Astronomer CEO Andy Byron-HR Head Kristin Cabot Coldplay concert cheating row: Here's how Facebook, Instagram, X are playing gigantic surveillance system

Coldplay concert cheating scandal involving AI driven data startup Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the company's HR head or Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot have a bitter lesson that social media platforms are playing the ominous "big brother is watching" you role. What started out as a routine bit of fun at a Coldplay concert as Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his "Jumbotron Song", when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on, has now snowballed into a full grown controversy that has embarrassed a few families, a company and may be the corporate workplace culture. There is red flag and a direct warning that internet and especially the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X have become a gigantic surveillance system.

Most concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event. Look for them on the walls when you arrive and around the bar areas or toilets. It’s common practice especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films.

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The venue in this case, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, also has a privacy policy online which states: “When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location, we may capture your image, voice and/or likeness, including through the use of CCTV cameras and/or when we film or photograph you in a public location.”

Once captured, a moment can be shared widely. In the internet age, such videos — or ones taken on someone's smartphone — can quickly zip around the world. This video rocketed around social media, as people speculated about why the couple dodged the camera.

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Empathy for the pair and their families was mixed with plenty of snarky commentary and countless memes, with the fake statement from the chief executive generating a lot of additional vitriol. And news reports said that the CEO's LinkedIn account was disabled after it was flooded by a wave of comments.

“It’s a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us — and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction, to a gigantic surveillance system," said Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media. "We are being surveilled by our social media. They’re tracking us in exchange for entertaining us," Mary Angela Bock said.

FAQs

Q1. Who is Astronomer CEO?
A1. Astronomer CEO is Andy Byron.

Q2. What is official designation of Kristin Cabot?
A2. Kristin Cabot's official designation at Astronomer is Chief People Officer.