So, I didn't say anything about this earlier because I feared being a buzzkill, and in these times I know people need a reason to smile. But, yeah, that 'couple falling in love on a plane' viral thread going around today? It's a bit skeevy.
I followed along, smiling and "d'awwing" before I realised I was consuming this like a piece of fictional media. When I forced myself to remember these were two real people, my stomach turned.
I imagined if it was me and realised, if I'd been aware of what was going on, I'd have been mortified--and likely asking "bitch, why are you telling the whole goddamn world where my arm is and when I'm going to the bathroom!?"
In its way, the story was charming and adorably framed. For all we know, it could've been staged (other viral incidents on planes have been). But it concerns me that people who *assume* it's real see no ethical issues here. What if it was you?
This is one of many incidents that challenge our sense of boundaries, of privacy, and of interpersonal ethics in a digital age, and the mediation of the internet blurs our sense of what's real and what isn't, to a point where solid answers are hard to come by.
But erring on the side of empathy, and of recognising that people you see on the internet are real people, can help a lot while we sort all this out.
