It doesn’t have to happen in person and it is not discussed often in the media. Within the realm of gender-based violence, there is pressure on victims to brush off acts of stalking because it is hard to prove. Shows like “You” further normalize and glorify stalkers. The best thing we can do as a society is to stop normalizing the stalker-like behavior of ourselves and those around us. At the end of the day, private accounts do not guarantee much.
Making your account private limits the number of strangers admiring you from a distance, yet could mean that someone in your friend group might be equally as bad. The youthfulness of this phenomenon makes it hard for law enforcement to regulate or punish cyberstalkers because it becomes difficult to differentiate normal stalking habits to those of someone who may have more sinister intentions. So many of the commenters on these memes viewed Joe’s behavior as sincere and romantic, when in reality his actions on the show are nothing short of dangerous.Ī sophomore who wishes to remain anonymous reports that after being stalked, she has mixed feelings about people’s reactions to “You.” The memes that followed the release of the second season this past month all had the same message: obsessive behavior can be viewed as a form of love, especially if the perpetrator is good-looking enough. Goldberg views his obsessive nature as a way of expressing his love. The character Joe Goldberg is interesting because he, someone with no social media accounts, uses social media platforms to learn about the lives of his victims before beginning his routine of “randomly” showing up in the same places or sharing the same interests as his victims. Though shows like Netflix’s “You” bring the discussion of stalking into the public narrative, some of the audience seems to draw the wrong message. With social media, the line between harmless internet stalking and aggressive behavior is blurred. Who hasn’t stalked their crush on social media? However, it is only when the protagonist continues on to more drastic measures, like stealing his victims underwear and hiding in her shower, that the seemingly innocent acts that people do everyday, such as looking at someone’s tweets, no longer feel so harmless. Initially, his behavior is innocent enough that anyone could relate to it. The troubling part of the story is how the stalker begins his obsession. I’ve found myself rooting for Joe when he gets close to being held accountable for his actions and so have a large number of viewers. It is important to recognize the difference between looking at someone’s Instagram profile versus obsessing over someone online and using platforms to target or harass.įor those of us who have watched Netflix’s “You,” we have witnessed this energy and obsession in the form of Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager who has a penchant for manipulating everyone around him - including the audience - into feeling something akin to sympathy towards his stalking habit. Gone are the days of repetitive actions or “unknowingly” showing up at the same place as someone who you have been watching.Ĭyberstalking is not something we all do. Face to face harassment has become harassment from behind the small screens of mobile devices. Physically following someone from location to location has become as easy as turning on post notifications on your phone. Ĭyberstalking is hard to face because it does not look like the common form of stalking we have learned to see. Oftentimes, those who are stalked are done so by people they already know, and in addition to the stalking being done in person, stalking is also done online, according to Victims of Crime.
However, the reality is vastly different.
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang News.Ī peeping Tom, a hooded figure in the bushes, a yelling lunatic, the stereotypical ideas that come to mind when someone says the word “stalker” are similar to that of the boogieman: an anonymous monster following you home. Grace Kitayama is a journalism sophomore. Musa Faraha is an anthropology and geology and microbiology freshman.
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