In this day and age it has become apparent that people enjoy having constant communication. They enjoy letting others know what they are doing, who they’re seeing, what they’re eating – in essence, the idea of privacy is non-existent. During the last decade we have seen men and women willingly go on television to disclose personal information, be followed by cameras and have every inch of their lives exposed to millions of viewers. Reality television has alienated the way we protect our privacy and in changed the way we view normal. Reality television has only created problems and television companies should abolish any current reality television being produced so personal privacy can finally be restored. The importance of privacy must be realized and must be appreciated because once we lose our privacy, it’s never coming back.

Reality television is a hard concept to define; each show that’s created has its own agenda and its own motivation for being created. The only commonality between every show is that people choose to go on television and have their lives taped. Every aspect of their lives can and will be aired on television and subsequently every drama or problem they have during or after the show will be aired on gossip websites or in magazines for the world to see. Once these cameras are turned on they are never turned off. The very definition of normal needs to be reworded because the sort of families that are seen on television as “normal” are very far from what any average person would consider normal. An example of this is the very public divorce battle that Jon and Kate Gosselin (Jon and Kate + Eight) are going through. Every aspect of their lives is being scrutinized and both parents are being put on trial while the world watches. They are being judged for their actions, statements and overall how they appear to the world. Jon Gosselin has requested the filming to stop, but what he doesn’t realize is that his life and the lives of his children will now always be public domain. Once that kind of privacy invasion is allowed, people have to understand that whatever privacy they once thought they had is gone. In this case these children are going to be able to see what their parents wrote about each other for forever and they are going to have to deal with the repercussions of their parents’ actions, and eventually the children will be put in the spotlight to be tried in front of the court of media. The few that win against the media are the most harshly criticized when they finally make a mistake. Reality television has created a monster that allows society to judge others based on what producers thought would be good television and not on the character within each person. The reality behind reality television isn’t as glamorous as they’d like the audience to believe.
Privacy is a concept that this generation takes advantage of. With the explosion of Twitter and Facebook and reality television information that would normally be seen as private or personal is all over the internet. Twitter has allowed society to know exactly what their favourite star or co-worker is doing every minute of the day. Reality television stars always have a Twitter or Facebook because they need a way to stay connected with the media and their fan bases. Not only has reality television created a new set of morals that youth choose to follow, it is also promoting the very dangerous spreading of information. Young people often don’t realize that anything and everything they choose to post on the internet will stay on the Internet for the rest of their lives. Privacy should not be treated so dismissively; the dangers of putting too much information on the Internet can result in identity theft, impersonation, and potential job losses. Companies and even universities have been known to use these social applications to learn more about their potential students or employees. The fact that a domain like Facebook has been created goes to show how much society takes their privacy for granted. Pictures, comments, and messages are all available to whoever may want to use them. Twitter as well appeals to the need that many students and young adults have. Users of both these networks often believe that they are the center of the universe and these applications help feed that belief. Instead of developing normally and realizing that everyone is equal, these applications allow them to center themselves and make the assumption that they are more important than everyone else. Reality television plays into this as well, by having certain stars be followed by cameras and by having their lives recorded.
Reality television has not only brought out the worst in our society, but has also glorified it, it has tried to make our youth aspire to be on television and often just embarrass themselves, then have them live with the repercussions of their actions for the rest of their lives. Shows like The Hills, which is hardly 'reality' at all, have overplayed the importance of money and good publicity. These so-called stars go about their day walking all over the people that often have helped them get to their star status. They have advocated spreading hurtful rumours about each other, and the idea that money and fame are everything. Reality television has caused society to believe whatever they see and dismiss the idea of questioning and making independent decisions. Reality television has caused society to take a step backwards in terms of how we view our privacy, and has also caused us to take a step back morally. Ultimately, reality television is not reality; it’s showing the worst of society and the worst of the world.