So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Chapter 11 begins with the story of Lindsey Stone, a caregiver for adults with learning difficulties in a program called LIFE. Stone and her fellow caregiver, Jamie, had a running gag where they would take pictures of each other mocking specific circumstances, like smoking in front of a “No Smoking” sign. While on a trip to Washington, DC, Jamie takes a picture of Stone giving the middle finger to a sign that reads “Silence and Respect” at Arlington National Cemetery, where American military veterans are buried. The picture is posted to Facebook and goes viral. People are outraged by the lack of respect she is showing veterans and Stone gets rape and death threats. She is also fired from her job at LIFE. Eventually, Stone gets another job caring for children with autism, but she still lives in fear that her employer will Google her and find out about the photo and the ensuing outrage.

Ronson then tells the story of writer Graeme Wood, who is following a fraud case of his former Harvard classmate Phineas Upham when he notices that many of the websites and online news stories about him seem designed to make Upham look like a dedicated philanthropist rather than someone who had faced charges for financial misconduct.