1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:11,693 Speaker 1: from News Talks at Me. 3 00:00:12,813 --> 00:00:15,733 Speaker 2: In the end, it was only a matter of time, right. 4 00:00:15,813 --> 00:00:19,973 Speaker 2: It took a day or two maybe of virality for 5 00:00:20,093 --> 00:00:24,293 Speaker 2: the CEO Court cheating in the now truly infamous coldplay 6 00:00:24,413 --> 00:00:28,733 Speaker 2: kiss cam to publicly announce his departure from his company, 7 00:00:29,333 --> 00:00:32,173 Speaker 2: and frankly, I'm surprised it took much longer for the 8 00:00:32,213 --> 00:00:35,573 Speaker 2: woman Court canoodling in his arms to do the same thing. 9 00:00:36,053 --> 00:00:39,133 Speaker 2: She was, after all, the chief people officer, the head 10 00:00:39,173 --> 00:00:42,413 Speaker 2: of HR for the same company. And on top of 11 00:00:42,453 --> 00:00:46,613 Speaker 2: what I can only imagine is a personal calamity, the 12 00:00:46,613 --> 00:00:51,733 Speaker 2: incident strikes me as a fairly grave professional conflict of interest. Indeed, 13 00:00:52,333 --> 00:00:54,893 Speaker 2: the company that employed them both has now announced that 14 00:00:54,933 --> 00:01:00,453 Speaker 2: she's gone too. Now, I'm not gonna pretend to be 15 00:01:00,533 --> 00:01:03,293 Speaker 2: all high and mighty with this, right, I certainly have 16 00:01:03,453 --> 00:01:08,693 Speaker 2: not taken any high moral ground or moral high ground. 17 00:01:09,053 --> 00:01:13,453 Speaker 2: But like however, many millions or tens of millions, or 18 00:01:13,613 --> 00:01:16,053 Speaker 2: hundreds of millions or billions of people around the world, 19 00:01:16,133 --> 00:01:19,893 Speaker 2: I found myself titillated by the video. It's just so dumb, 20 00:01:20,253 --> 00:01:25,813 Speaker 2: It's so clumsy, right, so perfect for a viral sensation. 21 00:01:26,693 --> 00:01:31,093 Speaker 2: All that being said, in the last few days, as 22 00:01:31,133 --> 00:01:34,573 Speaker 2: the stories have continued, I've also found myself thinking a 23 00:01:34,573 --> 00:01:37,373 Speaker 2: bit more about what the whole thing says about us 24 00:01:37,373 --> 00:01:45,013 Speaker 2: more generally. Right, as consumers and sharers of information on 25 00:01:45,053 --> 00:01:50,653 Speaker 2: the internet, lolling, liking, sharing, there's no way for us 26 00:01:50,733 --> 00:01:55,653 Speaker 2: to collectively manage a degree of proportionality when it comes 27 00:01:55,693 --> 00:01:57,893 Speaker 2: to viral videos, and when it comes to a viral 28 00:01:57,973 --> 00:02:00,693 Speaker 2: screw up, you know what I mean, Like, they did 29 00:02:00,733 --> 00:02:05,373 Speaker 2: the deed and they can suffer the consequences. You might argue, sure, 30 00:02:06,453 --> 00:02:12,333 Speaker 2: But at the same time, these people didn't commit a crime. Right. 31 00:02:12,773 --> 00:02:17,813 Speaker 2: They've been dishonest, absolutely, They've been unprofessional, absolutely. But while 32 00:02:17,813 --> 00:02:19,573 Speaker 2: I don't want to be too much of a downer, 33 00:02:21,053 --> 00:02:24,013 Speaker 2: I can only imagine that right now it feels like 34 00:02:24,093 --> 00:02:26,573 Speaker 2: the price they have each paid is the complete and 35 00:02:26,693 --> 00:02:31,893 Speaker 2: absolute destruction of their entire lives. Okay, And even if 36 00:02:31,893 --> 00:02:35,253 Speaker 2: you think that in this instance they deserve the consequences, 37 00:02:35,333 --> 00:02:38,933 Speaker 2: whatever they might be, what's to say that you'll feel 38 00:02:38,933 --> 00:02:42,853 Speaker 2: the same way the next time someone goes viral. My 39 00:02:42,933 --> 00:02:46,533 Speaker 2: point is just that there's no controlling the wildfire, and 40 00:02:46,613 --> 00:02:49,773 Speaker 2: once it's shared and shared and shared, and shared again. 41 00:02:50,533 --> 00:02:55,053 Speaker 2: The scale of a viral humiliation compounds faster than at 42 00:02:55,053 --> 00:02:59,533 Speaker 2: any point in human history. And you know what about 43 00:02:59,613 --> 00:03:02,813 Speaker 2: their families. Would you want to find out your husband 44 00:03:02,893 --> 00:03:06,293 Speaker 2: or partner or parent was cheating. Most of us might 45 00:03:06,493 --> 00:03:09,613 Speaker 2: say yes, painful as it might be, that truth in 46 00:03:09,653 --> 00:03:12,573 Speaker 2: that situation is for the best. But what if it 47 00:03:12,653 --> 00:03:15,613 Speaker 2: meant a fifth of the world's population found out at 48 00:03:15,653 --> 00:03:18,173 Speaker 2: the same time. What if it meant every student at 49 00:03:18,213 --> 00:03:20,933 Speaker 2: your kid's school knew what had happened and would bring 50 00:03:20,973 --> 00:03:24,933 Speaker 2: it up for the next twenty years, you might feel 51 00:03:25,333 --> 00:03:29,973 Speaker 2: slightly differently. Again, I'm not being miserable and saying it 52 00:03:30,053 --> 00:03:34,293 Speaker 2: wasn't funny. It was funny, Okay. My point is that 53 00:03:34,453 --> 00:03:37,653 Speaker 2: once a moment like this hits the Internet, there's just 54 00:03:37,733 --> 00:03:43,013 Speaker 2: no controlling it. There's like a little sliver of this 55 00:03:43,133 --> 00:03:45,813 Speaker 2: whole saga that has felt a little bit black mirror 56 00:03:45,853 --> 00:03:48,213 Speaker 2: to me. It's funny. A few years ago I read 57 00:03:48,213 --> 00:03:52,013 Speaker 2: that amazing book by John Ronson, So You've been publicly 58 00:03:52,093 --> 00:03:55,573 Speaker 2: Shamed It's called And it had some extraordinary examples of 59 00:03:55,613 --> 00:03:58,893 Speaker 2: people who had gone viral for saying or doing really dumb, 60 00:03:58,973 --> 00:04:05,413 Speaker 2: offensive things. But it also articulated something primal, something a 61 00:04:05,413 --> 00:04:09,373 Speaker 2: bit ugly, a hunger in US as a species, to 62 00:04:09,533 --> 00:04:14,053 Speaker 2: kind of hunt as a pack, and the kind of 63 00:04:14,093 --> 00:04:19,293 Speaker 2: collective glee we take in casting someone aside and making 64 00:04:19,333 --> 00:04:23,093 Speaker 2: an example of them in public. There is no policy, 65 00:04:23,173 --> 00:04:27,093 Speaker 2: There is no force on earth that can stop a 66 00:04:27,173 --> 00:04:30,693 Speaker 2: viral moment. It just has to burn out, right, there's 67 00:04:30,693 --> 00:04:35,613 Speaker 2: no firebreak, there's no finger in the dike. That video 68 00:04:36,213 --> 00:04:39,613 Speaker 2: will have been viewed by eyeballs in every country and 69 00:04:39,773 --> 00:04:43,533 Speaker 2: on every continent. But while it's said a lot about 70 00:04:43,573 --> 00:04:49,093 Speaker 2: human nature, arguably it's spread around the world has said 71 00:04:49,213 --> 00:04:51,933 Speaker 2: just as much. Are you not entertained? 72 00:04:52,493 --> 00:04:55,573 Speaker 1: For more? From Saturday Morning with Jack Tame? Listen live 73 00:04:55,693 --> 00:04:58,973 Speaker 1: to Newstalks B from nine am Saturday, or follow the 74 00:04:59,013 --> 00:05:00,493 Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio.