This article does a great job of showing the real-life impact of online harassment in the context of “naming and shaming” people on Twitter (it focuses on people who have said unintentionally offensive or stupid things which went viral and usually resulted in them losing their jobs, etc.). It gives some interesting insight into the point of view of the “shamers” who engage in this type of online bullying, and in particular the extent to which they de-humanize their victims and fail to really consider the impact of their actions. One such person is quoted as saying he’s sure the victim is fine and has moved on, while we learn that she has in fact lost her job, suffered PTSD and severe anxiety, and become essentially a recluse in her own home.
Interestingly, the author also draws parallels to the public shaming practices in vogue in the 18th and 19th centuries, their decline, and their re-emergence on modern social media platforms.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=2
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Very interesting – thanks for sharing this article. One of the quotes in this article that stuck out to me was: “The human mind seldom arrives at truth upon any subject till it has first reached the extremity of error.”