Public Shaming

Found myself on Public Shaming again last night—the site that just collects the worst tweets, organized by stupidity and hatred. It’s like scrolling through humanity’s worst impulses, catalogued and permanent. Racial slurs, misogyny, people defending assault, all with names attached, all available for anyone who wants to know that things are worse than they feel.

The thing that gets me isn’t even the hatred. It’s how unafraid they are. These people posting this stuff as if they’re right, as if they’re part of the majority, as if they won’t be forgotten. No embarrassment. No second thoughts. Just conviction in their contempt.

I’ve been reading the internet for twenty years and I recognize every argument. The exact same arguments in slightly different words. The same need to punish anyone outside the line. The same certainty. It doesn’t change. The platforms change, the audience changes, the people involved get older and sometimes die, but the stupidity is unchanging.

At some point you stop expecting better and you just accept what you’re seeing. You close the tab and try not to think about it.