The Unleashed Scandal

In an age of ubiquitous digital media and permanent mutual observation scandals are omnipresent. Everybody can release them, everybody can become their victim. Videos on mobile phones terminate careers, Twitter messages generate outrage, and SMS messages turn into evidence. Documents of embarrassment and public disgrace today display a novel kind of lightness and agility. They can be copied in no time, spread very quickly, resist all censorship - and in the extreme case stir up worldwide indignation. The consequence: the reputation of the powerful and the powerless, of enterprises and states, can be destroyed in record time. In order to illustrate these considerations the books describes recent case-(hi)stories, discussing public figures such as Tiger Woods and Anthony Weiner, the powerful and the helpless that suddenly find themselves in a worldwide pillory.

Keywords: Digital media, scandal, internet, web, mobile phones, cell phones, disgrace, censorship, reputation, PR, public relations, media studies, media, pillory, truth, rumour, wikileaks, assange, cybermob, Abu Ghraib, eyewitness testimony, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, social media