A Post Away From Shame Journalist, Jon Ronson, in his article, How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s life, interviews victims who are suffering from publicly exposed ridicule. Ronson uses the story of Justine Sacco, someone who has been extremely publicly shamed, to examine the process of public shaming. He uses pathos to sympathize with those who have been publicly shamed. Ronson used the rhetorical appeal of ethos to form a connection with those who has judged and or considered the wrongdoings of Justine Sacco and other victims. Ronson’s sole purposes are to establish an understanding and kinship for those who have made the mistake of posting offensive jokes, and to portray the exasperating experiences and agonizing consequences
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In 2013, Sacco tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” before her flight to South Africa (Ronson 1). In result of Sacco’s ignorant and ruthless comments, her tweet gained a lot of negative attention. It took only one tweet and an eleven hour flight for Sacco to go from senior director of corporate communications at IAC and enjoying a vacation to jobless and afraid to step foot in public. Ronson explains how Sacco lost everything from her job, family, and friends, to her dignity. In the article Ronson states, “When I first met her, she was desperate to tell the tens of thousands of people who tore her apart how they had wronged her and to repair what remained of her public persona. But perhaps she had now come to understand that her shaming wasn’t really about her at …show more content…
In the article, Ronson states, “Eventually I started to wonder about the recipients of our shamings, the real humans who were the virtual targets of these campaigns” (Ronson 1). He precisely uses this to analyze the lives of those behind the offensive posts. For example, Ronson uses the story of Lindsey Stone, who posted unruly pictures of her disobeying signs that requests silence and respect. In a matter of four weeks, a multitude of online users found the disrespectful photos and began making profiles in intentions of ruining Stone’s reputation. Stone instantly lost her job, started battling with PTSD, and began to have insomnia. Though Ronson does not address the audience directly, his words imply that he wants the audience to put themselves in Stone’s shoes and imagine the cruel punishments she receives from a few pictures. Another example of the cruel things that the victims have to deal with is the story of Adria Richards. Richards, was just having a normal day at work when a coworker made a sexist joke and she took a picture of him and posted it online. In effect of her posting the photos and his offensive joke, the man lost his job and the news were everywhere. It backfired on Richards and she ended up being stalked and received numerous anonymous death threats. He also uses ethos in the article by adding Sacco’s words, “‘All of a sudden you don’t know what
In 2013, Sacco tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” before her flight to South Africa (Ronson 1). In result of Sacco’s ignorant and ruthless comments, her tweet gained a lot of negative attention. It took only one tweet and an eleven hour flight for Sacco to go from senior director of corporate communications at IAC and enjoying a vacation to jobless and afraid to step foot in public. Ronson explains how Sacco lost everything from her job, family, and friends, to her dignity. In the article Ronson states, “When I first met her, she was desperate to tell the tens of thousands of people who tore her apart how they had wronged her and to repair what remained of her public persona. But perhaps she had now come to understand that her shaming wasn’t really about her at …show more content…
In the article, Ronson states, “Eventually I started to wonder about the recipients of our shamings, the real humans who were the virtual targets of these campaigns” (Ronson 1). He precisely uses this to analyze the lives of those behind the offensive posts. For example, Ronson uses the story of Lindsey Stone, who posted unruly pictures of her disobeying signs that requests silence and respect. In a matter of four weeks, a multitude of online users found the disrespectful photos and began making profiles in intentions of ruining Stone’s reputation. Stone instantly lost her job, started battling with PTSD, and began to have insomnia. Though Ronson does not address the audience directly, his words imply that he wants the audience to put themselves in Stone’s shoes and imagine the cruel punishments she receives from a few pictures. Another example of the cruel things that the victims have to deal with is the story of Adria Richards. Richards, was just having a normal day at work when a coworker made a sexist joke and she took a picture of him and posted it online. In effect of her posting the photos and his offensive joke, the man lost his job and the news were everywhere. It backfired on Richards and she ended up being stalked and received numerous anonymous death threats. He also uses ethos in the article by adding Sacco’s words, “‘All of a sudden you don’t know what