In a world that is constantly changing and developing, keeping up seems to be of utmost importance to the American population. Social media is surrounded by users that enjoy using Facebook to “keep up” with friends from high school which oftentimes turns into snooping around.

Snapchat allows you to watch people’s “Stories” to have glance in that person’s day. But, you have to be quick because eventually the story is gone and you missed that moment in another person’s day. Kind of a strange way to look at it, but many social media platforms allow you to see things you probably never could have seen otherwise. It’s almost like looking through someone else’s eyes. 

I see no problem with the general curiosity we all have. Let’s face it, even if you say you are not, you probably are a little interested in what happens in other people’s lives even though you hardly know them. We all deep down want to see a high school classmate’s new baby or a distant cousin 3 times removed graduate from college. In a way it is instinctual; we want to be in the loop, we want to be informed.

However, having everyone’s lives at your finger tips comes with a price. Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms allow you to edit and decide if the post, video or photo you made is something you feel confident about posting for the world to see. Facebook, however, offers a live feature where friends can watch whatever you are doing or seeing as you do it. This has the capability to bring them in closer to the event, and provide the feeling of the overall experience. Ultimately you are bringing them in just about as close as you can without them actually standing beside you.

I’ll admit the feature is pretty cool and the whole idea of being “live” has grown in popularity. Instagram and Facebook both offer this feature. While it comes with perks and a sense of real connection it absolutely comes with serious faults and consequences.

Those consequences are pretty severe as can be seen on the news as of Jan. 5. According to CNN, four 18 year olds are in custody for torturing another 18 year old out of Chicago. The part that makes this particularly different is that the torturing was broadcast live on Facebook.

The article goes into detail over the potential reasons this terrible event occurred. However, they hardly mention the platform at which this hateful act was spread to the public. Facebook did state to CNN that they pulled the original video but that doesn’t stop it from being seen. By having this live feature available people were able to easily access and view something terrible. The attackers purposely posted this live with the intentions of having their message and actions recognized.

This brings me to ask if the live feature is really a smart decision overall. With the changes being made to social media, the news and the world as a whole, is anything truly private anymore? Can there still be room for intimate moments that are shared only with the people physically there?

In my opinion no, not as much as we would like to think. It certainly does feel like nothing is really private any longer. I know things about people I haven’t spoken to in years solely because of what they choose to share. Maybe now it is more about getting “likes” and comments or the recognition of the event, but is there not ever a time when your life can solely be your life? Sadly, now people have turned to this feature to voice hate, anger and intolerance.

I guess all I can really say is: is this really worth it? In twenty years are you going to be truly happy having shared all the details of your life with complete strangers? I feel that there is absolutely more value in sharing with people who matter to you, rather than some names and faces you saw a few years ago.