iHobo is a controversial new fundraising tool in the form of an iPhone App that reflects the growing use of the internet on mobile phones. It is being used to raise awareness and generate funds for Depaul UK, a charity that helps young people who are homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged. It offers a glimpse into the life of a young homeless person and asks you to help them to decide what to do and how to survive. It is breaking new ground as a new generation of fundraising tools but it is also creating a storm of controversy as people say it is patronising and compares homeless people to Tamagotchi.The app was created and launched by a advertising agency for one of the largest homelessness charities in the UK. There is no information about how much it cost to create but it sets out to personalise the issue in a new way and as one of the first apps of its kind is likely to win a lot of attention for the charity.
Watch the Youtube video below, or visit the de Paul website to find out more about how it works.
The app uses video-based content to bring to life the experiences of a young person who has found himself sleeping rough for the first time. Over the course of several days you are sent alerts and asked to help him decide what to do when faced with typical problems, such as where to sleep.
The idea is that it helps you see the problems from their point of view and underlines how quickly a young person can find themself on the streets. It also highlights the fact that 3 out of 4 people end up with drug-related problems and the difficulties in avoiding this path.
The launch of the app has generated a lot of debate in online forums.
Some say it does a great job of reaching and interacting with iPhone owners who may otherwise ignore the homeless people they see every day. But others describe it as patronising and say that it equates a homeless person with a virtual pet like a Tamagotchi. Here are two posts from the discussion on the Civil Society IT website that show both sides of the argument:
“It doesn’t matter that some of the target market found it interesting (in fact, like me, many more found it abhorent) – the ends don’t always justify the means. And having a ‘pet’ homeless person, sorry ‘hobo’, on your phone is patronising and deeply offensive – it’s just wrong.”
“If it works in the market it’s designed for, it works. It’s really worth resisting the knee jerk response an idea like this can produce long enough to consider it in it’s context. After all, which is more offensive/demeaning: the idea of a virtual ‘pet’ homeless guy or the reality of homelessness this app looks likely to help Depaul address?”
My view is that there is a lot of self-righteous huffing and puffing in many of these posts. Although they may be genuinely offended I am more concerned with how it feels to the people being portrayed but I’ve not seen any coverage which includes the views of people who are themselves homeless, or vulnerable young people, the many people who work with them every day.
I can imagine that some will feel this is a tasteless way of raising funds that reinforce stereotypes as much as it challenges them – starting with the name.But they are also likely to see it as a an imaginative way of raising awareness of the reality of life on the streets.
I see it as an engaging way of moving on from the guilt-inducing direct mail campaigns that are so common now. The devil is in the detail and I think it successfully treads a line between drawing in the curious and then explaining the issues in a direct and personalised way. In particular I found it more appropriate than an advertising campaign from the states that used a homeless person on an actual advertising hoarding!
What do you think?
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I get the feeling that the hang up has started (and probably got no further than) the word hobo. Though pejorative in the UK, in the US (where the term originates) it has a somewhat romantic attachment to being free and wondering. Also worth noting is that the word comes from the phrase “homeward bound” which seems to poignantly relate to the app’s message.