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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!
slowsho's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
This book was so much better than I thought it would be. It's not just reportage, there's history, self-reflection, analysis of a kind I did not expect on this topic. I've read/heard other Jon Ronson, but this truly surprised me, in a good way.
reilytribble's review
funny
informative
reflective
2.5
eh. a topic i’m really interested in but the execution wasn’t quite there for me.
elisanolasco's review
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Not as informative or reflective as I thought it would be but still a good read
dilchh's review against another edition
4.0
This was a quick read for me, not because that this was a light read but because it was very interesting. This was definitely an eye opener, more often than not we took what we post on the internet for granted especially for most of my friends as I look through my Facebook timeline. With the ever changing world and thanks to internet, people tend to post anything without having a second thought the repercussion it might bring.
Having the privilege to read this book, I became aware of even the smallest thing that could brought upon destruction to yourself, from simple writing of an essay, academic paper or even thesis, to an even more mundane activities that one post on the internet. We amuse ourselves with what we thought was a witty tweet or a funny photo on instagram, but often than not the internet don't really get our jokes, simply because it's the internet. No matter how technologically advance the internet is, of course you can't beat the amazing effect of direct communication and face to face interaction. Of course you can add the hashtag and said that you were just being sarcastic or funny, but it will never be enough on the internet. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it because I am a Communication Science graduate.
The cases that were chosen for this book were also very interesting and I have to be honest, out of all the cases mentioned in this book, I can tell you that I was only aware of Justine Sacco's case; it was very nice that I can enrich myself with cases that I have never heard before, so maybe this could also be a food for thought. Though it might be true that online shaming is very huge and viral these days, there will always be people as ignorant as me that would not know about it, not until someone else points it out in a book. I know I might be just a minority, but it's a nice thought, right?
On my part, the author's analysis and also the resources that were cited in this book along with the cases were very thought provoking for me. It was sort of a nice wake-up call for me to be more careful, especially in terms of citing someone else's work for my thesis that I am currently writing and also when I voiced my thoughts on the internet, which I oftenly do with a very sarcastic manner.
Having the privilege to read this book, I became aware of even the smallest thing that could brought upon destruction to yourself, from simple writing of an essay, academic paper or even thesis, to an even more mundane activities that one post on the internet. We amuse ourselves with what we thought was a witty tweet or a funny photo on instagram, but often than not the internet don't really get our jokes, simply because it's the internet. No matter how technologically advance the internet is, of course you can't beat the amazing effect of direct communication and face to face interaction. Of course you can add the hashtag and said that you were just being sarcastic or funny, but it will never be enough on the internet. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it because I am a Communication Science graduate.
The cases that were chosen for this book were also very interesting and I have to be honest, out of all the cases mentioned in this book, I can tell you that I was only aware of Justine Sacco's case; it was very nice that I can enrich myself with cases that I have never heard before, so maybe this could also be a food for thought. Though it might be true that online shaming is very huge and viral these days, there will always be people as ignorant as me that would not know about it, not until someone else points it out in a book. I know I might be just a minority, but it's a nice thought, right?
On my part, the author's analysis and also the resources that were cited in this book along with the cases were very thought provoking for me. It was sort of a nice wake-up call for me to be more careful, especially in terms of citing someone else's work for my thesis that I am currently writing and also when I voiced my thoughts on the internet, which I oftenly do with a very sarcastic manner.