Viral Victims Viral videos have become wildly popular within the last decade. For some, internet fame has become a blessing. On the other hand, others have been shamed due to their viral videos. In “The Flip Side of Internet Fame” by Jessica Bennet, she makes her case on the undesirable effects of social media. Bennet uses a few of the many viral victims as examples to demonstrate what social media can do. Social media humiliates, violates privacy, and has long-term effects on the lives of the viral victims. When videos are posted on social media, they have a good chance of going “viral” if the content is right. Bennet writes about a boy, Raza, that creates a video and the video was posted by someone else onto a social networking website. Raza, also named “Star Wars kid”, “…became a source of public humiliation” (579). Another viral victim known as “Dog poop girl”, in Seoul “…refused to clean up after her dog in the subway…” (579). She was eventually humiliated enough that she had to drop out of college. Being publicly shamed and humiliated is a price paid when it comes to viral videos and social media. Bennet does a great job demonstrating how social media and viral videos can humiliate an individual. Humiliating a person can …show more content…
“Star Wars kid”, Raza, had his privacy violated because his video was shared without his permission. Bennet also listed websites that are dedicated to shaming others. There are a variety of different websites that are meant to let others be aware of certain individuals. “There are websites for posting hateful rants about ex-lovers…and bad tippers…and for posting cell-phone images of public bad behavior…” (579). The websites used to shame others violate the privacy of the victims. Everyone should be entitled to their privacy unless they state otherwise. With today’s social media, privacy for individuals has become almost
The Flip Side of Internet Fame by Jessica Bennett. I believe her argument is how things posted on the internet is big, like once someone post something on their it’s going to be on the internet forever. I agree with her because once you posted something on the internet it’s forever going up there even if you deleted the post or the picture. I am going to write about the first person that Jessica Bennett talks to about the “Star Wars Kid”, bullying, and the cyber world.
These three traits are known collectively as “The Dark Triad” (Mariani, 7). The article looks at three case studies and quotes psychologists for evidence of the ominous side of social media. The main evidence is a case study on two teenage boys who almost shot up a neighborhood for views on Periscope, an app that allows you to film what you are doing to an audience (Mariani, 3). A second piece of evidence focuses on a girl who snapchatted herself driving at over 100 mph before crashing into another car and severely injuring the passengers and herself. A third instance of horrendous behavior is when a girl filmed her friend being raped on Periscope instead of intervening because of the attention she was receiving. A psychologist, Keith Campbell, explains that social media promotes self-obsession (Mariani, 6). He argues that social media has made it possible for people with negative traits to get ahead in life. It does note, however, that many people who use social media are simply seeking connections and popularity for regular things. In conclusion, the article warns of the dangers of social media for those seeking fame and “social rewards” and also says further studies need to be done to better
In the article, "The Dark Side of Web Fame" by Jessica Bennett, posted online at http://www.newsweek.com/dark-side-web-fame-93505 and published on February 21, 2008, the author recounts multiple stories of when the power of the internet had not benefitted people, but had actually harmed their reputation. Bennett starts the essay by giving an example of a high school boy who made an unfortunately embarrassing video, that was never meant to be published. Sadly, another student found the video and released it online, where the video became a viral sensation and the teen was humiliated not only on a local level, but a global level too. Throughout the article Bennett gives other examples to show the reader that people, using the tool of the
Sanders was right. At the time of his writing social media was just beginning to take root in our society, Facebook was in it’s infancy, and twitter had been founded year prior. As the two social media giants engrossed us all, like perfect dancers, we danced to the megaphone’s noise. This spread gave us all a megaphone and Jon Ronson’s book So You’ve been Publicly Shamed explores just how we have been using it. But while Saunders was right that we would abuse this megaphone and dumb down our society, the hatred and vitriol it has spread in our society is something that he never could have guessed. The book explores public shaming, evens where many individuals attacked a person for trivial reasons, ruining their lives, hurting their future, and scarring them until the day they die. An avalanche of hatred covers and suffocates this person, but not single one of those snowflakes feels responsible, no one of those snowflakes ever thinks how their actions might are hurting the person, nonetheless, the person dies; a life ruined, and not a person to blame. The megaphone and the distraction it causes allows some to excuses their actions and do things that would be otherwise reprehensible.
The era of technology went from being fun and games to social media, ways to talk to strangers, and keep close with family. I think that when people misuse social media it can make something good turn ugly, such as a simple hello to/from a stranger. Putting an opinion online about someone or something. Posting profanity pictures and hateful comments or posts. For something to go viral all it needs is publicity such as likes, comments, and shares, and then it is out there, where someone can see it and take it the wrong way or draw attention sexual predators.
These days social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become an essential part of our daily lives in America. It is through media sources such as these that have enabled communication among people on a global scale along with uniting people with similar interests and ideas together in a positive manner. According to statistics from the Pew Research Center, around seven in ten Americans use some type of social media (Pew Research). The development of mobile devices has played a significant role in the widespread development of social media by facilitating the access to these sites. Today the use of social media is for purposes of
the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide...was itself a punishable offense” (Orwell, 65). In 1984, looking suspicious or emotional in front of a telescreen was dangerous and considered a punishable offense. In the present day, social media is the equivalent to the telescreens, it’s the means by which individuals display themselves publicly. Posting the wrong thing on social media can be dangerous because if it’s public, it’s exposed to open interpretation. Jon Ronson from the New York Times Magazine published an article giving a few instances of people sharing controversial postings on social media and receiving a major backlash for it. Specifically, Ronson talks about a woman named Justine Sacco who tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Upon her arrival, she realized this tweet was trending. She was judged by her friends and family, and the tweet generated threats and harassment on the internet from the general public. As a result, Sacco lost her job and was scared to leave her own home. This incident is an example of the reasons why, in this day and age, we must be very careful with what we share publicly. Social media exemplifies of how our world is becoming like 1984. Any misstep in our words or actions can wind us
Social media, networks, and news stations manipulate their posts and the fears of their viewers in order to generate more attention towards their media. The attention economy is a metaphor of the economic profit and the payment of the attention from viewers. In Danah Boyd’s article “Whether the digital era improves society is up to its users – that's us”, she claims that we “live in a culture of fear” and that “social media is magnifying the attention economy” (Boyd). Boyd in both her article and her public talk “The Power of Fear in Networked Publics” focuses on three types of fear: fear of the unknown, fear for the young, and fear of the young. She also discusses the fearmongering content shared through networks.
Social media has corrupted the lives of the newer generation. It is no secret that technology has taken over the world by storm. While some technological advances have helped America, most have done the exact opposite. In discussions of social media
Schinke explains two scenarios: Kevin Hoffman’s love of Howard Stern went out on social media and Jessica Blinkered shared photos of her drinking with friends, only for police to arrest her for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter (72-73). He concludes people, between ages 18 and 34, have become “comfortable” in the Internet world; as a result, they refuse to adhere to the consequences of giving “too much” information to the public (73). Moreover, Surveillance cameras, cell phones, and computer cookies can now track their movements and posts anywhere (73). Because young people have grown interest with technology, Schinke also relates their actions with celebrities. He quotes Emily Nussbaum’s post, “In essence, every young person in America has become, in the literal sense, a public figure” (73).
Relevance to audience: As users of social media you may not think that it can have a bad effect on your life or the lives of those around you. After listening to what I have to say today, will give you a new perspective on social media and the huge control that it can have peoples’ lives.
“Social networks are successful because they offer widespread participation, but at the same time, they open their users up to unnecessarily dangerous exposure.” (Herring, Mark Y.. Social Media and the Good Life: Do They Connect? Jefferson NC: McFarland, 2015. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 10 September 2016.). Social media (sometimes defined as social network/networks) can be used to promote your ideas. Promoting your ideas through social media is a great way your voice to be heard by millions of other users using the same social media you use every day. Promoting may get you discovered by celebrities/authors/people who are looking for good marketing. However, some ideas/opinions you choose to express may cause an uproar of cyberbullying and may cause negative attention to be directed towards you, which nobody wants to deal with. Communication is also a great advantage that social media
In today’s internet savvy world, ‘Shaming’ has become an aspect of core-competency. And this aspect holds the power to destroy lives and confidences. This issue has become so large in the past few years that an entire book (“So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed”) has been written focusing on this very topic. But who is responsible for this chaos? Is it the person engaging in bad behavior or the person pulling the curtain off of the act? The answer depends on whom you ask. Social media when used properly has proved to be a powerful tool against the powerful organizations and influential people. Giving voice to pain of millions.
Can you imagine living in a world with no social media or smartphone? No instagram, twitter, facebook or snapchat? Believe it or not, that world existed before us millennials did. According to an article found on the Pew Research Center.com, entitled “The Demographics of Social Media Users”, the amount of Facebook users is “72% of adult internet users [and] 62% of entire adult population.” Facebook along with other media outlets have easily become the norm for young adults and older adults in today’s society. The rapid growth of accessibility to social media networking was made possible from the creation and use of smart phones. The combination of social media sites and smart phone users has single handedly eliminated the need for human interactions, but also has provided a repertoire of information at our fingertips. I will discuss the following: the history of Facebook and its impact, the creation of the iPhone and its development of social media apps like Instagram, and the effects of cyberbullying. The purpose of this essay is to explore the productive qualities and destructive qualities that various social media outlets have presented to our generation.
Social media. We have all heard of it. We have all raved about it at some point in our lives. There is no doubt; it plays an imperative part of people’s lives today – users are reliant on social media. It is great that Mark Zuckerberg reminds us to say, “Happy Birthday” to our friends. Yet, we have all seen the dangers it can cause. From identity fraud to cyberbullying - we become exposed to the dangers of the internet. Not only is it hackers and frauds that cause destruction, but social networking posts. Every day, you scroll through Facebook, or Instagram - liking, sharing and commenting on posts. What people don’t see is how words on a ‘status’ or ‘tweet’ can hurt someone. They can’t see that a person’s feelings behind the screens on a computer have been destroyed, because they can’t see what they don’t want to see.