The recent need to record everything - are priorities getting messed up?

SugarHigh

I was watching a documentary on the costa concordia and was surprised by the amount of people who thought it was appropriate to start filming in the middle of an evacuation. Even on the lifeboats the camera was being pointed at people clearly in distress and some of them were shouting at the cameraman to stop filming.

Now while it did make interesting footage of an significant event. Wtf was the guy thinking that this was in anyway the most high priority thing he should be doing while boarding a lifeboat off a sinking ship?

Then there is this video I saw today of a girl being bitten by a snake, the boyfriend carries on filming even while driving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpcDZbXslfw

When Bill Nye collapsed during a lecture people started updating twitter as it was happening.

Are people placing too much importance on having something to post on facebook? I think we need to develop a stronger social etiquette about when it's actually appropriate to start filming or updating facebook.

18AD

This is just a first impression/flight of imagination so have your salt ready.

I wonder is there some bizarre case of the bystander effect at work here. Can one simply create an imaginary crowd who will (but can't) come to the rescue? People can feel they are connected to others through technology but are really not, in any practical sense of the word.

It also a clear neglect of responsibility. I think there is certainly a case to be made for certain things being recorded or broadcast that may bring to the public things that were previously secret or hidden. This is a valuable ethical effort. But does this sense of helping by "raising awareness" become overpronounced? especially in the examples you have given. One is already doing their moral bit by recording, where in fact that is not what is called for at all.

Edit: Or it's just a coping mechanism. To transform the real life event into a video may have the effect of distancing oneself from the traumatic event. Like some sort of digital defence mechanism (in the psychological sense). When someone sees a film that is shocking it has much less impact then if one were really there, just this is working in the reverse.

Maybe a strange combination of all three!

MungBean

It depends on the person and who they are with I suppose. A lot of people would record things like that as proof that they were there to themselves and others as a shareable memory. Then again others would be operating under the motives of getting something to make themselves the centre of attention. Upload it to youtube, sell it to papers, use in documentaries etc etc.

The need to stick everything on twitter to me seems like another attention seeking act, people love to have something shocking or interesting to say to grab attention. Then again it may also be a reaction to reach out for comfort in a group when that group isnt present. Depends on the people and who they are with. If your there with a group of friends your not likely to hit twitter or pull out your phone without a selfish motive I dont think. However if your alone you may do it to seek comfort.

Sindri

People living vicariously through social media?