The consequences of Oversharing on the internetThe example of digital communication breakdown that I have chosen is a classic case of why we should avoid oversharing on the internet. There are some problems that must be dealt with offline. Taking personal issues like heartbreak to the internet when both members of the relationship are a rather well-known celebrities is sure to end in disaster. Youtuber Trisha Paytas, the “author” of this digital communication breakdown, is known for being a little bit too comfortable on the internet. For example, the majority of her videos are of her having a meltdown on her kitchen floor. She met her now ex-boyfriend Jason Nash through vlogger David Dobrik, who Trisha was friends with before her and Jason’s relationship went sour. The context of this breakdown was Trisha and Jason’s rather nasty breakup, which took place in private yet was blasted all over the internet by none other than Trisha herself. Trisha posted a series of videos after the breakup, bashing Jason for alleged fat-shaming and attacking David for being an allegedly cruel “friend”. These videos caused mass hysteria on the internet, as most of her shaming videos do. Her audience was intended to be Jason and David, but she knew that she would also be speaking to their fan bases as well. David and Jason refused to respond to these videos, although they have noticeably distanced themselves from her. Surprisingly, Trisha seemed to receive more hate for these videos than her targets did. She has been called nasty names by fans of David and Jason, who call her out for her attention-seeking nature and constant need for sympathy. Trisha very much so likes to play the victim. Every dispute and controversy she has had involving another Youtuber, in her eyes, is entirely not her fault. In an attempt to save face, she has deleted some of her videos directly attacking David and Jason. However, as we all should know, nothing is ever really gone from the internet. Superfans have re-uploaded most of her deleted videos. In fact, some channels are entirely devoted to these re-uploads.
We can’t be quite sure what Trisha’s purpose was for making these videos. Was it just out of pure hatred? Or did she just want another second in the spotlight? There are many Youtubers that thrive on controversy and I certainly believe that she is one of them. Furthermore, she can make money off of these videos if they exceed a certain amount of views. These shaming videos are usually her most viewed, as everyone wants to feel like they’re a part of the controversy. This leads me to believe that Trisha’s motives are fueled by “some toxic mixture of insecurity and ambition”, as Jon Ronson calls it in So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. Unfortunately, there is no straight and narrow path to solving problems like this. Oversharing is an individual problem. People want to believe that the internet is a safe space for sharing their emotions and opinions, despite the feedback that they may receive. Those who usually participate in this behavior are those who also do not comprehend the impact that their behavior may have on their audience. Jon Ronson muses, “...with social media, we’ve created a stage for constant artificial high drama. Every day a new person emerges as a magnificent hero or a sickening villain. It’s all very sweeping, and not the way we actually are as people” (79). Just as the internet chose to make Justine Sacco the villain one day, Trisha’s case is all about this idea of pointing fingers and selecting who should be shamed. The best we can do is reduce our personal contributions to this artificial high drama. Views, retweets, and comments only boost these Youtubers’ paychecks and egos. While the internet should always remain a place for free speech, I believe we should attempt to monitor oversharing for the purpose of starting drama and more importantly, we must avoid promoting those who do.
5 Comments
Noah
11/13/2019 08:05:16 pm
This is a very interesting story that I have not heard about. I do know David Dobrik's fans are die hard and loyal to them which could be why she was publicly shamed. Is Trisha lying for attention or did this really happen? It comes down to who do we trust and why? I think you explained the story well and asked good questions in your blog. Good job!
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Jessica
11/13/2019 09:31:46 pm
You brought up the issue of oversharing on the internet, which I think is a real problem. I'm all for people being real and honest on the internet instead of a fake version of themselves, but there are some things that should not be shared. I don't think anyone should attack someone this publicly after a breakup.
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KD Tornovish
11/14/2019 08:52:10 am
I love that you chose to cover this series of videos by Trisha. I used to be a fan of hers when she was in Jason and David's blogs but when she began posting videos like these, she lost me. If anything, she teaches her viewers how NOT to act in situations like heartbreak. I am embarrassed for her. What is especially frightening to me about these videos is that I am sure she has a fairly young following of Gen-Z kids as this is the generation most frequently in tune with Youtubers and Vloggers, in my opinion. Is this how we want those of our generation to act? How does posting a video like one of these really help the situation? We need to better educate our youth on how to handle negative emotions through practices like therapy, journaling, and self-care. Thank you for sharing and better educating your audience on this poor practice of handling this situation!
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Kendall Hubbard
11/14/2019 09:24:26 am
Trisha has always been the queen of clickbait, and I think she knew that her breakup would be the perfect oppourtunity for some dramatic titles, such as the last one you included called "we broke up because I'm too fat." I think the quotes you pulled from So You've Been Publicly Shamed go really well with what Trisha tries to do on the internet. I'm sure the breakup was very hard and sad for her, but she felt the need to highten the drama because it pulls people in. She gets ad revenue from her videos, and then even though she lost her boyfriend, at least she's got that paycheck. She's embarssing herself for sure, but I think it's intentional.
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Anthony
11/14/2019 09:27:11 am
I agree with you that oversharing on the internet and social media is a big problem these days. On one hand, it can be cool watching vloggers talk about their day or issues that matter to them. But in Paytas’ case, she is clearly more on the “attention-seeking” side of the spectrum. I think its important to remember that even by retweeting or sharing her videos and saying “wow, look at how crazy and attention-seeking she is,” we are we are feeding into her desire for attention, ultimately giving her more views, channel traffic, and inevitably, money. But with Trisha, it can certainly be hard to not look away.
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Olivia LongHi! My name is Olivia and I'm a sophomore Publishing major at Belmont University. Archives
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