Public Shaming

There have been some interesting cases of public (online) shaming that have happened ever since social media gave us the ability to make commentary on anything and everything. Public shaming has become a form of Internet vigilantism wherein the targets of the shaming are humiliated via various social media channels. Those who do the shaming see it as an opportunity to right injustices.

Photo courtesy of Public Shaming Twitter Account

For example, the Ashley Madison leak outed several users who were using the site to conduct extramarital affairs. For class this week, we read about Justine Sacco who tweeted an awful joke and subsequently had her life ruined while she was on a flight. Even here on campus, we have seen several incidents where students have tweeted or posted on Instagram something that struck a chord and took on a life of its own, even if it was mostly isolated to our Mountain home.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

So... where do you stand on the idea of public shaming? Is it ever ethical for someone to publicly shame another? What are some good practices to get into as you begin to use your social media accounts for posting both personal and professional content? Provide a list of a least 3 tips (please number your tips as opposed to writing them in paragraph style).

Blog posts are due by Friday, November 17 at 5PM. Make sure to include some visual elements to break up your paragraphs. Make sure to proofread!