Everyone on the Internet needs to read So You've Been Publicly Shamed, which describes the way virtual lynch mobs can ruin people's lives over minor transgressions or stupid jokes. Anyone who has read this book would think twice before sending that snarky tweet, and the world would be a better place for it.

Ronson follows his usual wandering path, writing of his initial thrill when a shaming went his way, talking to people who got beat up on Twitter, investigating how people deal with the aftermath, showing what happens when you start a social media lynch mob and they turn on you, investigating how people in porn deal with shame, discuss theories of shaming, and trying to get a handle on the whole thing.

Ronson brings life to his interviewees, showing their fears, their mistakes, their triumphs. Some come across as nice people caught up in a bad situation, some as transgressive personalities who find their path to redemption cut off, a couple as out-in-out smug jerks.

The result is a typically fascinating Ronson book. And one that, if read by enough people, could just possibly make the internet a slightly more civil place.