Is there anything left sacred today?

The unfortunate incident involving a seemingly innocent prank call to the hospital where Duchess Kate was resting, by two Australian DJs that resulted in the death of an innocent nurse, merely highlights the rot that is taking over our society by and large. The world is now one place thanks to seamless social media networks and the power of the Internet. Nothing can be done in secret nor can the consequences of an incident expected to be stifled.

The power of information is as never before - it only takes minutes for news to travel around the world via Twitter, Facebook, You Tube or blogs. But the question that remains is just what is personal and sacred - or is there no such thing at all, with so much scrutiny and looking into the lives of the famous and the not so famous.

Private moments

The reality shows that plague Western television from Big Brother to Kardashians, only highlight this aspect. The reality shows make stars out of nobodies who really do not need any talent except that of living their lives, warts and all, in front of cameras and earning top dollar for it.

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha

The reality shows can be ugly, when some are forced to cry or be beaten and others find it hard to yield to the unbelievable pressure on the show. The reality shows, the social networks do not really let anyone be - privacy is no longer a personal thing, it is a commodity. The world is hungry for information, any information on celebrities.

Prince William and his wife are already hounded now that they have announced they are expecting a baby. Nothing is spared by the long lens of the world's paparazzi who can sell any picture of private moments for millions of dollars. You can be sure that even pictures taken in confidence and privacy can emerge suddenly online, embarrassing the victims yet taken for granted in this info hungry world we live in.

You can find just about everything about the celebrities on line. There are sites dedicated to such gossip and you can find out about what they eat, where they go and how they look - there are millions of people hooked on this kind of information.

In the case of the Indian nurse who committed suicide because she felt embarrassed and somehow responsible for the success of the prank, it clearly shows just how sensitive some people can be. For some, such shame is not acceptable and is equal with death. Yet others may shrug it aside. In this instance, an individual's privacy at an hospital was breached and the poor nurse probably felt responsible for not being able to recognize the fake accents of the two DJs posing as the Queen and Prince Charles.

The media too hyped up the fact that the accents could have been easily recognized but was not. In the end, two innocent children and a distraught husband are left to mourn the death of the only person who mattered the most to them.

Reality stars

The constant appetite of the world for information is what drives people to pranks like this one.

The Australian DJs Michael Christian and Mel Greig who made a prank call to a London hospital treating Prince William’s wife Kate tearfully told of their heartbreak Monday at hearing that a nurse had been found dead. AFP

It doesn't matter what it involves in terms of costs but a good prank gets the news out and in fact, makes news as this one did. No one expected the nurse to commit suicide but then no one expects a negative outcome in such pranks either.

Nothing valuable or worthy is learnt in these celebrity centred information channels but no one cares.

Educational programmes, empowerment and learning outcomes do not attract the kind of attention celebrity hype does.

The more the channels are fed, a higher demand is placed for more and more information. It is a vicious cycle that seems to go on.

What can we do in our own little ways - maybe not read the gossip. Not visit sites that offer such gossip. Yet, for each one who will not visit, there will be millions ready to do so. Reality stars such as Kim Kardashian who is the star on the show revolving around her family (it shows everything in their lives except sleeping and going to the toilet) has the most amount of followers on Twitter. She usually tweets nothing of importance but about mundane daily things in her larger than life but then people seem to hold on to every word she utters.

The information age brings with it its own problems - this is just one. Yet, when placed in the information hungry worldwide web, where the entire world can be reached with one click, one is absolutely powerless to do anything to stop it.