My take on the Michael Phelps saga - People are always watching

This post is going to be a little off topic since it doesn't really have anything to do with television. But for my Online Journalism class, our professor wants us to write a post about Michael Phelps specifically talking about what it is like to live in a world where every moment of our lives can potentially be captured through technological means. She doesn't want us to sound off about the controversy in general, but instead use it as an example. But for those who didn't see it, there was a great Op-ed in the Globe the other day about this. I agree with most of what is said in here. But back to the topic at hand.

Michael Phelps is a celebrity. He may not have always wanted to be one, but wining god-only-knows how many gold medals forces you into the spotlight. And very often celebrities are followed by paparazzi. But the sad thing is that this was not a case of the paparazzi exploiting their way to get a photo, the picture was snapped by someone at the "party" where the bong hit happened and that person then sold the picture. There are two things at work here and they are on two different levels. First, it just proves that people have to always be careful what they are doing and who is around. Anyone can take a picture and that picture is not something that will easily go away. Also, the Internet, and other such technology, allowed for this picture to spread like wildfire. Within a day of the picture becoming public, everyone had seen it and it was all people were discussing. Without recent technological advancements, who knows whether the picture would have ever been taken or if it would have been seen by as many people.

On a more personal level, I don't usually think about the possibility of people taking my picture or recording my every move, but maybe I should. A few times I have been on the T and thought about how easy it would be for someone sitting across from me to pretend to be talking or playing with their cell phone when really they are taking my picture. But I always wonder what bad could possibly happen from that? I'm not a celebrity so I don't see how much harm can be done.

I did also think about this idea a few days ago. I got a new digital camera for Christmas and in the weeks that have followed I have become the designated photographer for my group of friends. Last night I posted pictures from the weekend on Facebook and all of the friends who I tagged immediately freaked because they said the pictures were unflattering. They then started de-tagging themselves. But then I reminded them that these pictures hold our memories and that some day in the future they will thank me for documenting our crazy party college days. They agreed and kept themselves tagged in a few pictures. But on the other hand, sometimes I see pictures following a crazy weekend and immediately want to delete them or at least disassociate myself from them. You never know who will see the pictures and what kind of judgments these people will pass. I want my online image to reflect my true personality, not the self who danced around like a crazy person some Saturday night. So as you can see, I am torn on this. Are the pictures worth keeping because they hold memories or are they too embarrassing? I don't think this is actually a question that has an answer.

So what are your opinions? Do you think technology is too invasive? When is it taken too far? Do you have any stories to tell based on this "technology is everywhere" idea?