Of course they do. And many of us have empathy. But that's not going to change the fact that when he's a young and attractive public figure (and that's what he is now, like it or not and I think part of him does seem to like it) moving in celebrity circles on social media, people are going to talk. Not just here, and tbh it would be very naive for either you or this kid who is allegedly your friend to not realize that this is far from the only forum talking about him. Social media outlets are all over any kind of public figure, especially young people.
I'm not suggesting he should sacrifice his private life, and I hope he can get back and keep as much as he likes in the years to come when the allure of some of his new friends fades. That wasn't my point. My point was, this is the tradeoff any public-facing figure implicitly enters into in the social media age whether they have intended to consent to it or not - when they become a part of that space, they're vulnerable to all sorts of scrutiny. You could shame LPSG into closing the kid's thread tomorrow and it won't matter; there will always be other forums, other people, other conversations. Trying to appeal to this one has no actual impact. But yes, I do think he's just a kid who people probably judge too harshly. I also think he will regret spending so much time Very Online in later life.
I mean, I can't really argue with most of that. He probably does enjoy some aspects of it. I'm sure his feelings about this thread are also conflicted, and that's probably why he drew attention to it rather than just ignoring it. I don't know, it's not really my place to say either way, and honestly I don't think it matters.
It just feels gross to me that he is given so much shit for enjoying
some attention, and that somehow this means he's expected to like
all the attention people give him. I like attention too, when I'm in the mood for it, and I bet the same is true of everyone here. That doesn't mean I deserve every aspect of my life to be deconstructed on the internet. Is he supposed to block anyone remotely famous and refuse any opportunities he's given to maintain some bullshit purity? I honestly don't get it.
He also struggles
a lot with how he got his platform and his place in the world. I'm pretty sure he's been open about that. He isn't some influencer who doesn't give a fuck. He's working it all out gradually the same way I am, and the same way most people do during college years, I guess. And he's doing that with the incredible added stress of knowing that everything he says and does invites criticism. Some of that is fair, but a lot of it isn't.
I've seen one other thread about him somewhere else (not linking to it) which was so horrible and unpleasant that I couldn't finish it. If I saw something like that about me it would fucking crush me, and it would crush Cam, even though he'd hide it. It would crush anyone. I wasn't even the subject of the thread and I felt really anxious afterwards. And what really gets me is that there will be some people reading this who think he completely deserves that, despite not knowing anything about him, and that I'm pathetic for feeling so shitty about it, despite not knowing anything about me.
So I get what you're saying that a lot of this is inevitable, but is that a good reason to just sit back and let all the toxicity flow? It's true that any impact I'm having here is minuscule. But like, isn't that true of almost everything? I mean to stick with the subject, just look at Cam and Parkland. Despite this 'fame' everyone here talks about, nothing really got done. But that isn't a reason to throw your hands up.
Ugh, I don't know. This is a weird place to have this kind of discussion, and I know you're right that I'm basically swimming against the tide. It just gets to me.