Bob Collins
Target Corporation has unveiled an app that will allow people you don’t know, potentially from neighborhoods that aren’t yours, to show up at your door on Halloween because the word got out you’re giving away some decent candy.
What could possibly go wrong?
Target calls its app “Treatster,” to “help parents map out the ‘must-visit’ houses on each block for their trick-or-treaters. As in, the ones with the spookiest decorations, funkiest costumes and, of course, best candy!”
You won’t get any say in whether the social network is alerted to your generosity. Your address is “upvoted” by, presumably, parents of trick or treaters. The more upvotes you get, the bigger the alert to the Treatster world that your house is a good place to hit.
If you wanted to play a Halloween trick, by the way, it’s possible to add someone else’s address to the map, then report that it has great candy. Although you’re only allowed to upvote an address once, using different devices can make the pumpkin larger on the app, alerting the overly-connected trick-or-treaters to the location.
Alternately, helicoptering Halloween parents could just stay out of the way of the kids on Halloween, send them up the driveway to a house while they stay out of sight, and let the kids get whatever they get from a particular home, experiencing Trick or Treat their way.
Maybe they’ll get an apple from someone they actually know and have to learn how to handle life’s little disappointment.
