In the West, ‘shame’ is often associated with other cultures and another time.
But social media is giving rise to a resurgence of shame and honour as significant social drivers.
How many times this year have you seen a news story about someone posting something foolish which then fuels viral, self-righteous, indignation and scoffs from the online ‘community’? Sometimes it’s a celebrity’s old post dredged up from the past. Sometimes it’s a post from an everyday person that in a pre-social-media era would have barely got a comment but now becomes fodder for mob-justice and doxing (where personal details of the offender are posted online such as home address, email, phone number, etc.).
