Play Book Tag discussion

This is probably one of the most frightening books I have ever read. Ronson spent several years interviewing people who have been the subjects of public shaming the majority of which happened on social media. I had no idea just how powerful that platform can be but now I am stunned at the far reaching consequences of a person's shameful action being made public on any of these social media platforms. Some of these people deserved to be called to task for their thoughtless and ill-conceived jokes, rants, photos, etc. A young woman makes a stupid joke about an important subject, a woman who had maybe 100 Twitter followers, is destroyed by millions of people ranting at her. Two men make an inappropriate remark in a crowded auditorium and a woman takes their picture and tags them on facebook. The men lose their jobs but the woman is vilified for overreacting. These are just an example of the scenarios Ronson explores in this book. It is interesting, I think, that public shaming seems to be harsher for women than for men. The anonymous tweets aimed at the women are horrifically vile and often sexually threatening. The men are generally depicted as stupid screw-ups. Why is there such vitriol spewed at the women? Ok, off my soapbox. I was also amazed to learn that there are actual companies that will help get your reputation back in good standing by flooding Google with positive stories thus burying the negative items on pages lower than page 1 of a Google search. Wow, who knew? This is a very thought-provoking book that certainly opened my eyes to the darker side of social media.

Great review. Hope I will get to it soon.

I really enjoyed this book too- I'm sure this concept of public humiliation has only gotten worse and more prevalent these days as well.

He also did a book about psychopaths- The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry that I highly recommend as well!