Skip to main content

TedTalk about online shaming

 TedTalk made a playlist on their website with videos for National Bullying Prevention Month, which is in October. In one of the videos, Jon Ronson talks about how far we go in shaming someone online when they do or say something wrong in our opinion. He talks about a situation from 2013 on Twitter that got completely out of hand, to encourage us to reflect about our online presence. Is it really necessary to completely annihilate someone when they say one wrong thing?

A good example of this in my opinion is Rachel Zegler, an actress who got cast as Snow White in the new live action remake. People were already so mad she wasn’t white that they felt the need to be very racist online and cyberbully her, but when she said some negative things about the original movie, she suddenly became the antichrist to everyone online. It got so far that people showed up at her apartment to harass her. In my opinion, the backlash was way too much, but also directed at the completely wrong person. What actors say to promote their new movies is most if not all the time decided by the marketing team of the movie, not by the actors themselves.

So I completely agree with Ronson, we should rethink how we interact with each other online. Because people seem to forget that the mean things we type on our screen, we say to a real person.


This is the link to the TedTalk: https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_when_online_shaming_goes_too_far?referrer=playlist-ted_talks_for_national_bully_prevention_month&autoplay=true


This is the link to an article about the harassment Rachel Zegler faced: https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/rachel-zeglers-snow-white-casting-backlash-got-so-bad-that-people-started-showing-up-to-her-apartment/ar-AA1tePLA


Ronson, J. (z.d.). When online shaming goes too far [Video]. TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_when_online_shaming_goes_too_far?referrer=playlist-ted_talks_for_national_bully_prevention_month&autoplay=true

MSN. (z.d.). https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/rachel-zeglers-snow-white-casting-backlash-got-so-bad-that-people-started-showing-up-to-her-apartment/ar-AA1tePLA


- Charlotte Siffert
Labels:

Comments

  1. Lara DüngfelderMay 4, 2025 at 4:43 AM

    Thank you for sharing this important perspective. I completely agree that the way we communicate through online platforms requires serious reflection. Many people tend to hide behind their online personality, not caring about the impact that their behaviour may have on other individuals. Often, those who are targeted by online backlash are not even given the chance to explain or defend themselves, which could make them feel powerless. The example you mentioned, points out a very problematic pattern, where people use a, from their point of view, 'wrong' thing that one individual has said, to express their underlying prejudices - like racism in the case of Rachel Zegler. This underlines the importance of fighting against online hate and bullying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMay 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM

      Thank you for your comment Lara!

      Delete
  2. Maud van der MeiMay 29, 2025 at 2:23 AM

    Thanks for sharing your blog! I think you shed light on a very important topic here, not just for 'normal people' but also for celebrities. The rise of the internet has opened the door for online hate. I feel like online hate or 'cancel culture' towards celebrities is often not seen as bullying but as part of the profession. Your post makes it clear that we need to see these things for what they are, which is bullying.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Definition of Bullying

 Hi everyone! The World Anti-Bullying Forum, together with UNESCO, created a Working group for establishing a new definition of school bullying. Its new definition keeps the idea that bullying requires unwanted repetitive aggressiveness and imbalance of power, and adds the idea that this power imbalance is supported by societal and institutional norms. The emphasis is now in the idea that bullying is not an affair among students but a social process. The new definition is this one: School bullying is a damaging social process that is characterized by an imbalance of power driven by social (societal) and institutional norms. It is often repeated and manifests as unwanted interpersonal behaviour among students or school personnel that causes physical, social, and emotional harm to the targeted individuals or groups, and the wider school community. You can find the document where it is explained  here . Fes
Post a Comment
Read more

Salutogenic approach and a personal opinion

  As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, on the website called PDA Bullying , among various resources, there is a section dedicated to explain the Salutogenic approach . After doing some research, it becomes clear that this approach gets its name because its main goal is to promote health and well-being . The platform aims to address bullying from this perspective, adopting a strength-based approach that focuses on individuals' potential and the creation of a cooperative community working toward a shared goal . It slightly reminds me of the No Blame Approach we studied in class, as it also refers to a method based on compassion and a solution-focused outlook , rather than assigning blame. Their aim is not simply to act against bullying, but rather to overcome it , moving beyond a simplistic understanding of bullying as just a dynamic between two individuals. Instead, they view it as a broader social process . For this reason, the protocol designed and implemented by...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Simpsons: Bull-E

  Bull-E - The Simpsons (Season 26, Episode 21) The Simpsons has reflected bullying as a complex issue through their episodes, whether through Bart’s pranks, Nelson’s struggles, or Springfield’s collective response, the show highlights the importance of addressing bullying thoughtfully and empathetically.  Many schools and communities have anti-bullying policies, but the debates arise about how to enforce them without oppressing free expression or over-penalizing minor infractions. The episode of The Simpsons reflects these concerns by showing the challenges of finding a balance. It highlights how good intentions, like preventing bullying (passing an Anti-Bullying law), can sometimes go way too far, leading to unintended consequences. Also, it brings up the difficulty of bullying’s definition, what feels like bullying to one person might seem harmless to another, that is Homer’s storyline, which reminds us that our words and actions, even if unintended, can impact on others d...
Post a Comment
Read more