I have a very private facebook account. Many people do these days. Often these accounts are established under altered identities to protect our privacy, security or just to appease that underlying sense of paranoia many feel on the internet.
Rachael Jacobs has a private account too. As a person who has been in the media eye before, it is rather essential for her. Rachael and I became friends through circumstance and a chance encounter several years ago. I've always admired her for her strength, tenacity and ability to think clearly and passionately.
On Monday afternoon, I let her down.
The thing about private social media accounts is we set them up for a reason. Most of the time our friends know they are set to private. It gives us a safe space to express ourselves freely without impinging on our professional lives and gives us some digital breathing space to post what we please without fear of reprisal.
On Monday, I spotted the posts Rachael made about her experience on the train and, without thinking, I acted. I took that information, inspired and moved by her actions, and I put it out on Twitter without a second thought for her privacy and her motives. Rachael has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. If she had wanted the wider public to view her story she would have placed it there. Instead I took that decision out of her hands. My intentions were pure. I wanted to share a lovely story and hers was lovely, resonating with hundreds of thousands of people.
What followed was an avalanche of goodwill amongst the public. She was heaped with praise and lauded for her good deed. However, she also found herself unwillingly thrust into the media spotlight in the midst of a dramatic, confrontational and controversial event unfolding in the mainstream media.
As I've watched it unfold I've seen the love and the hate towards her on social media. I read the article she wrote in response to the incident and my heart smiled, then sank. My actions forced her to speak out and become involved in the dialogue, something she never wanted or asked for.
She's never once blamed me. Her humility and good nature is too kind for that. She's taken the matter in her stride and moved forward, but for me this has posed a wider question.
How much should we respect people's right to post private information on social media?
This story goes a long way to show just how public your personal information can be spread. One post and 24 hours later the whole world is knocking on your door. For someone who didn't ask for that, is it fair?
It's easy enough to know when someone has posted something publicly or privately. The mediums through which we choose to post our content are generally indicative of this. When we know someone has a private social media account are we obligated to contain this information or should we simply have to "suck it up" if someone else chooses to share it?
It's an important question and one we need to consider before we launch into sharing other people's information. Could there be legal consequences arising from actions such as this? If the story had gone in a different direction, if Rachael had lost of her job or worse yet been abused or attacked in person, where would the responsibility and the liability sit? I could have easily found myself sitting in a court room defending my actions. Despite all the good to come of this situation there are definitely consequences to be considered.
It is a fair thought worth considering - just what are you exposing someone to when you share their information on social media?
Michael James is a freelance writer and radio reporter/producer based in Brisbane. You can find him on Twitter @michaeljames_tv
