30 January 2023 , 14:32
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A newly engaged woman was horrified after finding her proposal had been filmed and mocked online - before she had even had chance to announce the happy news to her family.
Linn Ekebom, 28, was overjoyed and started crying with happiness when her now-fiancée popped the big question to her on Saturday in Central Park, New York - which is where they first met almost a year ago.
But it wasn't just any old proposal, as her partner Shannon McGee, 29, wanted to express their love of musical theatre and had arranged for a surprise flash mob performance to Bruno Mars' Marry You.
Shannon asked if Linn would marry her in New York, where they first met (Linn Ekebom)
The proposal was filmed and shared online (.tiktok.com/@linn.paulina)The pair, who have a long-distance relationship between Finland, where Linn is from, and Tampa, Florida, were over the moon, but when they returned to their hotel they discovered that the romantic gesture had been filmed by strangers and shared online, with a barrage of 'nasty' comments.
One user uploaded a video of the scene, sarcastically captioning it: "Don't even THINK about proposing to me unless it's a synchronized dance to marry you by bruno mars with 6 teenage girls in central park [angst face emoji.]"
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"This is not the way to do it," laughed one person talking over the footage.
Linn, who is a journalist, initially thought the clip was going to be a 'cute video' from a different angle until she heard what the creator was saying.
She was then fearful that her family in Europe would find out about the news before she even had time to call them, and spent her night worrying.
She couldn't have sent them a quick text, she says, as she wanted to FaceTime them to make the announcement more special.
The TikToker has since filmed herself hitting back at the trolls, and has pleaded with people online to 'be kind'.
"I knew people had been filming so I knew there was a chance someone was gonna post it but what hurt me was how we were portrayed by the creator and the nasty comments," Linn told the Mirror.
"I was horrified that that was how my friends and family were gonna find out. I didn't want them to have to read all that nasty stuff about me and their daughter in law - and especially not before I had a chance to even tell them that we got engaged.
"Because of the time difference, I had to go to sleep praying that the video wouldn't reach over there before I could reach them. It definitely made my engagement night more nerve wracking than I think it should have to be.
"Unfortunately some of my friends did see it before but thankfully my parents don't have TikTok and no one forwarded them the video so I was able to surprise them."
Linn pleaded with people online to 'be kind' (.tiktok.com/@linn.paulina)
The engaged couple share a love of musicals (Linn Ekebom)Uploading her own video, she raised that some people have no regard for anyone but themselves.
"The younger generation has started to become the older generation on social media with like no regards to other people's feelings," she began.
"And if you see cute things or fun things or weird things and you want to post about it like okay, go for it. That's what social media is for. But I get upset about the fact that people are so nasty, like with no regard of like, oh, maybe this person who just got engaged is also on social media, and may have seen this the night of her engagement.
"Comment whatever you want the like, please be considerate. There are people reading what you write there are people hearing what you say, be kind. We're all human. Just be kind. It costs you nothing."
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Linn admits that her proposal was 'cringy and embarrasing' - but just how a public display of affection 'should be'.
She was taken aback by the thoughtful move from Shannon, who is known to be shy.
"I very rarely cry from happiness but I was bawling my eyes out because of how sweet it was," she said.
"My fiancée isn't the type of person to normally do things like that because she's kind of shy so her stepping out of her comfort zone and doing it for me because she knew I would love it was incredible."
Thousands of TikTok-users supported the couple, commenting that it wasn't their place to judge.
One wrote: "I'm sure it made sense in their little world. She loved it. That's all that matters. Who are we to judge? Let's mind our own business" while another said: "Someone went through a lot of trouble for that proposal. They are lucky to have each other. I wish them happiness."
Since Linn's personal video, she's recevied multiple messages of support, with lots of nice comments and well-wishes.
She added: "I'm so moved by people coming through and defending me and my fiancée in the original post and all the kindness on my stitch video. It's been absolutely incredible and I'm so thankful."