Webchat with Jon Ronson, Tuesday 24 March, 8-9pm (See post below re: time change)

[RachelMumsnet]

The peerless Jon Ronson is joining us for a webchat on Tuesday 24 March from 8-9pm. Jon is an award-winning writer and documentary-maker, as well as being a regular at Mumsnet events. He followed up at BlogFest 2013 with an equally brilliant appearance at our recent Mumstock event, where he spoke about his new book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed.

The book details his experiences of, and involvement in, the various Twitterstorms that have blown up over the past few years, which he connects to the historical tradition of public shaming. He interviews infamous shamers and shamees, exploring how public ridicule and vitriol can have devastating consequences for all involved. Did the individuals who made one offensive joke on Twitter deserve to have their lives ruined?

Join Jon for what will be a fascinating and entertaining hour on Tuesday evening between 8 and 9pm. Don't worry if you're unable to join us at that time - you can post your early bird question for Jon on this thread right now.

@MuddhaOfSuburbia

I haven't got a question, but the thread looks a bit quiet so I thought I'd pad it out with some fawning

we think you're fucking brilliant. And we loved Frank. Even my brother liked it and he's a BIG Frank fan, so it could have gone either way

(me too- named firstborn Little Frank in utero and he became Frank in RL. Cue many awkward 'after Sinatra?' 'no...errr...Sidebottom, actually' exchanges)

I shall no doubt be getting your new book. I still read your What I Do when poorly, or glum

oh and you're super over on the twitter, too

when you get bored of doing exciting stuff please come back to London and do more Guardian columns about Family Bollocks

THANK YOU! You are the nicest person in all of mumsnet.

@EnolaAlone

Do you often find yourself diagnosing people as psychopaths when you meet them? As I do, since reading your book!

No! I think The Psychopath Test is ultimately a cautionary tale to NOT DO THAT! Don’t get drunk with your psychopath spotting powers like I did.

@hackmum

This is related to voscar's question. In the latest book, you talk about how two reputation management experts created lots of blog entries and other internet accounts so that when someone googled Lindsey Stone, these would come up rather than the Arlington Cemetery photo.

Like everyone else (probably), as soon as I read that, I googled Lindsey Stone, and what came up first was the Guardian excerpt about her from your book. But the next few hits were all about the original story - no blog entries or anything innocuous at all. How did that happen - any idea? And how does Lindsey feel about your book? I seem to remember she thought her new employers didn't know who she was.

Hey Hackmum. Lindsey is in a new, new job now where her employer DOES know. And is fine with it. Lindsey’s search results are a million times better than they used to be. There are lots of photographs of Lindsey being nice and normal now and not inadvertently flipping off military cemeteries. I think reputation.com did a pretty good job with her, given what a tough job it was.

@Pagwatch

Irritatingly I have to go out but will catch up with this later.

Can I ask a Richard Madeley style question in amongst all the more intellectual ones? Of all the situations in which you have found yourself whilst researching your books, and all those people you have spent time with, which one was the most pant crappingly scary?

Hey Pagwatch. Being chased by The Bilderberg Group in Them was TERRIFYING. I had never been chased by the shadowy henchmen of the secret rulers of the world before and had nothing to compare it to. Also, being taken by Phoenix Jones - the real life superhero - to break up a gang of armed crack dealers at 3am. Oh my God. That story is in Lost at Sea. And this new book was terrifying too. To see the victims of US. To see how terrifying WE can be.

Hello. I was really impressed by your very balanced portrayal of the woman who overheard a 'dongle' joke at the tech conference and felt threatened. My initial reaction was outrage at her actions but then you/she pointed out the lack of representation of women in the industry. You also pointed out that the men have found new jobs and she has not. But still, my sympathies lay with them as she seemed to have massively overreacted. Where do your sympathies actually lie?

Hey Jon!

Thanks for joining us!

I also inhaled SYBPS in a day, I was totally gripped, but the most horrifying bit of the book for me might have been where Lindsay gets her image makeover ("Are cats important to you" etc). Do you worry that that is what every public figure (or just people online in general) will have to turn into, just to be safe?

Thanks Jon, I thought you might say that! There's this guy at work though who ticks so many boxes....I can't help diagnosing him...glib, superficial charm, grandiose self-worth....

@Springtimemama

I'm going to sneak in another question in case you have time.

What is your view on the 'right to be forgotten' on the internet?

Before I started writing Shamed I think I’d have been knee-jerk against the Right to be Forgotten. But now I’m all for it for some people. Because desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m talking about ordinary people being defined for eternity by some little human mistake. The word ‘forever’ came up a lot when I was writing my book: ‘Sorry @justinesacco your tweet lives on forever’. Until we start being a bit kinder and a bit less like Stasi informants, we need a right to be forgotten.

Do you pay much attention to politics? I think a book from you dissecting all the tricks they play would be fascinating. I think you have a wonderful knack of taking a very complex subject and making it accessible and entertaining.

@juniorcakeoff

Hello. I was really impressed by your very balanced portrayal of the woman who overheard a 'dongle' joke at the tech conference and felt threatened. My initial reaction was outrage at her actions but then you/she pointed out the lack of representation of women in the industry. You also pointed out that the men have found new jobs and she has not. But still, my sympathies lay with them as she seemed to have massively overreacted. Where do your sympathies actually lie?

Honestly I think your analysis of it is totally spot on.

Did you mean to make Adria unlikeable? She seems to get the short end of the stick in your article. They two tasteless girls you seem to empathise with more than someone who is likely to have spent her whole life fighting against the tide.

By the way as soon as this is over I'm going on The Daily Show gulp.

@Poppytalk

Do you pay much attention to politics? I think a book from you dissecting all the tricks they play would be fascinating. I think you have a wonderful knack of taking a very complex subject and making it accessible and entertaining.

Thank you!!

I feel really really bad about my first question now.

Just finished reading Frank last night. I've got to say it's my favourite thing you've written after The Men Who Stare At Goats.

I remember seeing Frank Sidebottom on tv when I was a kid. Your description of him being innocent yet terrifying in a certain light is spot on.

@Pascale123

I'm a budding writer who has had mild success so far. I write silly comedy things, or pieces that are informed by my life. But I am interested in writing more pieces that involve research and statistics, but I am unsure about how to go about this. You write about obscure, interesting, disturbing things that I always find so fascinating. So my question is: how do you go about finding subjects to write about, and how do you conduct the subsequent research into these subjects?

Hey Pascale123. I find that a hard question to answer. Because I don’t know. I’m always looking for that magical moment of falling in love with a story. That’s how Christiane Kubrick described it to me in Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes. That magical moment of falling in love with a story.

Skim reading this. Thought OUR justine had been in a Twitter storm!

@chocandchickpeas

Hi Jon,

Your book was really fascinating but terrifying to read, I particularly liked the quote "The snowflake never needs feel responsible for the avalanche".

Most of the case studies in the book end up being a lot worse for women than men - can you explain why this is and do you think social media shaming will continue this way for women?

Hello chocandchickpeas I think it’s no coincidence that most of the people in my book are women. Women tend to be shamed much worse than men. And it’s a much more violent form of shaming. Rape threats and death threats. Men tend to just get “I’m going to get you fired” threats. I can only speculate as to why there’s so much misogyny out there. Maybe it’s because feminism is doing well and some men feel threatened?

@Improbablesaint

Skim reading this. Thought OUR justine had been in a Twitter storm!

hahah

@GallicGarlic

Hi, Jon. I'm another huge fan of yours. I enjoy the way you combine incisive, analytical thought with an open mind, compassion and humour. Wish I could think like you!

My question's a bit tricky: it's about the systematic sexual exploitation of children in the UK - which, now Ms May's pronounced on the matter, we haven't got to pretend isn't happening. Will any of the high-influence abusers who are still living be outed & brought to justice? Do you think anything can realistically be done to stop the abuse, or at least to slow it down?

Feel free to drop people in it

Hey GallicGarlic. I think the ball is rolling and it’s ALL going to come out. Or at least a lot of it. I think we’re going to know a lot more very soon. I wish I had some insider knowledge but I don’t. I’d tell you if I did I promise.

Do you think wealth/fame also played a part in Mosley's redemption?

For example, if a celebrity makes a bad joke on twitter they can immediately go on a damage-control blitz, whereas a normal person would probably just be overwhelmed.

Good luck on the Daily Show! I think Jon will be nice to you

@bigfatfeet

P.S. I really don't think you should regret telling David Shayler to fuck off - he was being a total dick.

I guess...

@JellyQuivvers

Hello Jon Ronson - what kind of music do you listen to? I'm assuming (having seen you recently in Glasgow) that you're a Belle and Sebastian fan.......

Hey jellyquivers. That was quite a Belle and Sebastian night, wasn’t it? Three of them in the audience and I still didn’t freak out on stage. I love them. Looking through my Spotify I also love Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, The Specials, The Fall, especially The Fall, and M.I.A.

Hey - I think I need to finish a few minutes early. I've answered nearly every question and I've just had an email saying the Daily Show want me at 5.30pm not 5.45pm, which means I have to set off a little early...

@EarlGreyhamGreene

Do you think wealth/fame also played a part in Mosley's redemption?

For example, if a celebrity makes a bad joke on twitter they can immediately go on a damage-control blitz, whereas a normal person would probably just be overwhelmed.

Good luck on the Daily Show! I think Jon will be nice to you

I think what helped Max most of all is that nobody really cares about sex scandals any more. The shamings have moved elsewhere - to people who misuse privilege. Which is a better thing to be upset by than a consensual sex scandal. But people like Justine are being crushed for it and they don't deserve it. I've done the Daily Show a couple of times before and Jon is LOVELY.

Okay everyone I need to sign off 10 mins early. It was fab and you are all GREAT MOTHERS AND HUMANS.