A review by blueberry31
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

4.0

This is a great book, and the first I've read that actually tries to analyze what's really happening when internet-shaming takes place. I found it to be very well put together and never boring, as the author takes the reader on his personal journey to learn from experts, victims and even perpetrators. The result is a very multi-dimensional and well-researched book that gets you thinking about shame: what are its standards and criteria (and why are some things shameful for a certain group, yet not for another), how does it carry itself out, what is driving force behind the shamers, what is the true impact on the ones being shamed...

I liked that while the book was written in context of internet shaming (on Twitter), the author took many different paths to truly understand the broader topic of shame and its role in human socialization and interaction. I honestly wouldn't have minded even more deep dive on the psychological impacts of shaming (I loved the part on James Gilligan's work), but overall really interesting read!