Drama vs Violations

Disclaimer: Everything that is wrong is not always illegal (i.e racism). Everything that is illegal is not always wrong (i.e gay marriage). Please bear in mind that this is an opinion. The intention is not to preach to you my own standpoint and have you adapt it. The purpose of this piece is simply to be heard and maybe give you something to think about.

What is drama? (Of course in my opinion)

I don't know why the vast majority of YouTube audience and creators are so oblivious to what the difference really is. When I talk analyze this I also mean to include the reality of gossip at times being synonymous with the term drama. They are not always one and the same. But at times they can be.

When commentators discuss any issue that is generally considered private by most would clearly be a case of drama and gossip oriented content. Of course, if the person being talked about makes their private life public, then they do and should loose the protection the idea of privacy brings. Literally, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Overall it seems pretty self-explanatory.

Here are some examples of private/personal things that unless made public knowledge commentators should not speculate on and speak about.

• Relationships with partners, children, and other family or friends (breakups and makeups)
• Health issues (ex. infertility issues)
• Personal wealth or lack thereof
• Sexuality
• Sex life ^
• Religion
• Politics
• A person's location and data

To reiterate, unless my social media was centered around one of these topics, or if I was someone who overshared I don't see why drama channels should talk or assume anything regarding these things.

Now if creators do make their personal experiences public, it's fair game. At that point it isn't even drama so much as commentary. Though it should be understood that the line will always be a bit blurred for many.

On a different note, the largest blame does not lie with drama channels. It is the viewership. A lot of people are attracted to the dram and gossip. Should we be? No. But humans are not perfect.

Moving on.

What are the violations? (Again in my opinion)

These are things that are not exaggerations or gossip about a creator's life. There are things that creators have done or continue to do that their audience (aka consumers) need to and should know. Talking about such things at this point is not synonymous drama and gossip. But rather achieving justice, reparation, and helping each other to become a better society overall.

Here are some examples of things that should be made public and 'commentary/drama' channels should always be vocal about.

• Criminal actions (ex. murder, sexual assault, abuse etc.)
• Co-signing and supporting criminal behavior (ex. a Ted Bundy fan)
• Ongoing abusive behavior
• If someone is being abused (though this one, one should be very careful with how it is done)
• Fraudulent marketing (ex. undisclosed sponsorship, incorrect information sharing)
• Hypocrisy (ex. being vegan online and non-vegetarian offline)
• Ongoing discrimination (ex. racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, classism etc.)

Conclusion

The reason I chose to write about this is because I truly feel that in the present and very current social media environment the real differences between drama and actual infractions/violations is lost. It is astounding to me how things like sexual assault allegations (fake or otherwise), blackmail/coercive behavior, and actions taken to purposely ruin someone's life out envy which could lead to suicidal thoughts are labelled as drama and gossip. That's not drama by any means, but a very real violation of the moral social contracts that we do have in place.

On a different note it should be understood that the topic being talked about can be one and the same. But one set of creators may take an emotive arguably dramatic spin to it. While another set of creators may take an objective critical stance on it. Of course the latter is far more well-founded and less fallacious. But at the same emotive/dramatic content is not any less valid. If anything it is a far more powerful and compelling, and that I believe is the root of the problem.

In short, it is high time to be able to correctly differentiate between what is insulting disparaging content vs what is considerate critical content.

Peace Out!