Lilypie

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Is There No Privacy Anymore?

Due to the influx of social media, many people's lives are now being "broadcasted". We can have videos uploaded about people sleeping on trains and someone else recording every twitch, itch, scratch and drool. The next moment, one sees himself / herself being the main star of a movie on the world wide web.

Today my dear showed me a video which someone just uploaded on You Tube. This girl was drawing cash from an automated machine at a certain train station. She was about to leave when she bumped into her boyfriend ... with another girl ... on Valentine's Day (yesterday).

Can just imagine what happened after that. The unfortunate girl confronted her boyfriend, saying that he told her he had to work late and so could not celebrate Valentine's Day with her, yet he is now out with another girl! The other girl (who is prettier and better-dressed) then said, the guy is her boyfriend, they have been together for six months! To which the first girl said they have been together for a year!

And the guy in question? He just kept quiet, enjoying (?) the exchange between the two girls. Finally the first girl got so upset that she went to hit out at the guy, and then he pushed her. She was crying, but the guy did not wish to make a scene, so he just left with the other girl, and the first girl then composed herself and went off.

Whoever who was taking the video recorded down everything - every word, action, the whole drama. Now, if I am the people in question, I think I would not appreciate the whole world knowing what happened to me. Telling stories is one thing, but showing and broadcasting images to everyone else is another thing.

I guess in this era where all the information can be found so readily at your fingertips, there is no real privacy anymore. Anyone can just whip out a camera and take photos and videos and upload them so readily. No prior permission needs to be sought anymore.

Still, that does not mean one has the right to broadcast another person's "dirty laundry". What others do is none of anyone's business. What I say about my own life and actions, what I say about others who allowed me to share, and what I complain and whine about things that frustrate me, is still myself and my own actions to account for, not others.

Even when I present in CHOICE, I do not mind sharing my experiences and things I have gone through to those around me. But it is another thing altogether if they record my sharing and then broadcast to the whole world. Which is why we always tell the participants that what went on in the room stay in the room, and keep all sharings private and confidential to only those of that particular weekend.

To me, I much prefer to leave others to their own privacies. There is no necessity for anyone to go broadcasting others' lives. Even in this age of advanced technology, people should still be entitled to their own privacy and not go around being recognised or pointed at simply because someone has uploaded some video of them without their knowledge.

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