I hate to admit it, but I live on social media. From TikTok to Twitter to Instagram and everything in between, if there’s a social media app, I’m probably on it. As a social media connoisseur, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the creation and demise of many trends. As trends have come and gone, I’ve begun to notice a specific trend that I despise.

It’s the “Hey! I’m going to record/photograph a random stranger to make fun of them and then put said video/photo on the internet so thousands of other people can also make fun of this stranger too!” trend.

For some reason, everyday people have become incredibly comfortable recording/photographing random strangers in public with the hopes of securing a viral tweet or TikTok and it’s really. . .really weird. 

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me give you an example. Not too long ago, a user on Tiktok (@elleisalwayshere) posted a video where she recorded a man on the street. In the video she put “when he texts u that he can’t do dinner because he’s out of town for work but u see him crossing the streets while ur in ur Uber.” So, the girl was claiming that this man lied to her to get out of their date. Many people saw this post and immediately started hating on this man. They made comments about his appearance, telling this girl how she could do so much better, but then it came out that the girl lied. The man she recorded made his own TikTok (@bytimothygoodman) saying that he had no idea who the girl was and that he was in a committed relationship. The girl who posted the original video then responded saying that she did in fact make the story up. So, this random man received a massive amount of hate on the internet all because a girl lied and wanted to gain some TikTok clout.

This isn’t the first story we’ve heard about someone lying on social media to gain followers or creating a fake story that led to the attack of an innocent person, and my only question is: Why? What’s the purpose of publicly shaming or humiliating someone you don’t even know? 

Other examples of this are when people take photos of strangers who aren’t conventionally attractive with the intent of bullying them. There was a point in time where almost everyday, someone would photograph a fat person in the gym with a demeaning caption and upload it to Twitter. Then, it would receive hundreds of thousands of likes and comments where people were making fun of this stranger who just wanted to work out. 

Today, it’s common for people to post pictures of teenage girls in outfits that they think are weird and then watch as the internet ridicules them. It seems like everyday someone is posted on social media without their consent, so they can be bullied by the internet.

Before anyone can say it, yes, I am well aware that it is not illegal to record someone in public. But, take a step back and ask yourself why anyone should feel the need to record someone without their consent, blast them on social media, and then reap the reward of having gone viral. 

In the age of social media, people can no longer feel safe leaving their homes because there’s a chance they will become the new person on the internet that everyone loves to hate. If you are the type of person to post about strangers with the intent of humiliating them on the internet, rethink your decisions and most importantly, leave people alone.