Denuo - denuology.com

I have spent my entire life being told the term “Peeping Tom” carried both serious and negative connotations. Because of that, I instantly think of some dirt bag guy in the bushes taking a gander into an unsuspecting victim’s window. It is the reason I will never occupy an apartment/condo on the first floor or in direct line of sight with office buildings. Every so often, I even hear news coverage of police catching these curious fellows, which confirms their existence. Because of these thoughts, we as society have agreed that “peeping” is not a socially acceptable habit. Unfortunately, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I may be a Peeping Tom or at least a virtual version.

How can you not peep with all of today’s technology making it so easy? Whether it be following friends on facebook, reading celebrity gossip sites, or receiving tweets from complete strangers, I spend most of the day peeping into someone’s life. Granted I don’t think of it in the traditional dirt bag manner of the original Peeping Toms but my behavior (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) is not all that different besides being done over the internet and the fact that no nudity is involved with my peeping. (Sidenote: Never thought I’d get to write a those words. Go ahead and check that off the bucket list.)

There are a number of examples that not only encourage peeping but also prove that society may not frown on it after all.

- Xbox.com/Xbox Live – Allows you to track what games your friends are playing, how long they are playing, and whether or not they beat the game like the bragged about at lunch.

- Facebook’s latest UI – The site dedicated to all of us peepers out there just made it even easier to peep.

- Zappos Order Map (http://www.zappos.com/map/) – Following anonymous online purchases and their destinations is definitely in the dictionary under “peeping.”

- Tweetdeck – Not only can you follow the tweets of Shaq but you can now integrate your real friends’ status updates on Facebook. I call this “Killing two peepings with one stone.”

- Omegle – It goes a little further than a peep but you do get to dive into a complete stranger’s life through random conversation.

As many of these increases in popularity, the peeping bug will continue to grow. Actually as you sit here and read this post, you are peeping into the life of Denuo. However, the Peeping Tom name may never lose the bad perception so we might need a new title for the virtual counterpart.