Social Media and Privacy

Social Media can certainly be used to aide a great deal of people in finding justice for certain crimes. Whether it's simply making more people aware of a growing concern, or used to identify a criminal,it certainly has its benefits. However, when I see stories of 'Rape gone Viral'  or the latest beat down video on World-star, it makes me sick to my stomach. People share these stories and find entertainment at others expenses and never consider the repercussions of these videos being posted online. As if it weren't bad enough to be the victim of such a horrendous crime, to have everybody on the internet have access to the video and even the victims identities is saddening. Although I can't personally say this has happened to me, I do know a good friend who has been the victim of a similar crime, and saw the painful after effects. After a video of her getting jumped was posted online, it quickly made it's way to various Blogs and social media outlets. While other people got a real kick out of the whole ordeal, I saw her enter a deep depression and even transfer schools due to the sheer embarrassment brought on by the video not only being published but going viral. 

Imagine having your name associated with a video of you getting assaulted and finding peoplenot sympathizing   with you, but instead laughing at it. Not only do your peers have access to such a video, but also family members, future employers, etc. All these videos do is provide a painful reminder of that unfortunate incident, interfering with the victims ability to move past it. First of all, I would hope that such a crime would not be committed in the first place. But most of all, I would hope that if someone were to witness such an event, that instead of filming the ordeal they would instead help the victim. Technology enables us to inform authorities and even take a picture of the assaulters but more often than not these videos are simply posted to their respective media pages so they can get a few likes and be momentarily popular. I wish that the people who compromise others identity after horrific events such as assault or rape, would pause and think about what would/will happen to that victim once that information is released. After all, everything that's posted to the internet can never be deleted so discretion is certainly advisable.