“So You've Been Publicly Shamed” by Jon Ronson – The Shackles of Guilt

When we think of terms public shaming, most of us conjure up images of public lynchings and angry mobs going after those who claim the world to be round.

Though it is true that the concept of it may not be as widespread is once was, there is no denying that public shaming is still a very strong aspect of society, especially in places where people live in tighter communities.

In the age of technology where it is easier than ever to know what people are up to and share the information with the world, it seems that public shaming is making a bit of a resurgence, or at least that is what Jon Ronson argues in his book So You've Been Publicly Shamed.

The book is a culmination of three years of effort during which Ronson traveled the world and interviewed people who were subjected to public shaming for all kinds of reasons. Most of those reasons, however, can be summed-up as making a single mistake in the worst place and at the worst time possible.

Some people expressed an opinion on social media or made an unsuccessful joke, while others committed some form of mistake of at work. Regardless, once the transgression is made known to the public it seems people activate themselves with the true ferocity of an angry mob, dedicating their efforts to demonizing the perceived culprit and making their lives a living hell.

Ronson attempts to dive behind the underlying psychology of this line of thinking, explaining why it is happening, what allows it to happen, why we aren't stopping it, who benefits from that, and so on and so forth.

At first sight, this book is probably perceived as a sort of a wake-up call to the world, trying to inform them about these unfair practices that have ruined the lives of people who most certainly did not deserve it... and it most certainly is.

The stories told by many of those people will make your teeth grind at the sheer stupidity mankind can exhibit, at the injustice that prevails over and over again because of the people who have nothing better to do than judge others' lives and ruin them.

It is a call for us to take a good look at ourselves and realize that the age of technology has given us unprecedented powers in regards to information, and being stereotypical humans we are using it to hurt others and control them as much as possible.

When taking a second look at the book though, it becomes increasingly apparent that it is also a form of social criticism, one that attempts to make us question the values that we have been holding dear (or at least some of us), for many years.

It re-examines the importance and need of actually defining what is normal and of punishing others as severely as possible for the slightest of transgressions, it questions our ability to think independently for ourselves without getting sucked into the mob mentality... basically, it shoves our faces into the human flaws we have been ignoring for far too long.

To conclude, So You've Been Publicly Shamed is a rather interesting book that discusses a topic we would very much like to brush under the carpet so that we may ignore our own stupidity and live on in bliss. It really is something of an eye-opener and to be frank, quite alarming when looked at as a whole and what it implies about the human nature.

It is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone interested in the topic of shaming in the age of technology and how social interactions are affected, and perhaps even sometimes defined by it.

---

Jon Ronson Personal site Jon Ronson is a journalist of Welsh ethnicity, a radio presenter, a documentary filmmaker, a so-called gonzo journalist, and of course, an author, who as it happens specializes in non-fiction. The Men Who Stare at Goats, one of his more popular books, was actually adapted into a major movie, and some of his other works have certainly ensured he be noticed, and those include The Psychopath Test and Lost at Sea.