CHELSEA GARDNER | STAFF WRITER
#Ambercole. Many of us have seen this hashtag a lot these past two weeks. You may remember it being a trending topic on Twitter for days. While many frequent Twitter users may know what this trending topic is referring to, some people have no idea. “Amber Cole”, as I must remind everyone, is not an action. Though it has suddenly taken on that role instead of focusing on “Amber Cole” as a person and an individual. She is a fourteen-year-old girl who was allegedly videotaped in a sexual act on/near a high school in Baltimore, as reported from Meghan McCorkell at Baltimore WJZ News. This news hit Twitter, and like many other “hot topics” it took a life of its own. It seemed like many Twitter users found humor in making jokes about the situation. Now, we must ask ourselves was that the right thing to do?
In this day and age, when does technology allow us to have any confidentiality? Nowadays it feels like nothing is considered a violation of privacy. As soon as it is leaked on the Internet, you virtually have no control over it. In other words, it feels like you have lost your right to privacy. People always think they are protected behind a social network site but that is not true. It is quite impossible for things to actually be private and that’s why we must always be careful of what we post.
Twitter is so instantaneous, that it was merely a few lapses of time before her personal business was circulating around the world for absolutely everyone to see and place judgment upon her. Of course, I feel that what she did was under no circumstance correct or right for someone her age to be doing. But I also feel like the attention she has received has only exacerbated the situation even more. Despite what we feel about her sexual endeavors and exploits, she does not deserve to be totally humiliated via social networking sites. She is too young to handle a situation like that. Unfortunately when people are behind computer screens they often forget about the real world and real life. They neglect to think about how others are emotionally and mentally affected by the things they say or do.
It is evident that the videotaping should not have been done. No matter what anyone says or does, she is a minor. She is a minor that has been taped in a sexual act. Not only was it viral on Twitter but it hit Facebook and YouTube, as well. Therefore, the police have to investigate it as child pornography. Just because it is Twitter does not mean that rules or laws change. The same standard should be upheld for social networking sites. This issue arises time and time again when inappropriate pictures of people are linked via social networking or other various sites. It should not be permitted and with the technological stage we are in we need to find practical and more useful laws to protect other people from facing situations like this.
