Social media: sometimes our best friend and sometimes our worst enemy, sometimes the best thing to ever exist, sometimes the bane of our very existence. Whether you're a millennial, an employer, a celebrity, or anyone in-between, you likely use social media on a regular basis. It has become such an omnipresent, everyday form of communication for society. We use it to share our beliefs, ideas, complaints, whereabouts, thoughts, and virtually everything and anything else. But when does what we share become a little TMI?
Kim Kardashian West's horrifying robbery experience that took place early Monday morning in Paris shook the world and made this usually very vocal celebrity quiet on social media. This is completely understandable after the mother of two went through such a traumatic experience being bound, gagged, and robbed at gunpoint, but will the incident make her change her social media game, with others following suit? She has been one of the most exposed celebrities of all time, disclosing so much about her everyday life to her millions of followers on Twitter, Instagram, and especially Snapchat. Could it have been all of that self-disclosure on social media that made Kim a target to the robbers? That's exactly what Parisian police think.
Just days before the incident, Kim shared a photo of a massive diamond ring adorning her perfectly manicured hand. After flaunting all of her bling on social media, it seems that was what the robbers were after. She was also posting her whereabouts leading up to the robbery. Whether or no it was Kim's possessions that prompted the robbery, it makes one (celebrity or not) think: how much risk am I exposing myself to, through what I vocalize on social media?
This also makes me think of the absolutely tragic, heartbreaking killing of Christina Grimmie, the young popstar who was shot point blank at a meet-and-greet following her show in Orlando this past June. The motives of the shooter were never proven, but the perpetrator had been known to have somewhat of an obsession with Grimmie and had been teased after the singer posted some content with someone who one could guess as a potential romantic interest. Some believe the murderer's jealousy provoked him to kill the singer.
This also makes me think of myself. I love using Twitter to vent about daily trials and tribulations as if it were a diary that I use to somewhat poke fun at some of the things I go through on a day-to-day basis. I don't necessarily post anything personal, but I am constantly thinking about future employers and if they would approve or disprove of my tweets. I also know there are people in this world that will share their current location or disclose where they go to school, etc., and there have been cases of stalkers and incidents similar to Kardashian-West's and Grimmie's horrifying cases.
Recently, many celebrities such as Chrissy Tiegen, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber have taken a break from social media, fed up with the hateful comments and content constantly being circulated. It amens you think: is using so much social media worth the trouble and the risk? Maybe we should follow these celebrities' examples and back off social media a little or think twice before we post.
