Papa-papa-paparazzi

     “Generation Y is obsessed with documenting its social life,” a statement not far from the truth from Toronto blogger Sara Melvin, 22, in, “The new Paparazzi,” by Emma Teitel published in the November 7, 2011 edition of Macleans.  The article discusses social media’s ability to sprout the carelessness generation Y possesses when it comes to the privacy of their photos and information.

     Teitel writes about how most youth now a day’s can’t stand to be out of the loop. They have a, “fear of being absent.” People will know if they weren’t at a party because pictures and videos posted online will have captured almost everyone there. The truth is, if the person in question isn’t in the pictures, videos, snap chats, or tagged in posts there’s no public evidence to show that they were there. This has lead to a new breed of anxiety called “FOMO (fear of Missing Out)”

     Teitel added, “I cared more about invading the privacy of others than I did about protecting my own,” asserting her belief that generation Y doesn’t care about its privacy until it’s been violated. Admitting that she herself had, “over a hundred,” embarrassing photos-none of which she uploaded herself. She’s also a reminder of how easy it is to have jeopardizing photos uploaded without consent. The Macleans author also addressed that what’s important isn’t five years from now but five minutes from now in social media.

     

As an aspiring member of generation Y, who’s seen firsthand how media affects youth, myself included, I agree with all of Emma Teitel’s points about the lack of consciousness towards the image we produce of ourselves when we are captured and posted as well as how they are available to almost anybody in the world. Her article presented intelligible and truthful opinions which opened my mind to my own mistakes in privacy settings and others ability to see my photos and information.