Social network sites are becoming more and more popular and do have their place as a means of communication and, increasingly, as a source of up to the minute news. But there are limits, boundaries which should not be crossed.
We have seen, recently, a couple at the altar Twittering and updating their Facebook pages during the wedding ceremony. One can either view this as amusing, or sad. Maybe both.
The case of Shellie Ross in Florida has, however, provoked outrage on all sides, even from ‘dedicated’ updaters.
Shellie’s two year old son was found face down in the swimming pool by his 11 year old brother, a tragic sight and traumatic experience for anyone, let alone a youngster. It was left to the 11 year old to call the Emergency Services who then battled to try and save the life of the toddler.
And what was Shellie up to while all this was going on? One minute before her eldest son called the Emergency Services (and one has to ask why it was left to him), Shellie was updating her Twitter account with the message:
Please pray like never before, my 2 yr old fell in the pool
After her son Bryson was pronounced dead, Shellie posted another update and uploaded photos of him.
Asked about her behaviour, she reportedly defended her actions by saying that no-one had the right to question her actions and added:
I didn’t tweet-by-tweet the accident
One would sincerely hope not. A tragic accident and one can only imagine that if she had paid as much attention to her son as she apparently did to her ‘social network’ then maybe, just maybe, the tragedy would not have occurred.