I appreciate the distinction. I’m often not very articulate when I first voice disgust at something on the internet. If my knee-jerk reaction is to imagine that I was there, and how different that would feel from merely seeing it on the glass teat, then I’m going to empathize with the victims of the prank. Which may sound a lot like a concern troll.
The Transparent Society had a lot to say about public sphere versus private sphere, and how the internet blurs that distinction. I’ve endured people on the bus talking on their cell phones about things I’d really rather not hear. But if I then re-posted my own video of them talking on the phone, I’d be degrading the space even further.
“In B4 Concern Trolls” sounds a lot like, “if you find this offensive, then you’re clearly not as witty as I am.”
This reminds me so much of last year’s dead cat quadracopter On youtube, they are both funny gags that I get to opt-in to by clicking the button. It’s a tiny little screen, I’m clearly not going to be startled by what I see, having been warned what to expect.
But if either of these were to happen on my street, when I’m just trying to live my life? And if my reaction were then posted all over the internet for the amusement of others? You bet I’d be annoyed myself!
That’s why this video in particular reminds me of the happy slapper craze. It’s just creepy to play candid camera on random strangers.
Yes, there’s a slippery slope here. The most extreme event I can think of that this stuff reminds me of, is the Kitty Genovese murder, nearly 50 years ago. Back then, people mistook what was happening in their neighborhood for a TV show. I don’t like the idea of my physical space someday becoming someone’s youtube fantasy, whether it’s someone jumping out of the bushes yelling “boo” or some upskirt video posted to a porn site.
Now if these videos were taken in some kind of altered space where the unusual is somehow implied- like a street fair or a protest or a festival, I wouldn’t feel the same kind of "yuck’ reaction when I see these things. It’s the same reason I’ll tolerate more surveillance at an airport than at the grocery store. But when I’m just living my life and not bothering anyone, I don’t want to star is some yahoo’s youtube fantasy any more than be in some NSA surveillance footage. That shouldn’t be a concern troll thing, that should be a human rights thing.