Argumentative Synthesis on the book "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" by Jon Ronson

Table of content 

Social education and relationships

Social media is a modern technology that influences social education and relationships caused by the significant role it plays in supporting social relations existing in human lives without them realizing it. The fact that it differentiates previous communication to the public by keeping in touch with people who are offline and those far from them gives them an illusion that it is all they need, to interact with others as they are designed to interact with large populations and can be accessed widely but that is not the case. Also, read controversial argumentative essay topics

Why do Social sites open up the world to people?

The notion of the social network cannot be ignored as it is a massive part of human life in the current technology. Social sites open up the world to people who spend most of their time talking about their lives whether right or wrong in to emphasize with each other and share thoughts with those who care. Teenagers participate in discussions and contribute their ideas and opinions on themes of their interest in the community through social media forums without having a second thought of who they are interacting with.


How social media encourages people to put their lives in public?

On the other hand, social media has justified negative ethics and behaviour which are not accepted by human society. It encourages people to put their lives in public allowing others to get the information they can’t revel in conversions like face to face. Many people are addicted to social sites like Twitter and Facebook, 63% of people in America log on to Facebook each day and 40% of them visit the site multiple times a day even when they are at work, leading to destruction and relief of boredom. Users compare themselves with others on interactive networks; this makes most of them decline their confidence due to comparisons between them and others are making them commit suicides or get demoralized. As much as people interact with those who care and share their lives, it creates a trust gap between them because it is complicated to identify those they can trust either for business purposes or severe matters like relationships. Many cases about relationships and breakups erupt over the internet sites where people start relationships with people they have not met before ending up in hatred and blame on the sites.


Face to face interactions is fading 

Face to face interactions has been limited by individuals hiding behind screens and having the feeling of making many friends without going to the public to look for them. Bullying of cyber is a concern brought about by the use of social media where 95% of middle-aged people have witnessed the concern, and 33% of them have experienced it. Social media does well in advertising business products of some organizations but has an influence on teenagers who get a chance to advertise drugs over the sites on a daily basis. This is illegal behaviour that leads to 70% of teens on social sites aged 12 to 17 using the drugs like tobacco and alcohol that affects their ethics toward their community and expose them to the risks of peer pressure. A lot of social sites users are negatively affected by peer pressure that blocks their thinking such that they cannot implement a productive thought to avoid being criticized and lower their self-esteem. Although social media brings awareness to youths, it is detrimental to them because it nurtures short spans of attention since they are always craving gratification and instant impersonal behaviours making them lack time for thinking of dangerous substances.


Does social media educate or misleads people?

It is understandable that social media educates people, but at the same time, it misleads them by forcing them to believe they have a system for support that is built-in without knowing to know that it is just a number, not a real-life situation. It creates some walls that are virtual where people don't care what society might think; they only update their best day’s moments due to an obsession with exciting stories shared with them. Professional practices are tools of social media because it spreads information beyond the traditional level, but it is a ground for stalkers who offend and conclude in other people's way of life. The experience that could be pleasured is delivered by the underlying system of the human brain when tapped by social network sites are significant and narrative in the long term due to short spans of attention and unable to emphasize personal identity. A false sense of connection in social sites users reduces conversations of real-life because many people build relationships over the sites where they move away from the world or reality.


Risks associated with social networks

While social networks are a daily integral part of adult's and teenager’s life, there are risks associated with them like sexual solicitation where people are encouraged to share personal sexual information over social sites, it occurs when people contact each other and request to engage in sexual activities (Holmes, Paul and Holmes Report), they do this by sending and receiving nude pictures and videos of themselves, this behaviour is not accepted by the society. Most teenagers care and mind about their privacy by adjusting their information which is false or even failing to provide information that identifies them from public to private (Holmes, Paul and Holmes Report). However, they are not aware and don’t bother to read the privacy policies of a site which might put them at risk of disclosure to other people for example advertisers. Inconsiderate behaviours of rudeness are costs caused by individuals over the social media to boycott uncivilized companies and refrain buying from them by advertising and advising friends not to buy from them based on experiences of incivility in persons; this has led to implications for the behaviour of purchasing and developing advocates online. For such companies to succeed, they have to use the voice of the society to communicate and engage themselves in civil conversations and their identity clear.


Does Social media contribute less empathy to people affected?

When people engage themselves in the shaming of others, they think it is the best way a person in their place deserves to be taken down in a few notches, but what they do is portray dishonour and make the victims experience psychological distress and depression which is a risky condition that might be expressed destructively due to their anger, no matter whether the shame was direct or indirect. Relationships are wrong when guilt comes in as blaming others and acting out on them does not endear any other person’s shame because partners shamed are angry and might involve themselves in behaviours either aggressive or conciliatory resulting in abuse of their psychology, when that happens, signs of redemption become challenging to find. Social media contributes less empathy in people affected and the ones shamed because they keep distance between them and others and loneliness makes them powerless and have a worthless sense then engage in risky behaviours like reckless driving and having unprotected sex which is unsafe and improves chances of getting sexually transmitted diseases and transmissions.

Effects of shaming others on social media

The effects of shaming others are long-lasting with the notion that shame is an emotion that is public where other people are aware of the transgression, and the interpersonal concerns are involved in their nature but people shaming others experience an inside emotion that is privately caused by the conscience that is self-generated. This process affects people’s sense of empathy negatively because they lead to overwhelming their feelings when they see others suffering from something they are capable of the response is not pleasant because it is a significant interaction of social media and the atmosphere can burn out when hit severally. To avoid shaming others and being shamed, people separate themselves physically and emotionally from the suffering people. Guilt is an emotion known to be conscious itself caused by the reflection and evaluation of oneself. When people shame others, they feel they have achieved what they targeted, but they realize they develop an empathy mostly weak and are capable of committing violent acts.


Conclusion  

Social media links conceptual and empirical moral behaviours like empathy with some responses that are valence negatively like being sad, caused by a feeling similar to another person’s plight and arouses a psychological reaction. The outcome is a reflection of personal distress to an orientation to one another's state.