We Are the New Paparazzi

Armed with our cell phones, these days we are all capable of being members of the paparazzi, stalking celebrities wherever they go, and reporting our findings to the whole world via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

It wasn't long ago that members of the paparazzi were despised by so many of us, and yet it seems that with the new power of social networking, many of us are only too happy to jump on the bandwagon and play the role of celebrity stalkers ourselves.

The number of incidents reported in the news where celebrities have clashed with members of the media who have invaded their privacy is enormous.

Even the death of Princess Dianna is thought to have been caused by her driver speeding to try and escape members of the paparazzi who were following them.

Admittedly the paparazzi are known to use long range lenses and underhand methods to spy on people, just to get a unique photograph that they can sell for a small fortune, but are we really now any different?

Many people these days visit clubs and restaurants that are known to be frequented by movie stars, musicians and other celebrities, and armed with smart phones with a built in camera and a wireless connection to the Internet, it only takes minutes to report a sighting of someone famous in a restaurant.

A classic case of this was reported several weeks ago, when the star of the Twilight Saga, Robert Pattinson, went on a road trip with some friends, and as was reported on numerous fan web sites and blogs, with people using Twitter and Facebook to update the world on where he had been last sighted, and what he had said to people in the locations where he had been.

Now that we do all potentially have this power, I hope that we don't abuse it, otherwise the lives of everyone who has an ounce of fame could be made hellish, with them incapable of evading a growing number of people who just won't leave them alone and give them any privacy.

I can see in my mind scenes from the Beatles movie A Hard Days Night, where the Fab Four were forced to run from a mob of screaming fans. I don't think we would want to inflict that on anyone, or would we?

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Personal viewpoint