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Overview

When you think of punishment, you probably think about fines and prison sentences. However, there’s a different kind of punishment that is far worse: shame. This form of punishment dates back to the beginning of time when people were publicly shamed for their crimes by enduring physical pain or being ostracized from society. Most societies have long since abandoned these practices but with the rise in social media and online communities, public shaming has made a comeback and can lead to verbal abuse or worse—you might get fired from your job!

Companies are worried about social media because it can cause a lot of damage to their brand. The author suggests that if you’re rich, you’ll be able to turn the public eye away from bad press. There are some things you shouldn’t do on social media, and one is fabricate quotes from Bob Dylan. Another thing is not to hang out with crowds or people who are different than you because they might make fun of your clothes or the way you talk.

Big Idea #1: Public shaming has been a common punishment for centuries – and it’s seeing a renaissance in the online community.

If you have seen old torture devices, you will be surprised that not all of them were designed to inflict physical pain. Some were used for humiliation and embarrassment. Europeans who settled in the New World did not abandon this practice; it was common during the 18th and 19th centuries.

For instance, in 1742, a married woman was accused of adultery and sentenced to be whipped. She pleaded for a private whipping instead of being publicly whipped so that her children wouldn’t have to see it.

Public shaming was opposed by some people in the North American colonies, and it eventually disappeared.

Benjamin Rush, a Founding Father of the United States, called for the abolition of public shaming in 1787. Public punishments were abolished in all states except Delaware by 1839.

The author believes that opposition to public punishment wasn’t due to the ineffectiveness of it, but because people perceived it as being especially brutal. Today, there is a renaissance of public shaming online in which small infractions can elicit extreme reactions from internet communities.

A woman was photographed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, pretending to yell and swear. This act brought a lot of people who demanded that she be fired. Another group wanted her to apologize for this action.

Big Idea #2: Sometimes, people use public shaming to right a perceived wrong.

Sometimes we feel powerless to fight for what’s right. We learn that corporations exploit their employees and politicians go back on their promises, but we don’t have much power to do anything about it. Social networks, however, are changing this by giving us a way to organize and take action against injustice. All you need is your Twitter account and some friends who agree with you to create a public outcry of support or shame.

Public shaming can be an effective way to fight injustice. This was the case for a couple who were unable to cancel their gym membership even though they were unemployed and couldn’t afford it. It also didn’t help that the wife was seven months pregnant! When The Guardian exposed this, readers were appalled.

This began a public shaming. Readers sent letters of protest, then the news spread on Twitter and thousands joined in to criticize LA Fitness. Some people even canceled their own memberships out of disgust!

Eventually, LA Fitness backed down and waived all charges against the couple. Today’s social media makes it easy to shame people publicly by posting derogatory comments on someone’s Facebook page or Twitter timeline.