Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Dark Side of Youtube

I recently came across this video on Youtube.



Obviously, the professor dropping his pants was certainly off limits. But what about the lady professor? Was she not off limits? But even more dangerous is the fact that this exchange was filmed and pushed it out on Youtube. Imagine somebody recording a chit chat session where you make fun of say your manager (not intentional but just for fun) or recording an ugly scene in office and putting it on youtube. Would you actually enjoy that? As the professor himself said "...what one needs to think of is how comfortable you would be if the worst eight minutes of your life is recorded and put in the public domain...". A very valid concern I would say. Any thoughts????

3 comments:

BrainWaves said...

Note: I did not watch this video yet.
I will be terribly pissed off. For the same reasons I don't like Candid camera. (even though it asks for permission before telecasting).

On the other hand, if you leave embarassing moments/discussions apart, it also keeps people honest. i.e. Most people behave much better when they are watched and the feeling that they may be watched will keep them in their best behavior.
I remember this saying, "Integrity is not doing the right thing when others are watching but doing it even when no one is watching"

Suresh Sankaralingam said...

I think there is a fine line here. Invasion of privacy is really bad. But, the question of how privacy is defined can get a little tricky.

Obviously, what I do when I am alone or with my family is different from what I do in a community setting, like a classroom or in a stage or along the roadside and so on. If every bystander in the road can watch you, why not the entire internet audience? It could be embarassing and frustrating based on what you do. But, what difference does it make? Being a professor, what this guy does is totally outrageous and immature and degrades his profession. Knowing that he was doing all that in the front of class students denies him the right to argue about his integrity...

Mad Max said...

@ Brainwaves: I agree completely..but the worry is if people twist things to suit their needs (context can be manipulated)

@ Mindframes: You are correct in that he cannot argue about his integrity...I hope the other teacher also gets punished accordingly..