Have you ever felt like you have opened a can of worms? That you said something you shouldn't have? That you made a thoughtless comment in the spur of a moment that you later regretted? That's what happened to me the other day. Without thinking much, I said something about a significant other of one of the people we cover on this blog. This significant other wasn't generally known before the comment I made and with the information I provided, fellow royal watchers took it upon themselves to dig for further information and were successful. Since then the name of a private individual who just happens to be close to someone with a famous family name has been floating around the internet with some people even feeling the need to make more or less appropriate comments as well as publish further information.
Some will say: That's the price of dating royalty - but it shouldn't be. Of course there are occasionally cases, where the individual might want to get things out there, essentially negating the need for privacy. But that certainly wasn't the case here. The person in question and their significant other have never appeared together at a public event much less being photographed together or have officially spoken about each other.
So why the need to basically throw them to the wolves in a day and age where something that is once written in a public space on the internet will never again fully disappear? For hits? To prove that you know something others don't? I am certainly not faultless in all of it and I regret making a - what I thought at the time - fairly innocent and - as it turns out - thoughtless comment about the nationality and family heritage of the person in question which led to their identity being revealed to the broad public. And even though they will very certainly never read this: My sincere apologies to everyone involved! I have certainly learned my lesson and will not make the same mistake again.
I know that we haven't always been as strict here at Luxarazzi, but it will definitely mean that we will become even more strict and careful than we are now about extra bits of information we mention here and there about members of both the Luxembourg and Liechtenstein families. Yes, royals are public figures, but in no way does that make it acceptable to intrude on their private life. They deserve the same respect and common courtesy that we all do. The very same goes for royal adjacent people, people that may not even have the same resources to protect themselves in a way that a royal would. Just because something is theoretically available online, doesn't mean it should be widely shared.
I very much understand that for a royal watcher, that kind of detail is tempting and may serve the purpose of establishing credibility to show that you know something others are not aware of. But your need to establish and promote yourself should not hurt another person who is just thrown under the bus in the process of doing so. Treat them as you would want to be treated. We are dealing with human beings and the human aspect of it, like how the people in question might feel, should always be our first concern - the number of hits your website gets or the number of likes your post on social media shouldn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment