Privacy vs Publicity

Another viral video sensation has surfaced. In this video, a little boy is asking his mother for a cupcake with the tenacity of a first-year law student.

Of course, social networks have exploded with criticism. This critique is aimed at the boy’s parents. People have said, “Let that boy have a cupcake” or “What a terrible mother for not allowing her son to eat”.

This is only a single example of how publicized our information is when we choose to put it on the internet.

It seems these days that the second you send that tweet or post that status, your business becomes everyone else’s business. For example, what this mother thought was a harmless, funny video of her son debating over a cupcake turned into a nationwide controversy.

Maybe, posting photos and thoughts on social networks is a call for giving up privacy. I mean, you posted it, right?

This isn’t about privacy anymore, though. You forfeit any chance for privacy when it comes to the internet. This is now about propriety. Instead of being a careless, social moron, network users need to recognize their boundaries as well show manners on a social networking site.

The boisterous toddler from the video mentioned earlier is from San Jose, California. Little Mateo wanted a cupcake, but his mother, Linda Beltran, said no. So Mateo presented his plea to his grandmother and asked her, in Spanish. His mother busted him, and -- in a video that has now been watched more than 3 million times -- clarified to the young boy why he couldn't have a cupcake. Untroubled, Mateo proceeded to reason with his mother for several more minutes, all the while keeping up his plea. "Listen Linda, listen," the boy says, occasionally also referring to his mother as "honey" and "babe."

I look at the video as priceless and quite hysterical. It is also impressive that a three-year-old could communicate so well. I imagine him to be a future politician.

However, a significant number of other viewers disagree. They are throwing slander at the mother, defending their accusations of her terrible parenting and carelessness toward her son’s desires.

So, not only did these people condemn this mother, but they also laid blame with false pretenses. This also causes me to wonder if ethnicity is involved with how this situation played out. Obviously, the Beltrans are of a Latino background, because Mateo asks his grandmother for a cupcake in Spanish.

Could society be exemplified in a more accurate way? I think not. Our culture has been desensitized so far as to abandon judgment of character and only focus on how the outside appears.

75% of the people commenting about this video did not know the family in any form or fashion. And who knows? Maybe I am defending a horrible mother who neglects her children’s needs. But, from the way it appeared, it was a humorous video that hurt no one.

Do you think our culture is too judgmental? I would appreciate reading your feedback via email.