In the ongoing, yet soon to be old news saga of PR professional Justine Sacco, Gawker has surprisingly (not!) tarred and feathered a woman, and called it “reporting the news.”
When I saw the #hasjustinelandedyet saga in a friend’s Facebook feed over the weekend, I was drawn in. It was hashtagging at its best, after all. Alluring. Personal. Clever. With a hint of snark.
However, I was too busy monitoring a group of rowdy eleven year old boys shooting themselves with balls of paint in celebration of one boy’s birthday — my boy’s. Smartphone occupied more by Instagram than by Twitter, I didn’t get as sucked into the online conversation as I might have otherwise, but feel compelled to contribute my two cents this morning after reading the Gawker story.
What’s really bugging me?
The majority — who assumes Justine is a disgusting piece of crap that doesn’t deserve to be called a human being. And the majority — who feels holier than thou enough to write about it.
And really? The disgusting piece of crap that doesn’t deserve to be called human?
It’s the internet.
The internet, which has determined that one really awful statement typed into a keyboard or a device registered to a human being determines who and what that human being is.
The internet, which in general, didn’t really consider the (albeit, unlikely) possibility that Justine was hacked.
Which, frankly, seems possible to me. I’m a communications professional — one with a big mouth and strong opinions. The first thing to smell fishy to me about this was the idea of a PR person showcasing her racist side on her Twitter account.
It’s really, really unlikely.
PR people can be ugly and awful. But they’re usually really, really good at making the rest of the world think otherwise.
My first reaction, instead, to reports of Justine’s racist AIDS tweet was, “She’s either drunk, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, or she’s been hacked.” Call me level-headed (or, in the end, call me naive), but my first reaction wasn’t:
“FIRE THE EVIL BITCH!!!!!!! HUMILIATE HER, FIRST!!!! THEN FIRE HER!!!!!”
The second thing that’s getting my goat about this story is the “trial by twitter” era that we live in. Even if Justine is truly a racist, not just a stupid person or a drunk person or a person who made a bad, impulsive decision, I feel more sick by humanity’s reaction to this story — fire her! excommunicate her! humiliate her! — than I do by the unacceptable remark made by the possibly stupid or drunk person who made it.
What are we rallying around here people?
Are we truly rallying around the fight against racism? Around our empowering ability to use social media for good?
Or are we just scared little animals waiting like vultures to pounce on road kill because pouncing makes us feel strong?
More than anything, this story makes me want to leave the internet.
I don’t want to be around to find out the truth behind Justine’s remark.
I don’t want to be around to hear her apology, or explanation, or the internet’s remorse when she hangs herself because she is so shamed by the very public and unfair trial she got on Twitter.
Gawker, of course, will be the first one to write, TWO TEENS CLEARED OF CRIMINAL CHARGE IN THE TWITTER-INSPIRED BULLYING DEATH OF PR PROFESSIONAL.
And then all of Twitter, with sorrow and regret in their hearts, will hashtag #nomorejustines.
I don’t want to be around to be the person the internet tars and feathers next.
Seriously, internet, I want to leave you on days like today.
I want to break up with you forever and forget about all the good times we had.
All the community building.
All the activism.
All the kickstarting.
Days like today make me sick of you.
