Book info

• Title So You've Been Publicly Shamed
• Author Jon Ronson
• Year 2015
• Genre Non-Fiction

The rise of social media has seen a great renaissance in public shaming. Justice has been democratized. The silent majority are getting a voice. But what are we doing with that voice? We are mercilessly finding people’s faults, and defining the boundaries of normality by ruining the lives of those outside it. We are using shame as a form of social control. Simultaneously powerful and hilarious in the way only Jon Ronson can be, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed is a deeply honest book about modern life, full of eye-opening truths about the escalating war on human flaws – and the very scary part we all play in it.

Thoughts

It’s always nice to go on one of these adventures with Jon Ronson, although nice probably isn’t the right word as they are usually quite stressful and eye-opening all at the same time. This one takes a look at online shaming which continues to be a growing problem. I felt like the journey took a couple of weird and potentially unrelated turns in the middle but otherwise it’s a good book that looks at both sides of the problem and shows how horrible a society can be when behind the safety of a keyboard.

Rating: 3 / 5