An unusual phenomenon happened this week on Twitter that has catapulted two women into celebrity status. It amazes me that the media seems to have latched on to the story and a veritable sh*tstorm has erupted on Twitter that has traveled into the mainstream media.
Last week a mom sent a tweet to her followers that her son had fallen into a pool and asked for prayers. Later she posted pictures of her 2 year old who passed away from drowning. Another mom was outraged by this and began to accuse the mom of a hoax, calling the media to verify the drowning, and later after the drowning was verified, she accused the mom of neglect. She began harassing the mom and her friends, calling the news media and asking for a full investigation.
The friends of the mom whose son passed away, began to investigate this woman and found out she had multiple identities online. And the drama continues today. Social media has made celebrities out of these two women who before the tragedy, were relatively unknown. The accusatory woman is, for all intents and purposes, stalking the mom who lost her son, but she’s doing it online and via emails. She’s threatened to call the District Attorney and insist he file manslaughter charges against the mom for “tweeting while her son was dying.” The friends of the mom are stalking the other woman by pulling up her past blogs, doing searches on Google for her, and posting her “real name” and address all over the internet.
Here’s an article about the incident from a Florida newspaper (where it occurred):
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20091218/NEWS01/91218014
What is it about the internet that makes people think they can intrude into other people’s lives? Is it the person who puts themselves out there to blame? Or is it those who take it upon themselves to get involved? And why does the media latch onto these stories and run them into the ground?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s pretty sick. I agree with pressing charges against her. That twitter story is almost as bad as the Wisconsin woman a few months back who had a miscarriage when she was at a business meeting and bragged about her relief about since since now she wouldn’t have to wait for an abortion. I’m sorry, but there are certain things you just don’t put out there whether online or in real time.
Amazing what boredom can do to people. damn pathetic!
I find your last question–why does the media latch onto these stories and run them into the ground?–the most interesting. I read something some time ago about how in the old days the respectable media ignored these things. But then the sensationalistic, celebrity-worshiping media (e.g., tabloids and anything owned by a man named Rupert) started growing (both in numbers and in readership) and the responsible media outlets had to start covering these things or they’d lose readership to the crap media outlets. Now they’ve been dragged down to the level of those crap media outlets with much of their “news” being celebrity coverage and stories that look a lot like the typical episode of the Jerry Springer Show.
It’s all part of the dumbing down of America and the sleight of hand played by the people in power. Bread and circuses. Keep the masses entertained with crap and they won’t notice the billions of dollars being stolen from the taxpayers by the elite.
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