The Dystopian Trend of Recording Strangers In Public

[@kingkhepri8988]

I was at work tonight and 4 girls walked up and and randomly started dancing asking me to dance w them. I was covered in sweat reorienting the pet food isles completely disoriented and here are 4 girls dancin around me while I just kinda look awkward confused and probably mean and they all just ran off and Ik it was for a TikTok and now I know there’s probably a video of me on there looking like absolute crap. You posted this one with perfect timing cause I’ve been thinking about how dystopian the experience was since. It’s honestly mind boggling to me that there hasn’t been really more of a social effort to just kinda make sure everyone knows hey just maybe don’t do that. Idk if it’s cause of isolation or what but hopefully we develop more awareness around the matter in the future

[@thealrightoddity]

i don't mention it in the video all that much but i think you're right-- the isolation from lockdown has probably impacted us a lot more socially than some of us might think! hopefully more people start talking about it and sharing their own experiences soon.

[@maxbrailsford3447]

Im so glad I have finally found someone speaking on this! The idea of of possibly being filmed without my knowledge freaks me out and its so extremely normalised.

[@ZyllasAthenaeum]

This reminds me of something Hank Green once said about social media, that we're only in the very early stages of understanding what it does and what it does to us, and we haven't learned how to use it well yet. It rings very true every time I see something like this, where people haven't quite figured out how to regulate their usage ethically. And heck yeah, legal and moral can never be the same, only approximations.

[@MsLucia4179]

The name that escaped you is Edward Snowden

[@thealrightoddity]

thank you!!!

[@SpoopySquid]

I remember watching a video essay on the equally dystopian rise of "body language experts" online, thanks largely to the explosion of true-crime (think it was Sarah Z's vid on West Elm Caleb), and it intersects with this topic so well. Basically a guy got his entire life upended because his girlfriend filmed him for TikTok without his consent and a bunch of internet creeps decided - with zero evidence - that he was cheating on her. I'm AuDHD with social anxiety so my behaviour can sometimes seem a little odd to others. The idea that gods-know how many people could spend hours picking apart my every move, all because some dipshit decided to film me for some BS content farm while i was just trying to hang out, is legit terrifying

[@bookbook9495]

I live in fear of the day I fuck up on camera, I’ve had anxiety about being on the fully public internet for my whole life because I know if I say or do the wrong thing, it could show up when someone vets me for a job, or considers dating me, or ever gets my name. I’m still learning shit, and whatever I say will alienate some possibly impactful number of people, probably the wrong people to alienate, and we’ve seen tweets and Facebook posts and livestreams dug up from YEARS ago already. Who can really afford to fuck up anymore?

[@JESUS.saves.Repent.]

This country needs change. More privacy. More laws surrounding social media and public filming and public shaming. More bike lanes. Some bullet trains. Free college. Less culty groups. And maybe no more guns, that is, if we can solve the problem of gangs and dangerous individuals first.

[@IanM-id8or]

Fortunately, here in Australia, you can't legally video anyone (even in public) without their permission

[@bartosztrembowiecki379]

Thank you so much for this, it's very thoughtful. I remember watching the Spider Man 2 movie, it has a scene in which Spidey stops the train to rescue people in it, but has his mask off after fighting a villain. In the scene, after he does that and collapses out of exhaustion, the grateful passengers lie him down, and give him back his mask they've recovered. I remember how it hit me and became too much for my suspension of disbelief, making me instantly think "wait, no crowd of assholes around him recording with their cell phones? no instant viral forced face reveal vid?". It was 2004, and it was a problem back then already.

[@thelmadelyte5890]

I know these essays can't be easy to make, and I want you to know that your work - especially as a smaller creator - is so, so important. Thank you for what you do!

[@thealrightoddity]

thank YOU so so much for this wonderful comment!!! 🥺💛💛💛

[@bdm483]

I'm glad I watched this, and I've subscribed I went walking on New Years Day. A couple of young guys drove by in their car, screaming out the window. That's infuriating generally, but they were filming me as well. I guess they hoped for a fun reaction? I kept walking for a few more days, but I just realised I stopped soon after

[@thealrightoddity]

thanks for the sub! and I'm so sorry that they did that to you! they were most definitely looking for a reaction to share. i hope that all is well now 💛

[@packman2321]

Solid incisive video. I think one of the things that gets missed in the typical discourses around phone use is the problem isn't so much the use of the phone as the intended use. Obviously there is something disconnecting about viewing the world around you only in terms of sharability, but at the same time claiming that this is a feature of 'seeing the world through your phones' is often just a rather vapid form of tech essentialism. Just to pick an example a couple of weeks ago I went to a museum. I don't have particularly bad eyesight, but I found one of the glass cases had a strange sort of smokiness in its glass that made it hard to read the displays. My phone camera mistook this smokiness for a focus problem and so auto-corrected it when I pointed it at the display, making it much easier to read the information. I ended up looping around that section of the display looking at my phone screen instead of the items themselves precisely because it resolved this issue. This also got me thinking about how taking photographs (none of which end up on social media in my case) got me ot pay more attention to the city as I'm walking through it and helped me to learn my way around while living there because it broke the route down into easily identifiable landmarks. I think there's a tendency to want to jump on the mere fact that technology distorts or transforms information as a problem (a la Plato) ignoring the fact that distortion is a feature of all information and knowledge processing (again a la Plato). Social media isn't so much an issue because it's technology but because the design of the system (persistent logins, like metrics, competitivity in showing you other people's likes) all feed the same logics of gossip and face-defence that are problems in non-computerised society and conversation. It's the use, not the mere fact of technology that's at issue, any more than the fact that I see through glasses, technically means I'm distorting my world with technology. So I think it was a solid choice to focus on surveillance as the problematic use and link it into these topics rather than the sorts of 'this is the problem with phones/computers/social media innately' that often kind of circulate. I often feel like the popular conversation gets wrapped up in these very essentialist, borderline ableist notions of 'pure' or 'normal' perception and interaction with the world that is being 'distorted by technology' rather than recognising that all technologies (including eyes and brains) can be put to ends that are garbage or interrelated in sucky ways.

[@thealrightoddity]

yes!!! i always try to look for the good and the bad in things. i think that phones, as a creation, have such great use for helping people and connecting!! i feel like the idea that all our problems are being caused by phones themselves and not the social media made by other humans who want to focus on algorithms and metrics that we have on our phones is SUCH a silly idea. thank you for sharing your experience! and i hadn't even thought about the possible ableist implications that saying our world is being "distorted by technology".

[@TheMvlproductionsinc]

being visibly trans i once was at a traffic light not even a street away from where I live. And got randomly recorded. I heard someone in front of me at the light say something like "femboy" which made me notice he was recording me from over his shoulder while I was behind him I asked him to stop while stepping aside. He very obviously followed with the camera. I ended up crossing with the red light still on. It gave me trauma to leave my own place for a couple weeks where I needed someone to come with me every time.

[@thealrightoddity]

i am so sorry to hear about your experience! i hope that everything has gotten easier for you

[@MainelyMandy]

Great video. I think you nailed the core issue - these are people, first and foremost, and they deserve a certain amount of privacy. As you pointed out, using a camera to capture actual harm being done like in the case of police brutality makes sense and can be really useful. On the other hand, just filming people being a little weird in public or whatnot feels...well, cruel. I have to ask: what does it really do? What truth is being shared in cases like that? Anyway, great video!

[@thealrightoddity]

exactly!! it's truly nobody's business what a stranger does in public unless it affects a larger group of people. we shouldn't make meme fodder out of strangers who are minding their own. and thank you!

[@angelwings967]

How do you feel about workers, or other customers in an establishment, recording rude customers?

[@bazhumke4040]

@angelwings967 that's fine lol anyone making a scene in a restaurant deserves the shame

[@MainelyMandy]

@@angelwings967 being rude to service workers is harmful imo so record away

[@tressalee8770]

I clicked as soon as I saw the title! It's something I've been thinking about SO much lately.

[@mertechnightcore4098]

I was yesterday in Christopher Street day nearby and a Guy came up to us and asked us what CSD means to us... But he looked like he wants just to collect material to make a bad look for queer people :')

[@mertechnightcore4098]

And Today literally the algorithm shows me your video Creepy But I like that video and your voice is calming

[@tomc8888]

Excellent video. Your points were well made, and agree 100%. As someone who has argued in KZbin comment sections over one variation on all this (so-called "First Amendment 'Auditors'"), I've made similar points about how people who are filmed involuntarily may not have an "expectation of privacy in public", but they do (or should) have an expectation that when they go to a library or the DMV or the post office, they won't have their image and voice streamed to a monetized KZbin channel. I've also expressed concern over the fact that doxxing and potential harm may come to someone involuntarily caught in a KZbin video who is a crime victim, a domestic violence victim, or a police informant. In the case of the videos I've argued over, there's the added "this is activism" claim and there are rabid defenders of the practice, but it's really not that different from the TikTok videos you reference, especially the shoplifting one. Thanks again for this.

[@theroamingsavage8813]

Leave it to humans to ALWAYS ruin a good thing. You mentioned greed and capitalism, u forgot the one common thread amongst both of those, and even the users who don't make ANY money off of it, narcissism. The fact that some random dude/chick thinks they are just so interesting that they need to constantly update the planet on when they went to the gym, what they had for lunch, what they did at work, where they went on the weekend, shows u the real cause of the downfall of these sites.

[@galacticalove]

Algorithm has blessed me with another KZbinr to support. Love it!! 🌸

[@thealrightoddity]

thank you so much! 💛

[@Julia_and_the_City]

Yeah, this feeling kind of resonates with me. I am a transfem who doesn't pass and I've had strangers record me loitering on the street whilst they shout slurs at me. I'm not sure what to do about that, in the moment I just froze and eventually they got bored and ran off. But it gave me such a fright that this footage would go viral and that I'd be the internet weirdo of the day, for reasons I too can't quite articulate other than that I didn't consent to it.

[@thealrightoddity]

i am SO SORRY that happens!! i hope that it stops soon for you. i can't imagine how that feels. sending love and good vibes to you 💛💛💛

[@bdm483]

I'm so sorry, how utterly horrible and cruel

[@Julia_and_the_City]

@@thealrightoddity thank you! Yeah I learned to expect the worst since then, growing a thick skin is kinda part of being queer unfortunately, but when such a thing happens I'd love for there to be folks who are able to step up and say (respectfully but firm of course) "hey this is not okay". To that end I hope this video inspired folks on how to be a good ally.

[@maxshea1829]

This is the corporate world of surveillance we have fought for over the past half century. Don't knock it.

[@Visentinel]

Lobby government to make it illegal to record others without consent in public.

[@thealrightoddity]

i don't know if lobbying for laws would really help, especially given that it could block the ability people have to keep people with power (cops, politicians, social figures, etc) safe when they do something wrong. it's one of those awkward gray areas where we can only hope to govern each other with some sort of honor code in the end (which won't work i know haha)

[@xxwoman]

@@thealrightodditythey can exclude certain things like recording law enforcement, if YOU’RE being harassed, or a major newsworthy event is happening. Besides that, citizens shouldn’t be recorded in public without explicit consent.

[@VeronicaWebb-r1z]

I do applaud you for sharing your views

[@everywhereattheendofemilyp7488]

Just in case anyone is thinking about it. I've been off social media most of the last year and it's definitely been a net positive to my life.

[@pepinella5624]

There are several countries that do have laws that forbid people filming others in public without their consent. Some Americans however seem to not realize that different countries come with different laws-

[@VeronicaWebb-r1z]

So let me get this straight it is satisfying to see people get fired for saying a racial slur. It may be satisfying but imagine getting fired for your beliefs wrong or not that is not cool.

[@VeronicaWebb-r1z]

No offense but actions have consequences and if u are not prepared for life wich is not always kind find some more coping mechanism look into yourself to see what u can change because the world is continually changing and is filled and will always be filled with terrors. Grow up. I wish for everyone that everything could be just what u want it to be and u where never made to be uncomfortable but reality check that is impossible and there are much more important things then your feelings