Celebrity website TMZ has published video showing Kony 2012 producer Jason Russell en déshabillé on a San Diego street corner.
The video made it pretty clear to me that Mr. Russell was not "drunk and masturbating" as was alleged in the original reporting on the incident, but was rather in the middle of a psychological breakdown for which medical attention, rather than our ridicule, is the proper response.
Forgive me for, figuratively, diagnosing Mr. Russell from the floor of the Senate in this case.
I can't help but think of the death of Andrew Breitbart a few weeks ago as somehow related to this incident.
I think that fame has always been difficult to handle.
But I have to wonder whether, in today's world of Internet inter-connectedness, it has not become especially dangerous, even deadly.
Video of Andrew Breitbart shortly before his death showed a man in the grips of madness. At the same time -- I bet the attention that he received from the Intertubes sent him on huge highs as well as drove him to extreme lows. Maybe there is some sort of addiction factor that plays into this. I don't know.
Daily Kos has had some fairly spectacular meltdowns of its own.
Anyone remember a guy named Armando?
But here have been others: The popular diarist "theoria," MSOC -- well, that happened weekly -- but the story of Dave from Queens comes to mind as a pretty tragic episode in the history of this website. He went from being popular diarist, to being driven from this blog, to being hounded in real life by a pack of Daily Kos crazies, to having a heart attack and passing away in a matter of weeks.
And, of course, Cindy Sheehan, last seen speaking out against Israel or Wall St. or something.
Well, I don't know.
I guess what I'm suggesting here is that the Internet, virtual communities and social networking have exposed people in some way to a psychological minefield that is very dangerous for a certain kind of person.
Everyone gets excited, for example, when a diary entry that they write gets a positive response. But some people get really, really, really excited. I wonder if the experience of attention from the online world doesn't turn on some part of the brain in certain people in a way that, perhaps, humans weren't necessarily meant to be turned on.
And then from this excitement comes more extreme behavior. Then, finally, a crash and a burn out -- or worse.
In contrast to real fame, online fame doesn't appear on the surface to come with the same risks ...
"On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog."
With more control over disclosure of your identity, you can put more stuff out there ... Be more daring ... Behave in ways that would otherwise be proscribed by social codes, codes that of course stifle you, but also protect you.
Reflecting on the some of these things makes me wonder if we don't have to be a bit more careful around here.
Am I wrong in thinking that there is a cycle in which people are catapulted into exposure for which they are not prepared by virtual communities of various sorts -- whether it be Daily Kos, or World Net Daily, or YouTube? Do they respond in certain ways that are predictable -- for example, more extreme participation in the communities as they seek to be more and more turned on by the social high? Is this followed by a devasting low?
I'd like to see a study by credible sociologists and medical professionals about dramatic Internet flame-outs.