Is this a sign that social networking is bad? An Australian plant that was fed via a Facebook page died as a result of being over fed by its facebook fans on the site. The interactive project was conducted at the Queensland state library and was aimed to explore the emotions involving social media. The plant called “Meet Eater” is watered when a Facebook user becomes a fan and posts on its wall.
The main brains behind this idea were of Bashkim Isai who said, “I wanted to see whether people could care enough about a plant seen on Facebook to keep it alive”. “I was overwhelmed by the response”, he added. The project was unveiled about two months ago and since then the Meet Eater has attracted more than 5,000 fans from across the world and the increased activity ended up with the system over feeding the plant to death.
Isai said, “We found that it’s been over-loved, it’s actually died two times from having too much stimulation, which is an interesting outcome for us”. The Facebook page also had live footage of the Meet Eater which is in its third incarnation. When a visitor becomes a fan or writes on the wall, the Meet Eater gets a squirt of water.
Isai said that while some people are proactive in taking care of the plant over the social site, many others really don’t bother and leave never to come back. He said the research showed meaningful connections could be made online while not all connections could be considered resourceful.
You can visit the page and become a fan of it here.