What can Jewish teachings tell us about using social media ethically?
What does public shaming look like?
Why do people think shaming others is okay?
How do people who are shamed publicly react?
How do people who participate in shaming reflect on their actions?

read about several
cases of public shaming:​

Jon Ronson chronicles the devastating consequences of a Twitter pile-on for one unsuspecting woman in "How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life." Read more in his book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed.

And what happens when someone you've never met, yet have publicly shamed, turns out to be a real person? Sam Biddle reflects on his Twitter attacks on Justine Sacco—and how it felt when he became the target of public shaming himself—in "Justine Sacco is Good at Her Job, and How I Came To Peace With Her."

Monica Lewinsky's traumatic experience with public shaming in 1998 led her to work to make our culture a healthier place today. (Click on her photo to link to Ted Talks website.)​

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read about Jewish teachings
and consider...
How might participating in public shaming be an example of lifnei iver? of geneivat da'at?
Do you know anyone who has been publicly shamed? How did it affect them?
If you don't know anyone to whom this has happened, in what ways have you seen it happen on social media that you consume?
What would our world be like if everyone could expect social media shaming to happen to them at some point?
​Do you think we are already at that point?

Rabbi Jill Maderer of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia explains Jewish teachings about shaming: ​"On Public Shaming, a Compassion Deficit, and Monica Lewinsky."
​
The Ethics of Social Media: a source sheet by Marina Yergin

A Torah Guide for the Digital Age: The Ten Tenets of Social Media, by Gil Student

​Instagram and Jewish Law, by Gil Student