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A review by simonlitton
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
4.0
It’s rare for me to wish for a book to be longer, but this is one of them. Ronson starts off with some well-known examples of people being shamed on social media for real or perceived mistakes, and then moves on to discuss the history of shaming as social control, crowd psychology, and journalistic ethics. It’s all fascinating stuff, occasionally very funny, and mostly very balanced and considered. Ronson himself and his own media profile are integral parts of the story, and he captures well the confusion and feelings of fear and lack of control when people purposely misconstrue your point and the lynch mob descends.
His empathy occasionally wavers (he finds it hard to understand how a black female tech developer could feel intimidated at a conference otherwise populated almost entirely by white male tech developers), and I feel there’s scope here to go much deeper into the historical and psychological aspects, but this is still a valuable and worrying book. Recommended reading for anyone who’s ever judged another person.
His empathy occasionally wavers (he finds it hard to understand how a black female tech developer could feel intimidated at a conference otherwise populated almost entirely by white male tech developers), and I feel there’s scope here to go much deeper into the historical and psychological aspects, but this is still a valuable and worrying book. Recommended reading for anyone who’s ever judged another person.