In Class Essay

                Earlier in the week a public fight in a Burger king erupts between a young married couple. Now in a fight that is in front of people, it is normal for people around the argument to look and be interested in what is happening. However, it is unethical to take a very uncomfortable situation and capture the moment in a photo, tweet dialogue, and video clips. It is obviously a low-point in their life, now why would someone post it.

                Andy Boyle, who is a newsroom developer for the Boston Globe, took the reins on making this situation available to cyberspace. Boyle reportedly tweeted all about the fight, took pictures that could potentially identify the couple, and a video. Boyle has done nothing wrong in this situation. He has not broken any rules or laws. However, it is not ethical how he acted on this situation.

                It is made clear that Boyle has not broken rules. Anupam Chander, a professor of law at UC Davis says and confirms, that there was nothing wrong. Chander states, “In general, if something is happening in a public place, you can film it and take pictures of it and make it available to the world.” Now when I see this statement I think of a riot happening, a bomb scare, or a celebration of some sort. All three of those examples should rightly be placed on the news, but not something like an already embarrassing fight.

                I feel as capable as anyone to say that it is unethical what Boyle did. I know he did not commit a crime but it is still wrong. In a public social environment it is already uncomfortable for the bystanders. It is also very apparent that uneasiness has plagued the sobbing wife. Now why would someone want to publicize this? My experience with something along the lines of this are one of my classmates was homosexual and he came out of the closet in class, people posted about it on facebook and everything. The boy was so sad and felt betrayed and rightfully so. His feelings were broken and hurt, the scenario examined in this essay was still in a more anonymous public platform, but if Boyle’s tweets were popular enough, they could have been televised on the news. Which would not be ethical toward the fighting couple.

                All in all, what Boyle did is technically not wrong. However looking at this from a socialized perspective I believe that it is unethical to tweet, post pictures and video, about a couple fighting. It is obviously a low point in said relationship, so why does someone have to post this. What Boyle did was wrong, with the intent to share and remind all about the incident.