The Rise of Public Shame in The Internet Age

Public Shaming has been part of American history since the early 1800’s. It’s no wonder why people have gotten so familiar to the idea of publicly humiliating others for their wrong doings. In todays’ age humiliation has gotten advanced with social media and new technology. Not only do they have to be humiliated for a short amount of time like the olden days, but they now have to live with being shamed throughout their lives because of the internet. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed is a book written by Jon Ronson which discusses how public shaming is on the rise in the internet age. Ronson is a welsh commentator who writes about popular culture, especially as it intersects with the internet in today’s world. He has been described as a gonzo journalist, becoming a character in his stories, and he has published nine books, his latest book published in 2015 being So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. Shaming is a well-established method of social control that has taken on a new role in life since the appearance of the internet and social media. An academic definition of shaming is “to cause (someone) to feel ashamed or inadequate by outdoing or surpassing them”. Public shaming has been around for decades, but technology took the idea of public shaming to a whole new and scary level. The purpose, the techniques, and the consequences of social shaming is wide-ranging and therefore not every minor crime should involve public humiliation. In his book, Ronson makes the argument that every user of social media rises up as one to criticize, shame and remove a seemingly deserving victim and he also argues that shaming is not only bad for the shamee but the shamer as well. We are going through what Ronson calls “a great renaissance of public shaming”. Social media and new technology, too, has risen higher than ever and I think we have to put a stop to internet shaming and end its position so people’s lives don’t get destroyed.

You might not be in the group of ordinary people, but it takes a person with strong principles to say that they have not been involved in someone else’s online humiliation at one point. In a world where anyone can be aimed at for putting the wrong emoji, many have become overly cautious, not about being trolled by someone random putting out hurtful comments but by being publicly shamed. New York PR executive Justine Sacco, tweeted a sarcastic joke on Twitter saying, ‘Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!’ before getting on the plane. By the time the plane landed, she was an online hate figure. The mob mentality of Twitter has the power to turn all of us into cruel human beings. Another great example is of Adele when she beat Beyoncé to the Album of the Year award at this year’s Grammys, she spent most of her speech explaining why she did not deserve the award. Could she already visualize the recoil if she failed to acknowledge the woman in the room who so many believed deserved to win?

Ronson devotes an entire chapter in his book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed to Justine Sacco. After her sarcastic joke on Twitter about AIDS, she became the number one trending topic that night. Surprisingly, she woke up to find out that she had been fired and her reputation was crushed. People like you and me had effectively sentenced Justine Sacco to a year’s punishment for the crime of some poor sarcastic attempt of a joke in a tweet, as if some awkward wording had been a clue to her secret inner evil. The fact that she had managed to persistently put things in order after a year was now being used as evidence that the shaming had been no big deal from the beginning. I can’t perceive how Justine’s shaming made the situation better, given that her joke was intended to mock racism. With time public shaming is becoming more popular and more common by the minute.

Human nature has many flaws including the need to socially control others. Having that need makes ordinary people like you and me do and say crucial and demonizing things to others; others who we see as not deserving or not thankful enough for what they have. Seeing others in that way makes us want to attack them in every way we can, when they make the tiniest mistake. The appeal of online shaming is easily visible. An individual who feels that they have been wronged turns to Facebook or Twitter where he or she will find a circle of like-minded supporters who are willing to help with their cause. Online participation is also empowering, giving rise to the knowledge that there is a shortcut to justice that avoids the difficulties and probable rejection of litigation. Ordinary individuals can simply take the matter into their own hands. The nature of the internet as a village gives many opportunities for online shaming to rise. As people share more of their lives, information and opinions online, they are granted with two choices; conceal their identity or accept that everything they say online will be on record forever and moderate themselves accordingly. The inerasable memory of the internet means that shaming can have consequences for the shamee many years after the incident.

In addition to all these negativities, social media has its own benefits that help people deliver their worries and concerns to others in their friend’s list and attract their support to find a solution to their challenges. Social media has the power to control peoples’ lives and, in the event, that someone decides to commit any type of illegal act, and their actions somehow get leaked into social media their whole remaining life can be ruined to the point that it will be hard for them to find a way out. As we have witnessed a lot of public shaming through social media, the case of Mr. Smith could be an important example of how his whole future life was destroyed because he went to a drive-through at Chick-file and recorded a video of himself dissing one of the employees. After posting his video on YouTube, within seconds his video went viral across all social media platforms. Many people got upset and most got mad at Mr. Smith, because of this he not only lost his job, but since that video was posted he received so many threat letters that he was scared to even send his kids to school. As if the letters were not enough, he also received direct threats and warnings. All these acts forced him to leave the city in which he was living in and move to a different city. This is a great example that shows internet public shaming in its greatest form. All these points show that internet public shaming will always stay within our lives because it helps a lot to know about those bad shames which give off a negative reflection of our society to others.

It may be what we want in the moment — the satisfaction of having someone who hurt someone else retreat in remorse. But the lasting damaging effects of this, and the fear it spreads, might do more harm than the sense of justice does us good. In the online world, everyone is a public figure, and everyone is a target. The conversations that used to be reserved for our friends, family members, and communities are now open for scrutiny, criticism and even persecution of anyone with a WIFI connection and a temper. This takes the fear of ostracism outside of the public sphere and places it squarely in our homes.