Conversation or Mob Rule?

Have you ever been part of a conversation that degenerated into something you felt entirely uncomfortable with, but failed to speak up against it?

This is how I imagine some people in the Australian Navy might be feeling today: http://www.smh.com.au/national/navy-went-overboard-on-sex-claims-20091020-h6yr.html

In this instance, untold damage has been done to the reputation of the Australian Navy and the individuals involved.

Some may argue that is the fault of:

• an unnamed malign individual who manufactured a false claim;
• a group of individuals who failed to speak up for themselves effectively; or
• an organisation that failed to respond appropriately.

But where is our collective responsibility in this?

Once the damage is done, there's no repairing it. And all of the media, social commentators, and us - the mob - who rushed to judgment, will never be held accountable for the things we said.

Lives have been destroyed for the sake of exercising our moral indignation.

How can we prevent this happening in future?

In the legal system, we have a police force at least notionally responsible for taking enforcement out of the hands of the vigilantes. We have a judiciary, who take the responsibility for judgment out of the hands of police. Both police and judges are trained in how to execute their duties effectively and ethically. While neither are infallible, the system is designed to promote the interests of justice.

And while this dilemma is nothing new to journalists and media organisations, the advent of social media like twitter means that people with no form of relevant training are equipped with much more effective means to destroy reputations. And because they don't have that training, many tweeps aren't especially careful about what they say online.

The much more distributed nature of conversations on social media means it is also less likely that tweeps will be held accountable for what they say (as compared to traditional journalists).

It seems to me that the demands of citizenship are changing, and we need new forms of education - for all - in order to meet them.