By Purv Ashar
Celebrities are getting even more importance now, from fans, critics, and doubters. More people know about them, and with this further fame, further scrutiny and hate also follows. With social media, fans of the celebrities can see what their favourite personalities believe in, dislike, and would like to tell. However, now people want to know more than what is put out. When offered a finger, the fans attempt to grab onto a whole hand of information that they are not entitled to.
The main cause of this desire for information is, in all likelihood, the social media posts about personal life that people want to take to the next level and find out yet more. With tools like Photoshop and Google Lens, people can scrutinise every little detail of any picture. By doing this, people can find where and in what people are travelling. An example of this came when fans of Arsenal football club wanted to make sure one of their transfer targets, defender Gabriel Magalhães, was signing for them, and broke down an image he put on his story (attached below). It begins with the Brazilian being seated on the left and not driving, meaning he is in the United Kingdom. The sky is also in line with the North London (where Arsenal are based) weather on the day. The fan thinks, and proves the 22-year-old is seated in a Mercedes V-Class - a car new Arsenal signings are transported in. The user, @realadammcohen used Google Street View and theorised the initial Instagram story was posted from the club's training ground. He points out a number of landmarks at the ground to keep an eye out for, including a fir tree and other grassy areas. And what is seen when the boomerang goes on? These exact landmarks. This shows how easily information that is not revealed can be figured out using the right tools.
The images @realadmmcohen used to prove his point, from Google Street View, Mercedes, and the player’s Instagram story.
While the mentioned instance is relatively harmless, more harmful instances could easily occur with this information being hunted and obtained.. As these people are celebrities, there will be more people out for their head. While this might seem too sinister, it is quite true. For instance, a harmless picture by PM Narendra Modi might be traced by a trained and experienced detective, and could lead to potentially serious consequences, not only to the PM but the country as a whole. These pictures are posted to increase fan interaction, not put themselves in danger because someone felt entitled to know where the person was.
No matter how much it is looked down upon, curiosity and obtaining knowledge about your favourite celebrities can become a tempting prospect. However, there is a reason the celebrities don’t release the information in the first place, since they wish to keep it private. As much as some fanatics feel entitled to this information, this desire needs to be curbed. At the end of the day, the celebrities are also human, not superhuman machines who live for their career. They need family time as well, and fans knowing information like residence will do nothing to allow them to get these basic requirements to a happy life.
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