theregoesdave

A new trend in the UK dubbed ‘dipping’ is getting media attention for it’s use of online tools for teenage mischief. Apparently some youths are using Google Earth to scope out local pools to crash while the homeowners are at work or sound asleep. The ‘dipping’ parties are organized on Facebook or Bebo and some have even called for dressing up.

Investigators found that the most recent event was attended by about 16 people, though over 500 were invited in total. Apparently this is a new trend that has been backed up by increased party crashing of events listed on social networking sites. Authorities are also worried that the practice of dipping could become a hot trend during the summer months while homeowners leave their pools unattended for vacations.

This is in interesting and inventive use of Google Earth for classic teenage hijinks. The only difference is the paper trail that leads investigators directly to the participants. Once location-based technologies improve, crowd sourcing events like this can simply broadcast their location in real time to limit the footprint and paper trail. I wonder how often people are using Google Earth for urban exploration and scouting for other events?

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