Wiffiti Fights Inter-awk-tions

Awkward Harvard students, always eager to avoid actual social interaction, seem to love any technology that allows them to skirt face-to-face communication. The Facebook lets us eschew talking for poking, and now, a Somerville company has decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Enter Wiffiti, LocaModa’s brainchild, a program made up of a series of digital billboards in public locations where people can post text messages for free, displaying their messages for all to see. The posts appear in random positions and different sizes on the board, reminiscent of writings on a bathroom wall. Harvardians itching to make themselves heard without the need for actual speech need only go to the Toscanini’s in Central Square for a fix.

“On the surface it seems anti-social,” says Stephen Randall, co-founder and CEO of LocaModa, “but this gives people a way to communicate.”

Steven H. An, chief technology officer and co-founder of the company, says that Wiffiti allows people to strike up conversations without having to go up to someone, eliminating the fear of rejection. Wiffiti messages can be anything from flirty to funny to downright weird. Past posts include marriage proposals, invitations to public pillow fights, and one extremely dedicated text of pi written out to 80 digits.

“Sometimes posts are stupid,” says Gus Rancatore, owner of Toscanini’s. “Sometimes you look at it and go ‘what the fuck?’”

So if Facebook is starting to seem too impersonal, get off your laptop and head to Toscanini’s for some good old-fashioned face-to-board-to-face communication. Grab a latte while you’re at it, and post an offer to buy one for the hot blonde at the next table.