Hashtag Puzzled

Who is Bryce Hall and why is he over?

A quick glance at Twitter this morning led me to this hashtag:

#brycehallisoverparty

All I know at this point is that Bryce Hall lives in Howard County, is possibly a graduate of Howard High School, and is on tour. He appears to be famous in some way, at least on Twitter.

And he said something that set off this tweetstorm. At least that's what it looks like.

At first I thought this was an example of cyberbullying and was worried this was a student in our schools. I wondered if I should report it to hcpss. The more I looked it appeared to be a case where teens turn in someone in the public eye. You can be become famous through social media interaction, but the tide can just as easily turn on you. That looks like this is what's happening here.

The entire thing leaves me with a bad feeling about how teens are using social media to "take somebody down." Free expression I understand. A huge Twitter pile-on feels wrong.

If you have a teen on Twitter, ask them about this kind of interaction. Do they think "celebrities" are fair game? Do they use the same language online that they would use face-to-face? Or do they think that anything goes?

I don't know if Bryce Hall is someone I would like or loathe but I do think he deserves to be treated like a human being.