putting yourself out there : be prepared for consequences

there is no doubt that you have heard of the 16 year old girl who had pleaded a case of rape in a video and uploaded up to youtube. a part of her confession struck me. a part where she indicated that uploading a video to youtube was her last hope. this isn't just for teens there is also the wealthy new york socialite who is being divorced by her husband. she decided to throw him under the bus about sex life and more in a youtube video.

though i do not discount that these people have hurt. it is interesting to see how the crowds rally for or against your hurt. there is account now that 'crystal' the 16 year old girl consented to her sex. so now videos are popping up bashing her in very mean ways. mean enough and vulgar enough that i care not to link to them.

so i am wondering why the variant opinions.. i know people can be mean and rub salt in wounds. but generally people are caring and would tend to hurting people. so why? the only idea i can come up with is that putting videos out like such are, in-fact, acts of aggression. yes, people need to be outed for misdeeds and held accountable. but to air it in a youtube fashion may be perceived as aggression back, and that diminishes the empathy that one might normally have for a victim situation.

i understand that victims of all sorts of mistreatment want accountability & justice for actions taken against them. when that justice is not what they imagined is youtube really the last resort? one might want to rethink that & be prepared for the consequences.

am i way off?

Comments

[Dennis]

I think people want honesty. When someone comes out and says they were hurt in such a public way, people tend to believe them. Then when it's found out that it's not true, they feel betrayed. Unfortunately, you can't believe everything you see on the internet. Great thoughts, by the way.

[Jeremy]

It seems that this might be a good example of voyeurism or schadenfreude:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

Basically, enjoying watching someone else in pain. The response videos then make sense in that it is an attempt to cause even more pain (and thus, more pain to "enjoy" watching). Youtube is definitely not a good place to turn when you are hurting - that really requires a close, caring group of people (that you hopefully would find at your church). But many don't have a close caring group to turn too, and that leads us to the last resort...

[Ryan]

It's a little bit of a square peg/round hole thing. Youtube is a device for entertainment... not a means for justice or healing. People using Youtube to view those kinds of videos are generally looking for entertainment, and therefore will view those heartfelt videos posted as mere entertainment. It's a bit like watching the old Jerry Springer Show... it makes light of people's problems for entertainment purposes. I don't think anyone ever went on Jerry Springer to get some serious answers to their problems, and people probably should not turn to Youtube expecting that either.

[gavin]

good thoughts friends, jeremy i'll have to check that link out in due time. ryan, good point on the distinction of youtube innately being for entertainment. but myspace was initially for music, or so they tell me, you'd never know now. people make of things what they want