Social media has provided us all a platform in which to share our lives; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Of course, the phrase “highlight reel” is often spoken on Instagram and Facebook, where only specific portions of someone’s life are displayed. The truth is, it’s easier to share the good and the “bright and shiny,” but that can be misleading.
Sometimes, sharing the vulnerable and the raw is important on social media, but that can also be a double-edged sword. Sharing your challenging moments is a different ballgame than creating a platform to share someone else’s, but that’s exactly what a now-obsolete TikTok account was doing.
The TikTok account in question went by the name Bad2TheDrone, and the videos shared were of displaced citizens of Pueblo. The drone didn’t just fly by camps for homeless people or shoot other footage and happen upon them; it set out to find and bother people living on the streets. In several videos, the targets of the drone footage were seen throwing things at the drone and trying to escape being caught on camera. The behavior was borderline stalking, and not much can be said to ease the pain in the eyes of those being followed.
Of course, the owner of the account felt very differently when their content was referred to as stalking or harassing. Newsweek reports that they first said they felt “shocked, appalled, and even saddened by how homeless people lived.”
However, the continued statements prove that it’s not compassion at the forefront of the account owner’s mind.
“But, also I don’t think kids and families should be seeing people strung out and shooting needles in broad daylight. Ultimately my goal was to inspire change.”
Newsweek reports that the account owner was asked if they had any concern for the health of the homeless, and once again — the response is less-than-stellar.
“Yes. But, not because of my drone or my videos or my TikTok page. I’m shining a light on how people are actually living among us. Virtually everyone living on the streets is hooked on drugs. Opioid overdose deaths have doubled since the start of COVID. That’s because opioid addiction has doubled during this time.”
While it’s not untrue that some of the homeless community struggles with substance abuse, the video-maker certainly glosses over the fact that several displaced people suffer from mental health struggles that lead to their circumstances. VA.gov shares the following background statement and statistics on homelessness:
“Many people stereotype the homeless population as all alcoholics or drug abusers. Although a high percentage of homeless people do struggle with substance abuse, addictions should be viewed as illnesses and require treatment, counseling, and support to overcome. Substance abuse can cause homelessness, but it often arises after people lose their housing.”
- HUD’s 2013 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report states approximately 257,000 homeless people have a severe mental illness or a chronic substance abuse issue.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2003) estimates 38% of homeless people were dependent on alcohol, and 26% abused other drugs.
The TikToker continued by saying that they felt the need to showcase the homeless community because people overlook them, but the motives behind it still weren’t exactly on par with a moral high ground,
“Most people don’t ever get a chance to see how street people are living. They drive by. Largely, our homeless neighbors living among us are sick. We’ve seen people urinate themselves. We’ve spotted people shooting up needles in public spaces. And they live in scary situations. People need to wake up to what is happening to our country. The people who created Fentanyl need to go to prison for life.”
Fentanyl is a nationwide problem, that much we can all agree on, but the general public still isn’t buying what the content creator is selling and with good reason.
In fact, several social media users cried out to organizations to get the TikTok account shut down, and the original TikTok was closed. However, the account is back under a new name and has posted new videos in the last week.
In the video shared by a Twitter user attempting to get the account shut down, a woman is seen running into traffic to get something to throw at the drone; risking her life and safety.
In continued statements from the TikTok user, one idea did resonate well with the masses; and that’s that the focus of the change needs to be more reliant on treatment and prevention than jail stints, but it’s a polarizing topic no matter how you look at it.
“They are rotting our community. What are our policymakers going to do about this? Prison sentences don’t deter junkies. Nobody grew up saying they wanted to be a junkie. It’s not a life path anyone wants to take. I don’t have all the answers, but I know we need to focus more on prevention and treatment than incarceration. But change has to happen.”
In addition, referring to the homeless as junkies is undoubtedly not the best way to inspire others to provide help or compassion, but we digress. On the other side of the coin, some social media users loved watching the videos, and were glad to see the new account beginning to post content again. There are apparently channels on other social media platforms where the user was sharing as well.
The account owner states that some families have been reunited because of their videos and that others find the internet “fame” exciting, but it’s still hard for some to grasp the abstract concept as anything helpful. Seeing the homeless community running from the drones and risking their safety isn’t an easy watch.
The videos have been called inhumane, painful, and sub-human, but their continued interest is only spurring the creator to make more. Will change happen because of them? It’s too soon to tell, but the conversation around displaced people should be treated with care and compassion, and the focus on mental illness should certainly be highlighted.