Let's face it: privacy is dead. When government organizations or hackers aren't revealing our deepest secrets, we are exposing them ourselves. We continually use platforms like social media, YouTube and television to talk about our private lives, family fights, emotional struggles, and relationship issues.
But is this tendency to overshare the grit and the glamour of our personal lives a good thing?
This has been a topic of discussion for the past couple of days after YouTube stars Liza Koshy and David Dobrik posted a breakup video on YouTube, humorously and emotionally discussing their breakup in front of millions of their fans.
Koshy and Dobrik's breakup made headlines. The video itself has almost 17 million views and is #1 trending on YouTube. Viewers, who were invested in the relationship and lives of Koshy and Dobrik, are using social media and other platforms to discuss the breakup and give different positions on the issue.
But the breakup of these young YouTube stars has sparked a discussion that extends beyond their actual relationship. Is the public broadcast of private life, including the ups and downs of relationships, something that has become expected in our society?
In this day and age, Facebook statuses are changed and photos deleted upon breaking up. Is the next natural step a public broadcast of every step of our relationships to our followers? Do we expect people with public presences to expose every aspect of their relationships and emotional struggles to us, their followers, and to the rest of the online world? Perhaps it seems excessive, but this is the direction that we're leaning toward. Reality TV aims to expose everything, with people talking about their sexual encounters, family problems, and relationship issues.
But how much sharing is too much? When is sharing your life and experiences liberating and helpful to others, and when is it an invasion of privacy?
Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson have made headlines over the past few months, with cheating allegations amidst Khloe's pregnancy. Debates ensued in the public sphere, some of which involved members of the Kardashian family. Khloe responded: asking for privacy.
But in a world where privacy seems to be an abandoned concept, can people ask for privacy anymore? YouTubers and Reality TV stars profit off revealing themselves and their secrets to the public. We assume certain people need privacy, a word thrown around by politicians and citizens alike. But do people who profit off of lack of privacy deserve the same respect?
In our modern world, does entertainment trump privacy?
It seems that the answer to that question is, yes. But people still deserve privacy in their most emotional and vulnerable moments. Perhaps publicly broadcasting relationships, breakups, and our lives is excessive. But perhaps this lack of privacy can be used as a good thing - instead of just seeing the #RelationshipGoals and other airbrushed versions of people's lives, we can understand and relate to the real, teary, heartbroken part of relationships and lives.
