Privacy in the Public Sphere and the Man on a Bridge
When a man threatened to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, arguments sparked online over whether or not the situation should be publicly documented on social media.
On May 22, NYPD scaled the Brooklyn Bridge in an attempt to secure a man who was threatening to jump off. The man stayed perched on the Manhattan-side tower of the bridge for three hours as cops negotiated with him. At 3 p.m., officers were able to convince him to voluntarily come down before taking him into custody.
“Brooklyn Bridge” was trending on twitter as the negotiations were happening. The tag was full of tweets from onlookers who were posting their worries, wishes, and opinions on the man as he smoked cigarettes from atop the tower.
Arguments sparked over posts that contained photos and videos taken by those watching the scene. Many claimed that openly posting such images was disrespectful to the suffering of the man; these criticisms were often countered with the idea that because the man decided to do this in a public setting, it was a given that there would be people posting recordings.
Reliance on recordings has become commonplace; culture has become largely intertwined with society’s need to digitally collect memories, moments, and events. This though brings up the question of what is and isn’t proper to document, as well as the issue of what is personal when it is put in a public space. Technological documentation has desensitised the public by normalising the expectation that there is no privacy in the online world. Empathy has become overridden by a need to expose and produce.
It is with moments like these, moments in which a human’s suffering is put on full display, that it is important to disconnect from screens and be mindful that there is a beating heart behind every pixelated face. The man on the bridge came down alive, but many do not make the same decision he did. Remembering that everyone should respect the privacy of other’s emotions and humanity can help those in pain heal, move on, and be safe.
Photo credit 1: https://www.nycgo.com/articles/guide-to-the-brooklyn-bridge
Photo credit 2: https://isorepublic.com/photo/capturing-sunset/
Report: Nicolette Schneiderman
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