TED
5 HN recommenders · recommended in 8 months, 2018–2025
17:12 · 3.1M views · Jul 20, 2015
Jon Ronson's TED talk on public shaming on Twitter, centered on Justine Sacco and others whose lives were upended by online mobs. He argues we have become a baying crowd and should rethink how we treat each other online.
HN commenters bring it up in threads about online mobs and cancellation as a relevant talk by a journalist who interviewed shamed people.
11 comments from Hacker News
I would hope that all agree a violent crime is worse than a racist tweet. However, there is a sentiment of sympathy afforded to murderers (that they're somehow deserving of rehabilitation) which is not always extended to those who have tweeted racist things. Perhaps this comes because a murder can be seen as a sad result of circumstances. Perhaps the criminal only had to murder because they had a bad upbringing and needed the cash and it was a horrible mistake. On the other hand, people perceived as racist are permanently marked as being ideologically dangerous. Mainly, I think this comes because racist tweeters can be seen as more directly responsible for their actions than a murderer. Of course, this line of reasoning is nonsense, but it appears to be quite common. Jon Ronson has a great TED talk about this, titled "How one tweet can ruin your life": this video . I would recommend that the grandparent post watch this.
Yep; to say nothing of the psychological effects of being told that the whole world hates you. That sounds really traumatic. I'm not generally a contrapoints fan, but I really enjoyed the video she made about her experience with this on twitter: [LINK] Or the TED talk "How one tweet can ruin your life" from 2015: this video We studied To Kill a Mockingbird and The Crucible when I was in highschool. I remember thinking how barbaric and despicable "mob justice" was. I didn't understand it, and I assumed I never would - I thought it was something we reference from history. But twitter really has brought the mob justice style witch hunts back. I don't understand how anyone can claim its not a real phenomenon. Being cancelled is obviously quite a real experience for the people it happens to.
A relevant TED Talk I always think of when reading about these stories: this video Which makes me think: who are these people with enough time of their hands to be morality warriors on internet? Also who are these _friends_ who jumps on conclusion without allowing for a defense? I shouldn't be difficult, in this digitalized world, to provide solid proof of wrongdoing. I may not be the most aware of social cues, or maybe it's a cultural thing, but some of these people seems like absolute sociopaths.
Great TED talk on the original twitter kerfuffle referenced in the article: this video CGP Grey's take on how outrage is used to exploit us through social media: (Yes, I link this often, because the message is valuable.) [LINK]
I'm reminded of this TED talk in these scenarios, by a journalist and author who interviewed many people who have been publicly shamed: this video