time. While pursuing his Master’s degree in Telecommunications at NYU, Scott Garner conceived an idea for an app. This app is based on anti-social media rather that social because it was designed to help you avoid friends. Known as “Hell is Other People”, this app allows you to link up your FourSquare account. This will then tell you if your friends are or have recently been in a place that you plan to go. Using a simple color code system orange indicates places friends have checked in while green shows a safe area where you will likely not meet someone you know.

This really seems like an interesting concept because some days you just don’t want to be around other people. Garner, the app’s creator, admits freely that he is somewhat anti-social and that taking part in this project has helped him understand himself a great deal.