This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Fainite Auguste. Find her on Instagram at @ceilingdancing. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Social media gained popularity in the 2010s and is now part of our lives. Most Americans spend several hours on their phones scrolling through apps every day. The more time people spend on their phones in the digital world the less human interaction we experience. This impacts compassion and empathy for real people. This leads to real people bein recording for entertainment. It’s time to talk about the consequences of recording strangers.
The Obsession With Going Viral
Everyone knows that social media makes people money; enough money to pay off student debt, and buy expensive cars, and even houses. People want influence, and the ability to say millions of people interact with their every post. Seeing the like count get higher increases the dopamine in a person’s brain. Social media is quite literally addictive.
People are willing to do anything to go viral including involving nonconsenting strangers. I have unfortunately fallen victim to this. This past Tuesday I came across a video of me and my partner recorded and posted by a stranger. At first, I was confused I thought it couldn’t possibly be us in the video. Then complete dread and fear filled my stomach once I realized it was us! A stranger had recorded my partner and me from inside a car and uploaded it onto their account. But why would someone do this? The truth is the person simply wanted to go viral.
The person succeeded in their goal, the video has over 100 thousand views and over a thousand likes. The person’s bio reads “I’m just nosey,” which I presume is their excuse to go on living a guilt-free life. But the person should feel guilt in this situation. My partner and I did not consent to being recorded and uploaded to TikTok or other social media platforms. Although I have tried several times to have the video taken down TikTok does not have a reporting option for my specific situation.
The Consequences of Recording Strangers
What started as a normal private conversation between two people in a relationship became entertainment for the internet. I found two different types of comments under the video. There are the ones who want to find out exactly what my partner and I were discussing. Some people going as far as tagging lip readers! There are people in the comments who are acknowledging the disturbing action of the person.
The last sliver of comfortability I felt in public was taken away from me because of this video. I now fear that I am being recorded to be picked apart. Existing in public is not a immediate yes to being recorded. Ask people for consent to record them and take no for an answer.
Parasocial Relationships
Over the years we have gotten used to seeing strangers everyday lives. Most influencer’s jobs are to record their everyday life, also known as vlogging. From the moment an influencer is awake until they sleep their priority is to entertain the audience.
Influencers and viewers get caught in a cycle of giving and taking. Viewers give their time and money with the expectation of consistent transparency. It’s not until the creator experiences immense burnout that they take a social media break or permanently leave the social media platform. Take the beloved fashion influencer Bestdressed, (aka Ashley), for example.
She was a well-known YouTuber, sharing aspects of her life like her fashion taste, and apartment. Ashley has not posted on YouTube in three years. She does continue to post on Instagram and TikTok but it is much more private. Her posts are mostly sponsorships with luxury fashion brands. Gone are the days of Q and A’s and apartment tours.
Is privacy gone?
As more evidence is released on companies selling user data for marketing purposes the question of privacy is at the forefront. But It is not only companies breaking privacy but users too. Think about the last you mindlessly posted your location. It starts to feel as if everyone is obligated to details on stranger’s personal lives.
Do you need permission to film someone? We think you should. Have you experienced something similar? Let us know!
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