The Cameron Review

Connor Cameron

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed

By Jon Ronson

The internet has had plenty of different complex uses for decades. But has it also evolved the act of nationwide shunning. The risks of social media are first shown through Ronson’s own personal struggles with the internet. A couple young students started a fake Twitter account in the name of Jon Ronson, and when he asks them to take the account down, they say he is acting erratic. When he posts a video of the interview with the so-called “trolls” on YouTube, the vast majority of viewers came to the support of Ronson, coming together to shame the trolls into extinguishing the fake tweeters. Then as the novel progresses, the author mentions several other real-world examples that are affected by the nature of the internet, such as false supporting details in literature nowadays.

The novel so far has been an informational piece of work. It is very slow-paced, so for anyone who needs excitement and suspense in their reading, this book is not for you. But for individuals who are interested in the structure of sociocultural, this could be a provoking read for those people. Readers had the opportunity to understand the impacts of the shaming on the internet on the people directly being shamed. In regards to an author demonized for making up a story, Ronson writes how his, “shaming was following him around wherever he went,” (Ronson 26). Nowadays, the internet has made the reputations of people, good or bad, be exposed and well-known. And Ronson perfectly describes the constant anguish celebrities, and people in general, face from hiding portions of their life that would bring heavily-publicized scrutiny. He states the conclusion that, “we all have ticking away within us something we fear will badly harm our reputation if it got out--” (Ronson 31). Ronson tackles the leveling out of social hierarchies, in which the average citizen is given more power with social media. He says that, “citizen justice prevailed in a dramatic and righteous way--” (Ronson 10) due to the emerging use of the internet. The book does a great job at highlighting the changes within people’s fear of the internet attacking them. Ronson makes his readers realize how we all relish the internet if it’s not attacking us. If it’s attacking someone else, people are all for it. As a Generation Z, I always was basically always surrounded by the internet. But the novel allows me to understand the insane speed of the changes in the social climate of America. Ronson delivers an unbiased novel due to the fact that he must use the internet to do a lot of his journalism, but describes how the world has changed before the internet and where it stands now. For intellectual readers looking to understand the world around them, I highly recommend So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.

Feel free to listen to this Ted Talk from the author himself as he talks further of online shaming and its impact!