A friend of mine just told me about a Facebook post that upset her. One of her old college friends lives in New York City and had posted a photo he’d taken with his iPhone of the notebook of a woman sitting near him on the subway. He commented that the woman was writing a packing list that was ridiculously detailed, and wasn’t that strange?
A few people made some jokes and comments about how anal-retentive the woman must be, but my friend couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable and, in her words, “creeped out.” Why was it weird for a woman to be organized, but not weird for this guy to be taking invasive photos of strangers on the subway? It was nobody’s business what she was writing in her notebook, and my friend felt bad about the woman’s loss of privacy.
I couldn’t agree more. What does it say about society when it’s acceptable to take photos of other people going about their daily routine and make fun of them on the Internet? It’s not like this woman stepped on the subway dressed in a clown costume or something. If I were the woman, I’d have been annoyed at someone looking over my shoulder and reading my notes. To have my notes then posted on the Internet would seem like a huge violation of my privacy.
It’s great that we all have iPhones and iPads and Instagram accounts, but there should be some restraint used for the sake of common courtesy and civility. How would you like it if someone was taking potshots at you? Or what if someone caught you taking their photo for your own amusement? Be a human being first, a voyeur second.
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