What’s the worst way to end a romantic relationship? Is it through email? Is it through texting? Is it through ghosting? Or do they send their new lover to…ahem…’communicate’ that it’s over? There’s an app that may trump them all.
This is where the Binder app comes in. Using the theme, “It’s time they got the message,” this app is the ultimate communicator in breaking up. The app was built in the United Kingdom. It’s named after a British slang term ‘binned’, which means dumped your girlfriend. It was built as a joke. But knowing how people are today, you know this app is going to be used to seriously end bad relationships. The app asks the relationship breaker to input the name, number, and gender of the person they intend to break up with. Then they ask the breaker to choose the reason. And these reasons don’t let you down easy. Reasons include, “It’s better to have loved and lost, so on that note, get lost” and “Our relationship is patchy as your beard” and “It’s not me, it’s you.” ?Binder creates a card, adds a pre-recorded voicemail, and sends it to your?soon to be ex. The voicemail is even less kind. It whispers sweet nothings like, “I hate your face. [Your boyfriend] is sick in his mouth every time he sees you around.” But this is supposed to be a joke, right?
I learned a long time ago that technology isn’t the problem. It’s the human heart and mind behind the technology. And when I look at how evil today’s human hearts and minds are, the Binder app will become far from a joke. I shutter to think how many relationships will end and divorces will happen and families will break up through Binder. We rarely communicate with each other anymore. I went to a restaurant and nobody at this table said a word to each other from start to finish. They just all looked at their smartphones. At this one dance party, instead of dancing, they played with their phone. Albert Einstein said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” I’ll go even further. I fear we have a generation of sociopaths. Is the technological and social climate just right for Binder to break hearts and destroy lives?