- Are social media sites just opportunities for people to become, as Ronson says, "Unpaid shaming interns?" Share your thoughts. Yes, I do think that social media sites serve as a great platform for people to become unpaid shaming interns. Ronson said something that stood out to me which is a point that most don't think about. He states that Google made hundreds of thousands of dollars based on the tweet that was sent that caused everyone to act out in rage on twitter. He said that although these interns were the ones essentially "putting in all the work," they didn't receive anything for it as they were just sharing their voices and bringing down others in the easiest way possible, through a screen. People like to elicit a reaction from a crowd of people willing to listen to their thoughts and ideas, in this case, through twitter. It also struck me when Ronson showed on the screen a very offensive tweet where someone commented that the girl who sent the racist tweet should be "raped by someone who has AIDS." This person received absolutely no lash back and this tweet was probably equally as offensive as the one that was sent out. Social media has definitely supported "unpaid shaming interns" and has become a place for people to express their ideas, whether for the good or for the bad.
- What are some of the benefits of social media in terms of providing opportunities for the democratization of justice? Social media when used appropriately and to promote good causes provides many opportunities for the democratization of justice. As Ronson stated in the video, there were some activists that used the offensive tweet to promote supporting research and action with AIDS in Africa. In addition, social media has also become a very political platform where people have the opportunity to voice their opinions and the causes that they support. Social media is also used to spread kindness and awareness. People can work together in a positive way as social media is available for all who have access to internet or technology.
- Are there ways of meeting "nice people like us" on social media? Or, is it a place that only offers opportunities for us to mutually approve of each other while demonizing someone else? I think that there is a way for "nice people like us" on social media. As we have seen from Ronson's Ted Talk and from what I have seen from personal experience using social media, I have mainly seen positive and welcomed comments on my feed. On the other hand, I think a lot of the time comments from the people who mutually approve of each other while demonizing someone else often trump the latter because there are many more people on social media who participate in demonizing behaviors. Social media is very dependent on who someone is following, on what ads pop up on your feed, and on what tweets you find on your feed or that are "trending." I think it is fair to say that everyone has their own experience with social media and none are quite the same. So going back to the question, yes I do think that it is possible to meet "nice people like us" on social media but I do think that there are so many more people who are discriminating and demonizing others that it is hard to see the nicer postings on social media pop up on our pages.
