SINGAPORE – Forget butt-dials and say hello to accidental livestreaming as local actress Rebecca Lim accidentally went live on Instagram and over 800 fans tuned in to watch absolutely nothing.
On Mar 30, it took eight minutes into the live stream for viewers to safely assume that Lim’s phone was in her bag after hearing muffled voices — probably including her, too — speaking in the background.
At first, fans were excited and expected a sneak peek of a potential project but, after a while, they realised that it wasn’t the case. They began pointing out that the actress might not know that she was livestreaming and tried to notify her about it through the comment section. Some fans decided to tag Mediacorp and management agency The Celebrity Agency for their assistance.
Eventually, Lim took her phone out of the bag. That’s when viewers got a sneak peek of her getting her hair and make-up done in a room. Then,  almost immediately, the make-up artist or her manager (or who knows) told her about the livestream and ended it.
No doubt it was an inadvertent live stream. But it’s also a cause for concern. While social media has its uses, connecting celebrities to their audience, there’s also rising concern about its invasion of privacy, given that such incidents shouldn’t happen at all.
For instance, Mark Ruffalo accidentally livestreamed (although it was only the audio) the first few minutes of Thor: Ragnarok screening on Instagram four years ago.
According to HollywoodReporterNews, Ruffalo and his co-stars were on stage at the El Capitan Theatre after cast mate Jeff Goldblum welcomed them when the actor went on Instagram live to share the moment with his followers.
Shortly after that, the actor put his phone in his pocket without realising that the live stream was still ongoing. Over 2,500 viewers stayed to listen and left comments, wondering long it would take the actor to realise that his Instagram live was on.
What are your thoughts on incidents like these? Let us know!