Social media has transformed the digital world immensely. News travels at the speed of light and, in some cases, this may not be a positive thing. News travels fast, but the opinions on news in my opinion are harsher and more critical than ever. People hide behind computer screens and can essentially say whatever they want, and once the first comment posts, people piggyback on it, which makes it even worse. When a celebrity or politician or someone of the sort gets caught in a compromising position they are prone to public shaming, and in some cases, cyber bullying. The only difference between the two is that people are more accepting of public shaming while cyber bullying is seen as a crime against humanity. There are groups against cyber bullying while public shaming is something that is just accepted. When we are outraged, angry or upset by something we read on social media I think the biggest thing we need to do before posting about it is to assess and reflect on our feelings before moving forward. Jon Ronson wrote an article, How One Stupid Tweet Blew up Justine Sacco’s Life, in the New York Times detailing the Justine Sacco’s 2013 Twitter scandal. Sacco, senior director of corporate communications at IAC, traveled from New York to South Africa to visit family. She started tweeting about her travels and eventually tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” just before boarding her final plane. Over the eleven hour flight she became the number one worldwide trend on Twitter at that moment. The hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet also started to trend as people around the world wondered whether she would be fired when she landed, which she was. Another woman that Ronson interviewed was Lindsey Stone who, along with a friend, posed for a picture while mocking a sign at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns. There was a firestorm against her as well and she too was fired. Stone had said that she “felt for” the woman who dressed up as a Boston Marathon bombing victim who lost her job from this incident as well. Sacco and Stone were two of the people written about in the article that were eventually fired from their actions on social media. Not only were they fired, but they were publicly shamed for their actions. Was it fair? Probably not. Were their posts appropriate? Absolutely not. Ronson met to interview Sacco about her unfortunate tweet and she said that she didn’t think people would take it literally. She can’t be serious. When I first came across this story in 2013 I was appalled that she said she was going to South Africa and hoped she didn’t get Aids. She then went even further to say that she was kidding, but only because she was white. There was so many things wrong with this tweet I wouldn’t even know where to begin. It would have been one thing if she had mentioned this “joke” to a friend or in passing, but to put it up on social media? As a corporate communications director she should know better. In January of the following year, Sam Biddle of Gawker, emailed Ronson stating that he was the one who had originally retweeted Saccos’ tweet. He said he felt bad for what happened to her, but that it was too delicious to not do, and that he would do it again. Monica Lewinsky is the perfect example of something being publicly shamed. From 1995 to 1996 Lewinsky had a romantic relationship with President Bill Clinton; we all know the story. Lewinsky made an excellent point in her TED talk. She asked the audience if they had ever made a mistake at the ripe age of twenty-two and that there isn’t a day that goes by without her being reminded of that mistake. This is strikingly true. I know that I wasn’t the holiest twenty-two year old roaming the streets of San Francisco. I know there have been many times during my year as a twenty-two year old that I made mistakes and regretted them. The difference between Lewinsky and myself? Her mistakes played out on the internet – something that really had never happened before in that period in time. Overnight her life was flipped upside down and she was recognizable worldwide. Some part of me wants to sympathize with her and say she was young and that she made a mistake, but at the end of the day Clinton was President. What did she think was going to happen? It’s been almost twenty years since the story broke, and Lewinsky is just now starting to capitalize on her scandal. Jessica Bennett’s New York Times article, Monica Lewinsky is back, but This Time it’s on Her Terms, touches on Lewinsky’s past, and what she has been up to since her scandal played out. Bennett writes about how she is taking what happened to her in the past and using it in a positive way by attending charity benefits, taking part in anti-bullying workshops, and speaking publicly in order to empower those who have been digitally critiqued and harassed. Lene Bech Sillesen’s article, The Invaluable Service of Trollbusters, in the Columbia Journalism Review, shares the story of columnist Michelle Ferrier. Ferrier took her public shaming journey and turned it into something positive. Ferrier and her followers sparked the idea for Trollbusters, which provides support for targets of online harassment, while identifying and combating trolling. While I think it’s great that Ferrier was able to positively capitalize on her unfortunate circumstances, I think it’s sad that this is what our society has come to. We have to create groups, and websites and such that search for trolls in order to get rid of them. People shouldn’t spend their time on social media bringing other people down. An article on Sporting News details the firestorm referee John Higgins caught after performing his job. Higgins’ life changed instantly after calls made at a Kentucky basketball game. After numerous types of harassment, Higgins ending up having to contact law enforcement. This could not be more awful. Higgins was truly trying to do his job; he didn’t say something offensive on social media or get caught in a compromising position. Higgins refereed a basketball game, and when fans didn’t agree with his calls they essentially attacked him. They came after his business and interrupted his home life. A person should be able to complete their job to the best of their ability without fear of harassment or retaliation if a group of people don’t agree with his work; especially when the work is trivial.
Social media is a very tricky place. While it would be great if it could be made into a more compassionate place I don’t think that’s very realistic because people use social media to voice their opinions. Opinions are either positive or negative and, while we are all entitled to them, they can hurt other people’s feelings. We could as a society be more mindful of what we post and think wholeheartedly before posting something that may be hurtful, but in the end I don’t think that will stop us from posting. In general, I don’t think public shaming keeps people from using social media. It may keep the people who already have been publicly shamed from social media, but I think people stay away from social media to steer clear of any potential drama (whether that be within their family or in their friend groups). I think social media does reward people for being snarky and mean because sometimes, and not in the cases described in this blog, what is said is funny and entertaining. We all just need to take a step back and figure out at what expense we are willing to be entertained.
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PaigeCreighton University Archives
December 2017
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