Anna Fahkri '24

by Anna Fahkri '24 on November 9, 2023

As a child, I grew up admiring celebrities. The paparazzi, the clout, the fans… it seemed like the perfect ego boost that anyone would desire. The idea of hundreds of thousands of people knowing your name and everything about you, admiring you and praising you, seemed like the unattainable dream every kid wanted. Thinking about it now, having that level of fame is probably my biggest fear. In the present times, the level of fame of social media influencers has surpassed, in some cases, that of your average A-list actress or musician. Now, anyone from any place with access to technology can promote themselves online, and in any context that they desire. Some of my favorite influencers don’t particularly do very much at all, creating video blogs of themselves going grocery shopping, getting their hair done, or cleaning their apartments. All these activities are attainable to the average viewer, but for whatever reason, we feel attached to these simplistic video styles and find comfort in others completing the same daily tasks that we do.  

There is a fine line, however, when determining how much information should be shared with the world. Revealing intimate details about one’s life, like romantic or familial relationships, not only exploits those individuals for monetary gain, but also subjects them to online bullying and controversy. In the case of social media influencers, those who choose to promote those details or content with others make their own decisions. However, the general public’s ability to investigate famous people, discover their whereabouts and with whom they are in contact with, has reached new levels of invasiveness. The discovery of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship was rumored to exist long before she was spotted at his football game when fans noticed she wore a red shirt with a yellow collar for the Chiefs. Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet’s relationship was discovered before they went public as a result of paparazzi following Chalamet’s car to Jenner’s residence. These instances are just the most recent within the last few weeks, yet perfectly demonstrate the lack of privacy celebrities endure. Though some choose to share their lives with the world, the parts that they don’t share they should be entitled to keep private. Invading the space of celebrities puts their lives in danger, and only what they choose to share should be treated as public knowledge— it is not the role of the public to find out knowledge about them beyond what they disclose.