Last night, the wave of leaked photos became the talk of all forums, feeds, and #hashtags. The event was dubbed "the fappening," an allusion to the geeky Internet term meaning "forever alone party."
Some of the actresses replied via social media or even their attorneys, stating the parties in question will be prosecuted for hacking/attaining the private files or simply stated in irony that iCloud could suck it (Kirsten Dunst). Apple will have to answer this for sure.
4Chan.org was the first source of the leaks when someone self-dubbed as "The Collector" was trying to sell the pictures and videos for staggering amounts, a reported $40,000 or more. Since then, 4Chan.org has removed any posts relating to this event, which soon spread onto Reddit and Imgur, although posts were progressively deleted by moderators.
Traffic on this matter became so severe in the past 12 hours that Reddit was actually down for a bit. Searching for information became possible through the immediate reports on newspapers and of course, celebrity gossip columns that sensationalized the subject (guilty).An Apple spokesperson has already stated that the privacy of uploaded files is top priority for the company, and they would investigate the matter further. Someone's head is bound to roll as their promise for a safe virtual storage space has been compromised.
One aspect of this whole scenario is that not only celebrities, but also average people's accounts have been compromised. Ordinary men and women may have had their photos, videos, or documents leaked in this very same series of activities. This brings a warning to all those who have been digitalizing and virtualizing their sexual activities or, even more serious, posting their documents or any information that can be used in identity theft or worse.
I won't digress, however. Let me close this article with a side note:
It's nothing new that, since the dawn of media stars, the adoration over celebrities has been a reality in most cultures. As a part of (but not limited to) the male instinct, the desire to see our favorite silver-screen or touch-screen beauties in sexual situations is quite common. Any leak from a celebrity brings society to a halt. Pure hysteria over nothing.
It's a strange fascination. There are, after all, an unscientifically estimated (off the top of my head) 100 million women worldwide with body types similar to those of your favorite celebrities; doppelgangers galore. Still, we insist on fantasizing over the lewd and crude scenarios (did I write "we"?) that would place our stars in scenes limited to the libido's imagination.
The Internet reacts to the fappening :D
If anything, this brings celebrities down to Earth, where they are just like us and are no less a part of the iGeneration than you and I. Selfies and tweets are a big part of their image, and as social network becomes a huge percentage of our lives, perhaps some of the myths surrounding celebrities will fade and allow them a less fantastically-inclined lifestyle of glam. Our perception of status, fortune, and even sexuality is changing day-by-day over the digital world as selfies and trading pictures becomes absolutely normal; although paparazzis will always be a nightmare for the famous, hopefully this will end the reign of surprise beach photos—celebrities now have to worry about hacks and leaks instead.
It's a pity what had to happen, but hey, let's have this be a lesson to all. Take care of your pics, because they who have not sinned may cast the first stone. Is there anyone who hasn't dabbed a bit in homemade erotica? In all honesty, Jennifer Lawrence, Selena Gomez, Kate Upton, and crew— fake photos or not, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Bravo! As far as the fappers ogling over the leaked photos, wake up—you could be elsewhere, hitting on a girl next to you in Starbucks, leveling up on life. Cheers.
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