Last week one of my former 680 News colleagues put a “did you know” post on Facebook concerning “hidden” messages on the iPhone. If you followed the simple instructions, you’d find messages sent to you that you weren’t aware of – I assumed it was bogus but I followed along and BAM! Dozens of messages appeared from people I do and don’t know. I couldn’t believe it!
So I tried it live on the air with Mike Stubbs. I had him follow these steps – open the messenger app, settings, people, message requests and see filtered requests and BAM, his window started to fill up with messages he never knew he received. “Oh no!”, he said. “All of these people think I’m a jerk!”
It’s my latest party trick!
The app decides whether to let you know that someone wants to contact you through Facebook. The trouble is, the app is like an overly zealous den mother who doesn’t want to let anyone through. I had several of the usual, I-saw-your-picture-and-we-are-meant-to-be-together types, step one in the classic romance scam. There was also a woman trying to recruit me into a super conservative political group that “filters out the Liberal spies”! But there were legitimate requests, too. A couple of old acquaintances were there. One woman wondered whether I’m the same Lisa Brandt whose Mom Irene did her hair when she was a kid. (Not me! Not my Mom!) But the best one came from the daughter of a dear friend who died far too young several years ago. She wanted photos and memories of the father she didn’t get to know well enough before it was too late. We’ve been corresponding and I’ve been digging through old boxes looking for photos and articles for her.
If you have an iPhone, take a moment and follow the little guide in bold above. You never know who’s lurking in there, hoping you’ll answer and wondering why you haven’t!