In this fast-paced world of social media, a controversial - some might even say inflammatory - post can go viral in seconds.

Let me just pause for a second to consider the phrase “going viral” when it comes to views on social media. The words are thrown around pretty casually these days, and, to the best of my knowledge, there is no clear-cut definition of what “going viral” means.

The closest I’ve found to try to throw some light on this term is this: “Going viral means sharing an email or social media post that spreads quickly to millions of people online.” The term is about a decade old, and most believe it came into existence to describe the video “David after Dentist,” which has been viewed more than 53 million times.

Many use the term “going viral” when a post has been seen maybe a thousand times; no, that’s a far cry from “going viral.”

The other aspect of someone posting an accusatory video is that we are getting just one side of an allegation, so the hunt is on to balance the post if balancing is needed, and in the case I am about to relate to you, we needed to hear what the accused business and the police had to say.

We are being told that a video posted to the TikTok platform by a woman who identified herself as “Courtney” went viral. While the video was viewed often, it did not meet that unofficial threshold of “millions of views.” Nonetheless, it has become a real pain for officials of the Camelback Resort in Pocono Township, Monroe County.

Courtney claims that she and several friends were having a great time at Camelback on Jan. 23 “until we got racially profiled.” Of course, to accuse a business of such an incendiary action today is akin to lighting a fuse and watching the explosion and fallout that inevitably follow.

Based on police reports, some merchandise was shoplifted by a black man who left the store at approximately the same time as Courtney and her friends. The women were stopped by police and questioned about the theft. According to Courtney’s post, the women were told, “Oh, give back the merchandise, and we won’t arrest you.”

One of the members of the group began laughing, thinking it was a joke, according to Courtney, who said they showed police the receipt for $42.40 for the items they bought. Courtney said they weren’t believed because surveillance footage showed them leaving the store at the same time as the black man who is alleged to have stolen the items in question.

Courtney said she asked, “Because we left the store, and because a man probably left before or after us means that we were with the man who stole? They (Police) said ‘yes.’?”

Courtney said there were other people in the store - Caucasians - who left at about the same time. “Did you ask them if they were with the man?” Courtney said she asked police, who allegedly said “no.” “Just because the guy’s black and we’re black doesn’t mean that we knew him or that we walked out at the same time,” Courtney said.

Courtney ended the video by saying, “You know how it is when white people get when you call them ‘racist,’ they like to do the ‘Oh, don’t pull that racist card with me; we’re not racist,’ but you are.”

Camelback Managing Director Kit Pappas said the matter was turned over to Pocono Township police and said the resort was “distressed to learn of our guests who were wrongly accused of shoplifting.” He said Camelback “does not tolerate bias of any kind and has clear nonbias policies in place regarding discrimination and harassment. We recognize we need to do better to promote equality, respect, and inclusion across our community, and we will commit to doing our part. As an immediate response, we will reinforce our diversity, equity and inclusion training for all employees.”

A resort spokesperson said Camelback security acted according to policy by turning over the matter to the township police. The spokesperson said the resort reached out to Courtney, but said she refused to talk to Camelback officials.

Pocono Township police denied that its officers racially profiled the women and determined after interviewing them that they were not involved in the theft. The alleged shoplifter has not been identified or located.

In a statement, police wrote: “As shown in body camera recordings of the entire incident, the officers made no reference to race, the females were never accused of the theft, nor was a threat of arrest made.”

Police, however, declined to release the body camera footage until it completes its investigation.

Until that happens, we are left with two sides of an ugly allegation by outraged patrons, a strong denial by police, and a prominent business trying to protect its good name.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.