YOU would need to have been living in a cupboard not to have seen the story about MLA Ross Hussey and the social media backlash that followed.
Most people seemed of the opinion that as a single man the Ulster Unionist's private life was his own and meeting people online for sexual encounters in a hotel room was no one's business.
The kind of situation Mr Hussey found himself in is not uncommon in an age of social media with casual online dating no longer carrying the stigma it once did, albeit he's not just an ordinary Joe but an elected representative whose wages come from the public purse.
Whether the Sunday Life story met the test for publication as being in the public interest is for the newspaper to defend.
Mr Hussey has voted against same sex marriage in the assembly, but that alone is not grounds for claiming hypocrisy. Being on a gay dating site and support for gay marriage can be mutually exclusive.
Being a member of the policing board and sending unsolicited explicit pictures to a stranger and one who you've no idea about in terms of age or background could well be considered a security risk at worst, bad judgment at best.
It was an error of judgment that Ross Hussey has acknowledged and apologised for.
My personal opinion? I have no interest in Ross Hussey's out of hours antics and felt for him when I saw the pictures which were incredibly embarrassing.
The West Tyrone MLA was one of a number of elected representatives who featured in a Spotlight investigation into assembly expenses, a story with a much greater public interest defence in terms of journalism. I'd rather our politicians were held to account for that than what they do of a weekend.
But what I was at first amused and later enraged by was the different reaction to what was a very public shaming of a man compared to the reaction when the person in question is female.
The online abuse levelled at drunk teenage girls for posting explicit pictures in comparison to the sympathy levelled at a grown man in a position of responsibility was stark.
Think back to 2010 and the infamous Iris Robinson affair. The Spotlight investigation that uncovered the then triple jobbing politician having an affair with a teenager was undoubtedly in the public interest.
Not only was Mrs Robinson fond of pontificating about the 'immorality' of other people's sex lives she was also taking loans from property developers to fund her young boyfriend's business venture.
Two investigations cleared her of any criminality and I've never heard public opinion or anyone on social media saying the investigations shouldn't have taken place.
Iris was portrayed in the worst possible light while the men involved in the matter were painted as victims.
Last year allegations were made against a Catholic priest Fr Ciaran Dallat. He was alleged to have had an affair with a female parishioner. The woman in question had done nothing wrong, the priest had allegedly broken his vow of celibacy and later apologised.
However, contrast the social media reaction to that woman and the outpouring of sympathy received this week by Ross Hussey.
She was vilified while the priest was deemed by some as a naive, blameless victim.
I can understand politicians, not just members of Mr Hussey's own party but others as well, defending and supporting him following the Sunday Life exposé.
Politicians in general aren't keen on the idea of their private lives being poked at and regardless of job title everyone is entitled to down time.
But if, as in the Iris Robinson case, that private life conflicts with their public duties and potentially exposes double standards, if it involves risky behaviour that could have serious security implications, do you the public feel you have a right to know?
What I found instructive about the reaction to the Ross Hussey story on social media was the support being offered by some who think nothing of engaging in the sexual harassment of women online.
The only difference I can see in who they feel should be allowed a private life and who is fair game for relentless abuse is gender.
The Ross Hussey story and any debate on the right to privacy and a private life for public figures should take into account the very stark difference in how men and women are still viewed and treated in the social media age.
Inequality in how the genders are treated on social media has never been so visible.
Ross Hussey has been inundated with messages of support. He should be thankful he's a man because in my experience sympathy is in short supply when it's a woman being targeted.
