Online shaming: the return of mob morality

[UglyGreed]

An ancient, almost barbaric punishment has returned, out there in the virtual world, Neil Macdonald reports.

That punishment is shame, and this documentary sets out some of the personal stories — from Adria Richards to Jonah Lehrer and Justine Sacco — and the sometimes devastating consequences these individuals have had to endure.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/online-shaming-the-return-of-mob-morality-1.3071354

Been there in the real world, not online since I do not have a Facebook profile due to such shaming. It takes a great toll on my family and I.

[Nye Bevan]

1. Yep. Remember the woman who threw her cat in the trash?

The online shaming was relentless.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/693933

[BuelahWitch]

8. It wasn't her cat, it was someone else's

From the link you posted:

"I want to take this opportunity to apologize profusely for the upset and distress that my actions have caused," she told the Daily Mail. "I certainly did not intend to cause any distress to Lola or her owners."

If she had done that to my cat she would have gotten lots more than shaming.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. Too many times these mobs don't even wait for the facts to come out and end-up

starting a virtual riot over something that was never what it first appeared to be.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. Yeah. It's frustrating enough to make you want to start a mob.

[inanna]

5. A thought provoking piece.

Thanks for posting.

Recommend.

[cbayer]

7. "What has taken form is the biggest kangaroo court in history...

capricious, vicious, stupid, out of control and all with effective impunity".

I do not agree that the only solution is to say nothing, but I do think it's impossible for an individual to confront the mob alone. I would like to see more members of the general community stand up to the bullying mob when it's appropriate to do so.

[Prism]

9. These are poor subjects to use

Ironically, Adria Richards attempted to bring down the wrath of social media to shame those men, and it blew up in her face. Double edged sword.

Jonah Lehrer was a plagiarist and a fabulist, and he then lied when caught. (Which is a shame, as I liked the guy and own some of his books).

I have no use for social media. I'm tired of it. From SJWs to the Tea Party fanatics, I'm tired of seeing random private citizens dragged through the mud for every errant comment. Even in DU, we get daily doses of "some random person said something on the Internet! Outrage!"

But man, the subjects of this story are not the examples I'd use to make my case.

[Lyric]

21. I can't believe that you just used "SJW" as a slur...

Like some sleazy MRA type. I am seriously wondering if someone has hacked your account. I thought better of you than this.... :/

[Prism]

22. I only really ever see this objection on DU

SJW is a pretty common term used among millennials of every political stripe. Me and my friends use it often to describe over-privileged, over-entitled internet culture that sits around online all day looking for trivial things to grouse about before forming a mob and bullying people.

I understand why DU tends not to like the term (obviously), but I don't see it as an MRA thing. Just a descriptor of trivial nonsense that is usually only masquerading as social justice. I don't have the patience for it. I really don't.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. It is not just Facebook

Take my word on this.

Points to DU. --------->

Some folks here enjoy it

[alphafemale]

11. Some public comments are so wretched they need a public shaming.

Free speech is not free from consequences.

That is how society works.

[UglyGreed]

12. Ruin people lives because of a comment?

or have others gang up on a person just because you may not agree with their point of view? Sometimes people torment others and then play victim turning the tables on the person who was just trying to stick up for themselves. Been there myself. Reminds me of that word game where someone is told something and is passed along and by the time the message is at the end of the line it does not resemble what the person originally stated. Words can and will be twisted to suit those who gain from such acts.

[cwydro]

13. I see it all the time on DU.

In fact, it's going on in a thread right now.

Sad.

[UglyGreed]

17. People are pack animals

sometimes it is hard to shy away from our origins.

[cwydro]

18. They love when they can join in

with the majority.

Safer that way.

[NaturalHigh]

14. Wasn't Adria Richards trying to use the "mob mentality" of the internet...

to shame someone online? What's good for the goose, as they say...

[UglyGreed]

16. Yes she did

and I feel it was wrong to post the picture of the two men. She could of gotten her point across without the picture, plus the fact that it could of resulted in her exposing herself to physical harm.

[LittleBlue]

15. Adria Richards shamed a fellow tech worker for telling a dongle joke

As a result of what she posted online, she got him fired from his job. The company only fired her after a group of hackers attacked her business and demanded she be fired.. Which they did.

I hope the documentary doesn't whitewash her Internet shaming of others. She isn't anything like Justine Sacco. She is no victim

And wasn't Jonah Lehrer caught fabricating quotes? For a writer that is one of the worst acts, he probably deserves shaming

[jwirr]

19. Compared to public shaming years ago I think it is worse today because we have better tools.

Social media is just one of them.

[hunter]

20. If anyone ever digs up the very worst of my old usenet posts...

... or even naked pics, I'm still shameless.

Even at my bat-shit-crazy-off-my-meds worst I've never been disconnected from myself as the person I think I ought to be.

Sure, I've got plenty of regrets, but I write whatever seems right to me at the time. I accept myself as I was and who I might be.

I'm not on Facebook because it doesn't make any sense to me. If anyone really cares what I'm about they know how to get in touch with me and vice versa. I've had the same phone number for decades now and the people I most care about know where I live. I can count on Spot to frighen away or eat the rest.