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kingabee's review
2.0
I really loved the subject of this book – internet shamings, cancellations, twitter draggings – but I was disappointed it didn’t delve deeper. Ronson just skims the surface and keeps things light. Maybe he was afraid if he got more serious, someone might disagree with him and drag him on twitter?
Possibly for the same reason, he tries to appear impartial and not pass any moral judgement on the various transgressors whose stories he describes. This is a big flaw of the book. I feel Ronson owes to the reader to question the power imbalance, to really analyse who gets targeted online and for what offences and who truly gets ‘cancelled’ and who comes out unscathed. He briefly touches upon the subject when he realises how differently these internet pile-ons turn out for men and women, but again shies away from a more serious analysis.
The whole book is a little messy and lacks a coherent structure and direction. There are examples viral Twiter shamings, some tabloid stories, an attempt at debunking of Stanford prison experiment, all sprinkled with self-centred gonzo journalism, which in the end create an easily digestible stew that’s not very nutritious. I’m personally not interested in Ronson’s adventures in some fringe communities he decides to explore that are tangential to the main topic of the book.
I suppose I agree with Ronson’s thesis about how powerful shame (or the threat of it) can be. Anyone who has been kept awake reliving some embarrassing incident from seven years ago can attest to that. However, I don’t agree we live in some new golden age of public shamings. Ronson seems to imply we used to have public shamings as a part of judicial system back in the old days, then nothing for a long time, and then Twitter arrived. Public shamings never went anywhere. Gosh, remember Monica Lewinsky?
Additionally, I think twitter pile-ons lost their power now. There has been simply too many of them. The outrage is constant. There are simply too many people making dumb comments. Twitter speech police have to spread themselves thin.
The ones that still seem to work (from what I’ve observed) are cancellations of racist white people caught on video, so it’s hard to think of that as a bad thing. In fact, internet shaming seems to be the only way to fight such engrained, institutional racism and showcase the extent of the issue. Maybe I am part of the problem, but of thinking of all the recent examples I couldn’t bring myself to think any of the backlash received was undeserved.
Lastly, I listened to this on audiobook and holy shit, does Ronson have an annoying voice. I don’t know how his family can live with him. I am aware that this sentence might end up in the next edition of ‘So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed’ as Ronson likes to quote people who said mean things about him on the internet.
Possibly for the same reason, he tries to appear impartial and not pass any moral judgement on the various transgressors whose stories he describes. This is a big flaw of the book. I feel Ronson owes to the reader to question the power imbalance, to really analyse who gets targeted online and for what offences and who truly gets ‘cancelled’ and who comes out unscathed. He briefly touches upon the subject when he realises how differently these internet pile-ons turn out for men and women, but again shies away from a more serious analysis.
The whole book is a little messy and lacks a coherent structure and direction. There are examples viral Twiter shamings, some tabloid stories, an attempt at debunking of Stanford prison experiment, all sprinkled with self-centred gonzo journalism, which in the end create an easily digestible stew that’s not very nutritious. I’m personally not interested in Ronson’s adventures in some fringe communities he decides to explore that are tangential to the main topic of the book.
I suppose I agree with Ronson’s thesis about how powerful shame (or the threat of it) can be. Anyone who has been kept awake reliving some embarrassing incident from seven years ago can attest to that. However, I don’t agree we live in some new golden age of public shamings. Ronson seems to imply we used to have public shamings as a part of judicial system back in the old days, then nothing for a long time, and then Twitter arrived. Public shamings never went anywhere. Gosh, remember Monica Lewinsky?
Additionally, I think twitter pile-ons lost their power now. There has been simply too many of them. The outrage is constant. There are simply too many people making dumb comments. Twitter speech police have to spread themselves thin.
The ones that still seem to work (from what I’ve observed) are cancellations of racist white people caught on video, so it’s hard to think of that as a bad thing. In fact, internet shaming seems to be the only way to fight such engrained, institutional racism and showcase the extent of the issue. Maybe I am part of the problem, but of thinking of all the recent examples I couldn’t bring myself to think any of the backlash received was undeserved.
Lastly, I listened to this on audiobook and holy shit, does Ronson have an annoying voice. I don’t know how his family can live with him. I am aware that this sentence might end up in the next edition of ‘So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed’ as Ronson likes to quote people who said mean things about him on the internet.
danaschneider's review
1.0
The scope of his questions are huge and his answers are pretty narrow. What this book lacks is an acknowledgement of racial stakes. The very fact that this is the worst thing that could happen to Justine Sacco is a sign of white privilege.
The most interesting chapters were ones that focused on incarcerated people who were caught in cycles of abuse. However, these ideas certainly aren't original and are expressed more clearly and thoroughly by authors of color.
Overall, Jon Ronson feels self-indulgent and simplistic here. The point of internet shaming isn't that it's inherently bad. It's that the internet doesn't allow spatial or temporal context (Jenny Odell, 'How to Do Nothing'), an issue mirrored by this book.
The most interesting chapters were ones that focused on incarcerated people who were caught in cycles of abuse. However, these ideas certainly aren't original and are expressed more clearly and thoroughly by authors of color.
Overall, Jon Ronson feels self-indulgent and simplistic here. The point of internet shaming isn't that it's inherently bad. It's that the internet doesn't allow spatial or temporal context (Jenny Odell, 'How to Do Nothing'), an issue mirrored by this book.
bolsterstonetom's review
4.0
A really interesting take that feels less about cancel culture and more about the impetus behind and surrounding it. Really good journalism.
sevenlefts's review
3.0
An interesting look into the concept of social media as the new public stocks to shame transgressors -- or just people one doesn't like. Ronson takes a few high-profile social media disasters and looks into how public shaming (usually via Twitter) has affected the shamers and the shamed. The chapter on image management companies was the most fascinating, I thought.
For the most part, I just felt icky after reading this book. I'd heard of some of these cases, but I guess I didn't care enough at the time to follow these poor people or pile onto their problems. I'm not sure if I understand the appeal of publicly attacking someone via the internet. What does it solve? I didn't come away from this book knowing the answer. But still, it's a fascinating look into the impact social media can have on lives.
For the most part, I just felt icky after reading this book. I'd heard of some of these cases, but I guess I didn't care enough at the time to follow these poor people or pile onto their problems. I'm not sure if I understand the appeal of publicly attacking someone via the internet. What does it solve? I didn't come away from this book knowing the answer. But still, it's a fascinating look into the impact social media can have on lives.
readingbowls's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
I thought this book was really interesting . A top that I haven’t investigated before. Basically questioning the methods and magnitude of sharing online and if it’s useful or just useless berating of the individual. Does it actually stop bad things happening? No
Theories book brought up..
Links to ideas of free entertainment for the crowds.
Shame is corrosive to self esteem creating worse societal problems
Why do we shame
Theories book brought up..
Links to ideas of free entertainment for the crowds.
Shame is corrosive to self esteem creating worse societal problems
Why do we shame
Is it effective
- shame as a tool for punishment
- Moderate or major transgressions
- Social justice
- Witch hunt
- People happy at executions
- Ignominy
- Performative shame or shame real
- Group think Madness of crowds
- Mass revolutionary movements are madness if you disagree w their sentiment
- The crowd…Popular mind fans include Goebbels Mussolini
- Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
- The lucifer effect (book)
- “Thought it was a good idea at the time”
- Participants do what they think the researchers want to see
- Crowds defined by preconceived politics/tribalism
- Shame and pain relation
- Cognitive dissonance when we shame
- Shame big feature in dictatorships
- Drink driver punishment where perp emails a cheque every Friday to the parents for 18yrs
- Ad hominem effect to act the person and not the argument
- Worse for women it seems in terms of sex shaming
- Public eye not a safe place
- A shameee Don’t be a part of the shaming process
- Change / argue with the shame narrative tear them apart
- Violence murder as a result of childhood violence & shame???
- Starzi
- The right to be forgotten
- Google search optimisation
- 38 cent for each Google search
- Feedback loops
booksadaisyes's review against another edition
4.0
3 1/1 stars. Easy and interesting read. Had higher expectations after reading reviews and was disappointed as I thought some of the book was quite repetitive. But I think a must read in this age of social media where we are all too quick to put our lives and thoughts on the Internet with little thought of the possible after effects.