Privacy question, part II: Is privacy losing its value in American society?

[BurtWorm]

Was the Rutgers incident, in which two young people felt free to make public another person's private moment, a random, isolated incident, like a purse-snatching or a knifing? Or does it reflect something about a change in Americans' attitudes about other people's privacy?

I ask because I think the omnipresence of Facebook and other social media, may be altering by dribs and drabs our tolerance for making our own private lives open and available for public inspection. I get e-mails from one social media group I belong to telling me what other people in my circle are doing. They might have just updated something, or connected to someone, or joined a group or used an app. Do they know that I know what they're doing? Does it matter to them?

[Guilded Lilly]

1. Privacy in this country has been taking a hit for a long time.

And people, in general have become colder, meaner, nebbier, morbidly judgmental and uglier. The double edged sword of the Internet, 24/7 media and insipid reality shows are making deep wounds. But the class and civility of this nation has long been eroding. And sadly, I see no stop to the madness.

[BurtWorm]

2. Reality shows!

Now there's a privacy-eroding phenomenon if there ever was one.

You'd almost think that the generation growing up with all this shit needs to be educated about what privacy means. Or is that a myth?

[Guilded Lilly]

8. It is their utter and sad loss.

Maybe privacy is more of a lost art? Or the ultimate loss of self-esteem?
Fortunately my kids grew up with a mother who was defiantly protective of her and their privacy! (grin) Maybe a little rubbed off on their generation.

Here's hoping!

[EmeraldCityGrl]

3. Because of our homophobic society they thought

exposing this young man and disrespecting his privacy would be cool.
They thought their piers would be impressed. They're a couple of punks
and I hope they're charged and serve prison time for contributing to the
death of Tyler Clementi. Entertainment trumps privacy is enough people
get a good laugh.

[seabeyond]

4. it has been happening to young women too, for a while... and they think they are cool

and encouraged by their friends...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

7. Yes and it has to stop. Only by ostracizing the people

that think this stuff is going to gain them some kind
of social brownie points will it stop. The media is
plastering their faces all over the news. They will
pay the price even though it will never be enough.

[seabeyond]

10. the story hit me. reminded me of the 18 yr old girl, gave picture to bf, he sent pictures out

she killed herself.

i had sons watch the girl talk and the mother after daughter died. i wanted them to truly understand how painful an experience it is and the repercussion that exist for such cruel, irresponsible action. i wanted boys to understand the callous of it and our society that encourages and rewards our boys/kids for this behavior.

i wonder how many parents take this seriously, or just see it as the actions of.... just being teens.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

11. I raised boys as well.

Just like you I took every opportunity I could to educate them to be
sensitive to women, to the LGBT community, to the disabled, to
everyone often left to the mercy of the merciless. Often I will
see little things they do in their lives or comments they make
that lets me know it was all worth it.

Good for you Mom :)

[seabeyond]

12. thumbs up

it matters

backatcha

[BurtWorm]

6. Yes. It seems clear that homophobia blinded the kid who thought to do this.

I don't know if it made him do something that wasn't implicit in his vocabulary of actions, or if it was implicit in him to do this only to someone whose behavior he feared or didn't understand.

Whatever the case, he didn't see the clear line between private and public that should have given him major pause--like the reflex to recoil from cutting into another person's flesh--before doing this. This is sociopathy of the most chilling kind, in my opinion.

In the past--think of the scene in M*A*S*H (the movie) when Hawkeye and Trapper John expose Hot Lips as she showers--vengeful privacy invasion was a small-scale affair. Via the internet and cheap video, it has become mass-scale. But pea-brains, like this Rutgers kid, don't seem to realize what a leap it is, what a major line they've crossed, when they publish an act meant to be private.

PS: Bluenorthwest's post prompts me to state explicitly what I was thinking about the M*A*S*H scene: In 1970 when that movie was in wide release, this was supposed to be funny, I'm pretty sure, this humiliation of a public tight-ass who was a private sex pot. It's not so funny anymore, and probably wasn't to most women even then. It's another instance (like the Rutger's incident) of the use of public humiliation to assert power over the powerless.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Um, this is a hate crime by heterosexualist hate mongers

That is the issue here, not Facebook. This is about the omnipresent message of heterosexual superiority being foisted by your community top to bottom, inclusive of all Democratic leadership.
Facebook. This is about the rot in the heterosexual community. Time to own up. Straight people did this because their community raises them to do this sort of thing. I assume, for example, that many of the President's hate preacher allies are deeply pleased by this sort of open attack, this is what they call for. They have declared war on us, said the gloves are off and we are child killers. The President said that was acceptable language. The Democratic Party agreed with him. If we are murderers which you are at war with, what do you and the President and McClurkin think will happen? That we will be invited to dinner? No, sir, this is exactly what they ask for, what they want.
The straight community owns this.

[BurtWorm]

9. This is a heterosexualist hate crime. No doubt about that.

I wouldn't let Facebook culture off the hook so easily, though. It's given haters a powerful new weapon.

[Mimosa]

13. YES (and you're right about 'social media')

A lot of younger people think everybody's lives should provide 'entertainment value'. If you ever look at -especially- younger gals pages on Facebook, many want to be stars. And they openly post very private info about their sex lives, even. *eek*