So You've Been Publicly Shamed

“When we deployed shame, we were utilizing an immensely powerful tool. It was coercive, borderless, and increasing in speed and influence. Hierarchies were being levelled out. The silenced were getting a voice. It was a like the democratization of justice.”

In this chapter, Ronson sets out his framework for So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and explains how social media has changed the possibilities and methods for achieving justice. As this quote shows, Ronson uses first-person plural pronouns (“we”) to emphasize the way both he and the reader are implicated in this system. While the book is largely a critique of social media culture, in this quote, Ronson acknowledges there are benefits to social media as well in allowing more people to participate in sharing their thoughts and opinions.

“I asked Michael at what point it stopped being fun and he replied, ‘When your quarry starts panicking.’ He paused. ‘It’s like being out in the woods hunting and you’re like, “This feels great!” And then you shoot the animal and it’s lying there twitching and wants its head to be bashed in and you’re, “I don’t want to be the person to do this. This is fucking horrible.’”

Ronson’s methodology is largely based on personal interviews, as seen in this quote, and he is unabashed about including profane and colloquial language. Here, as part of his examination of the Causes and Effects of Shame and Humiliation, Ronson identifies how participating or generating a public shaming, even as a professional journalist, can take an emotional toll not only on the target of the shaming but on those doing it.

“It felt like the people on Twitter had been invited to be characters in a courtroom drama, and had been allowed to choose their roles, and had all gone for the part of the hanging judge.”

Throughout the text, Ronson examines Justice and Redemption in the traditional criminal justice system and the new social media environment. In this quote, he draws parallels between the two while highlighting a key difference: social media shamings do not involve due process and can be particularly vicious.