Stigma 2.0 ― Abuse, Insults and Mocking on the Internet

Trolls, ranters, critics and teasers: the Internet teems with people who insult others. As the Internet has brought about a technological capacity for people to archive discrediting characteristics as though they are collectibles, to mock people with more representative power than has ever been historically possible, and to enable mass participation in spreading insults and verbal abuse that were once more limited to school hallways and office cubicles, this book examines the mocking on the Internet that comprises a significant part of the new data cultures in which we all live. What different types of online mocking exist? What consequences do all the insulting emails, tweets, status updates and links to disparaging images and videos have for society? Through analyzing the content of web sites, message boards and other individual posts, Stigma 2.0 examines the different types of mocking that pervade the Internet, the impression management people use in the stigmatizing process, and the pleasures people take in abusing others. Engaging with the thought of Goffman and developing the notion of stigma to examine the insults and mocking that now flow on the Internet, this book reveals that stigmatizing and suffering are now forms of public entertainment and constitute a dangerous means of social control. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology with interests in cultural and media studies, new technologies, interactionism, cyber bullying and research methods.

David Shulman is Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Lafayette College, USA. He is the author of From Hire to Liar: The Role of Deception in the Workplace, co-author of Talking Sociology and Self and Society: A Symbolic Interactionist Social Psychology, and co-editor of Academic Street Smarts: The Informal Professionalization of Graduate Students in Sociology.