“ONE ILL-JUDGED TWEET GETS RETWEETEDDISAPPROVINGLY, GOES VIRAL ANDWITHIN DAYS THE ORIGINAL TWEETER ISA PARIAH, RECEIVING DEATH THREATSAND LOSING THEIR JOB”2 other.Thenin 1976,the psychologistProfessorEd Dienergave
1,300 childrenthe opportunityto stealsweetsand money,while
theyweretrick-or-treatingonHalloween.Theystolesignificantly
morewhentheiridentitywasn’tknown.Theyalsostolemore
whentheywereingroupsratherthanflyingsolo.Heymsays
thatpeoplearemorelikelyto exhibitangry,aggressivebehaviour
incrowds,too.“Peoplefeellessidentifiable,andwefeelmore
confinedandintrudedintoourpersonalspace,”shesays.
Inthisway,theinfectiousangerofTwittermobsisalltoo
familiar,andit’sa terrifyingforce.Oneill-judgedtweetgets
retweeteddisapprovingly,goesviralandwithindaystheoriginal
tweeteris a pariah,receivingdeaththreatsandlosingtheirjob.
Meanwhile,theangrytweetersaregleefullygettinghighonmass
righteousjustification.If youfireoffanangrytweet,getting
likedandretweetedmightfurtherstokeyourrage,whichcan
bethrillinginitself,orit mightcheeryouupsomuchthatyou
don’tevenfeelangryanymore.“Angerisquitea sensational
emotion,”saysBalick.“Therecanbea snowballeffectwhere
youbecomeattachedtotheexcitingsensationyougetthrough
yournewsfeed,evenif it’sanunpleasantemotionlikeanger, and
thatthat’sprettymuchwhatemotionalcontagionis.”
ButisTwitterconfiguredtokeeptheangerflowing?“Idon’t
knowaboutintentionaldesign,”saysBalick.“WhatI doknow
isthathotemotionsthatsetheartsracing,suchasanger,fear
andsex,tendtobemorecontagious.”If thesetopicstendtoget
passedaroundmore, it’s likely that algorithms will exacerbate
the contagion.
Whilepeoplemightgeta kickoutof ventingonTwitter,Balick
doesn’tthinkit’sproductive.“Processingangeris productive,”he
says.Forexample,if yougetangrywithsomeoneforcontinuously
pokingyou,andtheyapologise,thisis processing.Talkingabout
it witha friendorpartnerwouldalsohelpyouprocessit.“To
justshoutoutintothestreets,‘I hateit whenpeoplepokeme,’
triggering other people to say, ‘I hate it when they poke me too!’FEATURE WHY ARE WE SO ANGRY?WHEN
INFECTIOUS
ANGERLEADSTO
PUBLIC SHAMING
In2013,JustineSacco,a 30-year-old
seniorPRofficer,flewfromNewYorkto
SouthAfricatovisitfamily.Frazzled
fromtravelling,shesenta flurryof
sardonictweetstoher 170 followers
aheadofboardinga connectingflightat
Heathrow.It wasoneshesaysshe
intendedtomockherwhiteprivilege
thatgotherintotrouble:“Goingto
Africa.HopeI don’tgetAIDS.Just
kidding.I’mwhite!”
Whenshelanded11 hourslater,
#HasJustineLandedYetwastrendingon
Twitter.Memberswerecallingherracist,
demandingshelosesherjoband
thrillingoverthethoughtofherface
whensheswitchedherphoneonupon
landing.Someonedulyphotographed
heraftershelandedandpostedthaton
Twittertoo.Shesubsequentlylosther
jobandbecamea pariah.
Thistoxiccall-outculturehasbecome
somewhatofthenormonline.
Celebritiesarebeingregularly‘cancelled’
(whichmeanslosingtheirfollowersas
peoplestopsupporting)overill-judged
tweets,andmanymoreordinarypeople
havebeenfired,evenreceivingrapeand
deaththreats.
Whatpossessesindividualstobeso
quicktojudgeandshame?“Whenyou
areengagedinsocialmedia,it almost
feelslikeit’shappeningjustinyour
head,soyou’relikelytobeless
inhibited,”sayspsychotherapistDr
AaronBalick.Sometimes,however,
peoplejumpindeliberately,“togetoff
ontheenergy,”ortheyareseducedby
thechanceto“bondovergivinga
righteousjustification.”
InOctober2019,theformerUS
presidentBarackObamaspokeout
againstcall-outculture.Hesaidthaton
socialmedia,“[Peoplethink]thewayof
memakingchangeis tobeas
judgmentalaspossibleaboutother
people,andthat’senough... [but]that’s
notactivism,that’snotbringingabout
change.If allyou’redoingis casting
stones,youare probably not going to get
that far.”
CASE ST U DY