No escape from this net

Last week has been quite an interesting one for cine buffs, thanks to singer Suchitra Karthik’s allegedly hacked Twitter account. Several personal photos and videos of the actor have been posted on the account much to the delight of followers who kept asking for more. It all came to an end on Saturday afternoon when the account was deactivated. But in no time, nearly 100 fake accounts cropped up, all “promising” desperate followers more scoop from the lives of these celebrities. And it is at this juncture, one realises that for celebs, the emergence of technology and social media has made privacy a lot more difficult than it already was earlier.

“It’s simple — I can post whatever I want about my life. But have to draw a line when it come to the lives of others. With social media, things have become quite tough, especially for a person like me, who is extremely private. There are times when we want to be on our own, away from the world. Yes it’s scary to think of but then, I have my own life, do the things I love and meet the people I want to,” shares actress Lavanya Tripathi.

Actress Hebah Patel has a presence on all forms of social media platforms but steers clear from sharing much. “Being an actor, people already know so much about us and I am not keen to give them any more information. However, everything comes with a price and if I wanted a completely private life, I wouldn’t have gotten into the film industry at all. It’s not like I don’t do things I enjoy, but I just try to keep it away from the digital space,” she reasons, adding, “My advice for those who want to safeguard their privacy would be to avoid social media completely! But I know it is impossible for many.”

While it is a scary proposition to have so much of scrutiny around you, one can’t deny the perks of being on social media. In fact, actress Amy Jackson believes that the positives of technology and social media outweigh the negatives.  “We must bear in mind that we may be a role model to many. So it’s necessary to stay sensible. There are pros and cons to any type of technology we use. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives but it is annoying how the privacy of actors is at stake constantly.”

Actress Adah Sharma concurs, “There are pitfalls to everything. When we are taking in all the benefits, why not understand the negatives and adjust ourselves accordingly. We need to be extremely careful in terms of what we want to allow the public to see about us. Because if say my iCloud account is hacked, I will be giving away so much of personal data.”

Amidst all this, actor Nikhil knows where to go if he wants his “me time” without having to compromise. “I’d go away to a place where no one recognises me, and have my share of fun! No one will be bothered with what I do. I am really careful with what I say and do even when I am in Hyderabad. I think being a celebrity comes with a great deal of responsibility. You want to be yourself but there are repercussions to that. Better be careful, than sorry, eh?” he states.

— With inputs from Niveda Manohar