Do they deserve it?

We all feel a certain sense of satisfaction when someone in a Youtube video who is being a jerk finally gets what is coming to them. It's that certain pleasure you get from knowing that karma works and good people get good things and bad people have bad things happen to them. For example, there is a robber who, while robbing a gas station, had his tires stolen off his car. The money was then stolen from him by another person, and he was later arrested. Classic karma, right?

Well I think that we may be a bit too hasty to judge all these people on Youtube. I mean obviously the robber was in the wrong breaking the law, but I'm talking about the "jerks" on Youtube. People who are recorded at some of their worst moments. Thinking back, I'm sure we have all had moments we regret. We have said mean things that we didn't mean, we have done awful things in the heat of the moment due to peer pressure, tiredness, or just young inexperience. Does this mean we deserve the amount of hate and notoriety these "jerks" get on the Internet.

Not only does hate come in real life, but it often reaches out into the real world. We all know, and probably have made fun of, Rebecca Black. She was a viral hit in a bad way for her annoying single "Friday". Sure, it wasn't the best or even a good song, but the lashing out of the viral community against her for laughs or simply out of cruelty was not warranted. She was tormented by her peers and friends for the video, and some people even sent death threats in 2011.

I can not imagine being in the situation of notoriety that Rebecca Black had to suffer through. I applaud her though for keeping her head held high and following her passion for music. She still makes songs for a record label, something that I wish I could accomplish. Not only that, but she confronted all the issues with "Friday" and even was cool enough to satirize and parody her video in the new song "Saturday". That takes a lot of courage, self-acceptance, and pride to be able to laugh at yourself on a national stage. As a personal opinion, "Saturday" was infinitely better than "Friday" and even a little bit catchy at some points.

As often as there are people who are able to overcome the hate there are people who fall into depression from their internet notoriety. Amanda Todd became notorious for some explicit pictures of her that were leaked online. The pictures were definitely a mistake, but one that we should forgive in a child. She was tormented by her peers and the online community which drove her to depression and eventually suicide.

I think we could all benefit in a larger understanding of the circumstances surrounding these videos. Hopefully, seeing all the ramifications of our videos will make us slightly more cautious posters and watchers.