We found out yesterday that Farmville players have sent out more than 220 million Valentine’s Day Virtual Gifts on Farmville in less than 18 hours. However, FarmVille Virtual gifts are not the only hot selling commodity on this Valentine Day. BrickHouse Security is reporting that the sales of their Stealth iBot Computer Monitor has increased by a whopping 242%.
So while many of the teens playing farmville are busy sending Valentine’s Day gifts to their friends, married couples and partners are flocking to buy the Stealth iBot Monitor to spy on their significant others. The iBot Monitor could be installed on a PC or laptop within 5 seconds from a USB device, once installed the bot goes on to capture screenshots of the users activity. The iBot can capture upto 10,000 images, which could be later used to confront your partner.
The reason for this huge increase in the demand of digital spying software indicates that married couples believe that their partners are involved in digital infidelity. Psychologists believe that one of the primary causes of this fear and insecurity is Facebook. The social networking giant has opened up avenues of digital/emotional cheating that were unimaginable a few years back. Dr. Boesky, a clinical psychologist, suggests:
I think Facebook gives people who would cheat or who would maybe be on the fence about cheating, more opportunities for cheating… It’s an avenue to meet more people. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are aiding people who would have that inclination by making it easier for them.
Facebook growth stats point out that Facebook has seen a tremendous 513.7% increase amongst users aged 55+. A recent report further indicates that almost half of the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) update their Facebook profile regularly. Which means that they are not merely present on Facebook, they are very active on the site.
Dr Boesky thinks that the Baby Boomer generation is primarily using Facebook to reconnect with old flames or scout out new friends or lovers. This activity, coupled with the opportunities provided by Facebook are fueling the social cheatworking epidemic.
Most of the users who have bought the iBot, have been fortunate/unfortunate find out that their gut feeling was true. According to an unsolicited testimonial by an iBot customer:
I used the Stealth iBot Computer spy to confirm my suspicions that my wife was involved in extra curricular activities on Facebook. My wife had a secret email and I was able to see her emails she was sending out and also view screenshots of what she was doing online. When she tried to refute my claims all I did was show her the print outs from the computer and she was speechless.
