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Jun 27, 2016booksphinx rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Public shaming on social media - it's as easy as an anonymous comment, or one click of the "share" button - but our removal from the direct effects of our actions doesn't lessen their impact on those affected, and may even weigh on our conscience, when the shaming gets out of control. Jon Robson, through the stories of several individuals, studies the phenomenon of public shaming through social media - and unlike in the past, where a public humiliation may have been over and done with in an afternoon, or a few days - there is something incredibly terrifying about the permenance of social media shaming. In one chapter, Jon Ronson explains how Google can be an ongoing source of anxiety for those shamed, and how one company helps out those who want to leave their past behind (or at least move it to page 2 of the Google search results). Some of the people in the book who have been shamed were perhaps foolish, but none seemed deserving of the utter hell that thousands of online users unleashed upon them. Jon Ronson comes across as a charmingly unflappable confidant to those he interviews and writes so well that it was hard for me to put this book down before it ended. I really will continue to think about not only the words I speak, but the actions I make online, after reading this book. Incredible work.