We live in the age of transparency. At every level, from Middle Eastern dictators to restaurants with poor service, there's nowhere to hide. Factors ranging from Wikileaks through to social networks and smart phones mean that your every secret, lie, gaffe or display of political incorrectness is likely to show up on the internet.
Take John Galliano, for instance. The designer denies making anti-Semitic remarks – but it would have been a hell of a lot easier to believe him if that video, clearly shot on someone's phone, hadn't shown up online. It may have been faked, but that's not my point. The fact is that it's out there, for everyone to see. Similarly, an American journalist was recently fired for making a tasteless tweet about Lara Logan, the CBS reporter who was sexually assaulted in Cairo. He made the mistake of thinking that Twitter was a bit of casual banter between friends. In fact, it's a mass medium.
On a more quotidian note, this transparency is good news for consumers. The other day I was at Christian Etchebest's restaurant La Cantine du troquet (XIVe arrondissement), where a waitress was appallingly rude even before I'd sat down. Not only did I leave immediately, but when I got home I went online and posted the experience on every restaurant review site I could find. Food critics have long known that vengeance is sweet. But now ordinary customers can taste it too.
