The project is part of a larger exploration around privacy, and how technology has changed our relationship with strangers. Our society used to burn witches and hang people because of the color of their skin. Now, we channel our anger and fear through entirely new means.
A woman tweets something while traveling, boards a plane, and by the time the plane lands she has been publicly humiliated and fired from her job. A man tells his friend a joke at a conference, a woman overhears it and tweets about it. The man loses his job. In the backlash that ensued, she was also fired.
We habitually take things out of context and jump to conclusions without the full story. We revel in the tearing down of others, and serve up mob justice for imaginary crimes. We shout, and rarely listen. Most important of all, we’re doing it to ourselves.
*Examples from Jon Ronson’s piece in the NYT:
