The era of social media has brought about a new form of surveillance and accountability, where everyday people are now the detectives of each other’s lives. This phenomenon was highlighted recently when a woman posted videos on TikTok of a man and a woman allegedly having an affair on a flight from Houston to New York City.
The videos, which have since been deleted, showed the man wearing a wedding ring while flirting with the woman and eventually making out with her in the airplane bathroom. The original poster claimed she could hear their first names and included them in the video’s caption, sparking a debate among TikTok users.
While some applauded the woman for exposing the alleged affair and helping another woman learn the truth about her husband, others criticized the invasion of privacy and the growing trend of using social media to shame and humiliate others.
Experts like Brooke Erin Duffy, an associate professor of communications at Cornell University, warn of the dangers of this “imagined surveillance,” where anything you do could be recorded and used against you. The boundaries between personal and professional, celebrity and ordinary, have blurred, creating an atmosphere of constant scrutiny and fear.
In a world where engagement and outrage drive content creation, some creators continue to feed the beast by producing negative and controversial content. The cycle of shock and outrage perpetuates itself, leading to a culture where privacy is sacrificed for likes and shares.
As social media users navigate this new landscape of accountability and surveillance, it’s important to consider the impact of our actions on others and question whether our allegiance is to entertainment or to the well-being of those around us. The next time you reach for your phone to capture a moment, think about the consequences of turning someone else’s life into social media fodder.
