In order to motivate others to demonstrate ethical behavior in public, society should practice horizontal accountability and continue to spread information about individuals’ inappropriate actions on social media.
According to Greater Good Magazine political scientist Jennifer Forestal, public shaming of those caught acting poorly online “can be a valuable tool for democratic accountability.”
This idea of citizens in democratic societies holding each other accountable for their actions directly reflects the idea of horizontal accountability.
Horizontal accountability is “a way of describing the operations of checks and balances that various nonmajoritarian institutions perform in democratic systems,” Britannica said.
In this type of system, people do not rely on a higher authority like the government to hold people accountable for their actions, but rather the general public and each other.
This characteristic of our democracy would not be possible if consent had to be obtained every time someone was recorded in public.
Many viral public instances have made it clear why using social media as a tool to spread examples of bad behavior is useful in order to teach society a lesson as a whole.
One example of this is how Phillies fan Drew Feltwell reacted a few weeks ago when a woman, now more commonly known as the “Phillies Karen”, stormed over and demanded he give her his son’s home run ball.
USA Today sports editor Stephen Borelli said Feltwell used the conflict as a teachable moment for his son.
“Through Feltwell’s actions to defuse the situation, psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis told USA Today in the aftermath of the confrontation, he was ensuring there was no collateral damage,” Borelli said.
This small teachable moment for Feltwell’s son is able to be amplified and used as a teachable moment for society through social media, showing others the respectable and refined way to respond to someone acting out of line.
Not only can society learn how not to behave from others’ examples circulated around the internet, but we can also learn how to react to someone’s inappropriate behavior from the bystanders in the background, or others involved in the situations. While most people picture petty instances like the Phillies Karen when thinking of public shaming, it is actually most useful for more intense moral debates.
“Public shaming can be an effective strategy for challenging corporate power and behavior or maintaining journalistic norms in the face of plagiarism.
By harnessing social pressure, public shaming can both motivate people to change their behavior and deter future violations by others,” Forestal said.
This can be seen more recently in our current political divide, with many American citizens from either side using their voices on social media to call out the corruption and injustice they see, often targeting specific politicians.
If consent had to be obtained every time someone was filmed in public, or a video was circulated online, then not only would individuals’ petty behavior never be addressed, but corruption from people of authority would go on without penalty.