Social media shaming is good when done right, it benefits almost everyone. Done wrong, it destroys
lives. Sometimes, people are exposed for relatively minor errors of judgment
that come to define them for the rest of their lives. Other times, they’re
shamed for things they didn’t even do - like the umpteen examples that we have
seen in the past, when people have been incorrectly identified as criminals or
sexual offenders online.
The last few weeks have given us
polarising examples of the colossal effect that social media has over a person.
A simple wink has elevated Priya Prakash Warrier from being relatively unknown,
to a point where she now reportedly charges Rs 8 lakh per social media post. On
the other hand, India pacer Mohammad Shami is finding himself in a tricky
situation, courtesy his wife Hasin Jahan who has levelled multiple charges
against him including domestic abuse, harassment and match fixing.
For the record, we are not defending Shami for what he may or
may not have done. But it is only fair to allow the law to take its course,
instead of bashing a person online on the basis of assumption. Social media is
a double edged sword with an element of exaggeration that can either make or
break a life. While a proper trial in court allows the accused to lawfully
defend himself, a public trial is devoid of this luxury.
The fundamental problem is that many social media shamers don’t
fully grasp the power of the medium. Abhilasha Pandit, a content writer
explains, “There are millions of Twitter accounts with more than 1,000
followers, and millions on Facebook with more than 500 friends. The owners of
those accounts might think they’re just regular people, whispering to a small
social circle. But in fact they’re announcing things on a loudspeaker that the
entire world can hear.”
However, public shaming may not always be bad. In fact, in an
organised chaotic setup like India, justice has been served in a lot of cases
after the act was caught on camera and published on social media. In what could
be an example of this, Melroy Da Silva, a water sports operator uploaded a
video clipping on social media claiming that former tourism minister Francisco
alias Mickky Pacheco ran over a parachute owned by Da Silva’s company at
Betalbatim beach on Sunday. He alleged that as Da Silva confronted Pacheco at a
shack at an adjoining beach at Utorda soon after, the latter and his three friends
attempted an assault on Da Silva, with the former Minister repeatedly showing
him the middle finger. The video not only went viral within no time but also
served as fodder for funny memes that are now being circulated on social media,
slamming Pacheco for his supposedly insensitive behaviour.
So,
when is it okay to cyber-shame people and organisations, and when is it
unreasonable and ugly? Vinod Nair, a digital marketing professional suggest,
“First, we should make sure we have our facts straight. For example, if someone
tweets from a verified Twitter account, an event is reported by a legitimate
news organisation, or a person is convicted of a crime, it’s safe to assume it
happened. But we should never cyber-shame someone unless we’re absolutely certain
they’ve done what we’re complaining about.”
“I think social
media is robbing us of our empathy, and it’s also robbing us of our ability to
distinguish between serious and non-serious wrongdoings. I think we’re
forgetting that there are human beings on the other end. I also think that
traditional media has contributed to this problem. Social media had the
opportunity to do everything better, but in fact we’re just repeating all the
same mistakes that the mainstream media does.”
– KAERSH SHINDE,
IT professional