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khaufnaak's review
4.0
I enjoyed reading this book! The case studies/interviews were riveting and interesting, and I think the author does quite a decent job capturing the nuance and moral grayness of those who he interviews. I appreciate that the author also delved into the history of shaming as well as interviewed experts.
I am curious about why some people thought some were worth shaming and others didn’t, and what the consequences of that distribution were. Although I guess regardless of if some people think you’re deserving of shame or not, you will likely feel ashamed, especially if they’re anonymized. If I knew a nazi thought I was worthy of shame perhaps I wouldn’t care. If they were anonymous perhaps I would.
I found it odd that the author failed to really capture and members of the alt-right when it came to the 4chan saga of the book. To the uninitiated it will give an inaccurate image of 4chan as being full of communists.
I found the author’s mention of riots in London after an instance of police brutality to be quite interesting. He focused on the sense of fear towards the rioters and locking himself up. Very obvious this book was written before COVID and made his optics or positionality a little clearer. Nonetheless, he did a pretty good job of capturing different perspectives. When he talks about therapeutic environments in prison it sounds very akin to restorative and transformative justice. It would have been nice if he would have been able to connect with someone who recognizes that ideology for the purpose of the book.
I did find a bit odd that he does seem critical of pop-psychology but seems to be a producer of it. I haven’t read his book on psychopathy but… well, let me read it to get an idea.
Ending the book on a point that social media was fueling this fury was… eh. I had this problem with The Social Dilemma as well. Is the problem really social media creating ideological divides, or is our economy in shambles akin to the time of the French Revolution? Are echo chambers really new? Social shaming and exclusion have always existed, the former especially evidenced in the book itself! So, I don’t know about ending on that note. But still quite a decent read nonetheless!
I am curious about why some people thought some were worth shaming and others didn’t, and what the consequences of that distribution were. Although I guess regardless of if some people think you’re deserving of shame or not, you will likely feel ashamed, especially if they’re anonymized. If I knew a nazi thought I was worthy of shame perhaps I wouldn’t care. If they were anonymous perhaps I would.
I found it odd that the author failed to really capture and members of the alt-right when it came to the 4chan saga of the book. To the uninitiated it will give an inaccurate image of 4chan as being full of communists.
I found the author’s mention of riots in London after an instance of police brutality to be quite interesting. He focused on the sense of fear towards the rioters and locking himself up. Very obvious this book was written before COVID and made his optics or positionality a little clearer. Nonetheless, he did a pretty good job of capturing different perspectives. When he talks about therapeutic environments in prison it sounds very akin to restorative and transformative justice. It would have been nice if he would have been able to connect with someone who recognizes that ideology for the purpose of the book.
I did find a bit odd that he does seem critical of pop-psychology but seems to be a producer of it. I haven’t read his book on psychopathy but… well, let me read it to get an idea.
Ending the book on a point that social media was fueling this fury was… eh. I had this problem with The Social Dilemma as well. Is the problem really social media creating ideological divides, or is our economy in shambles akin to the time of the French Revolution? Are echo chambers really new? Social shaming and exclusion have always existed, the former especially evidenced in the book itself! So, I don’t know about ending on that note. But still quite a decent read nonetheless!
tildahlia's review
2.0
I keep going back to Ronson, hoping for me, but he never seems to deliver. I really liked the concept of this book and was keen to know more of the backstory for some of the high-profile shamees he spoke to. I also hoped for some interesting insights into bandwagon mentality, cancel culture and the way social media can whip us into a furious mob. But, no. It was pretty one-dimensional and too centred around Ronson himself. This is the last time I let myself get sucked in by him!