Outraged
Ashley “Dotty’ Charles
Exploring the insatiable taste for outrage in today’s world, BBC presenter and DJ Ashley ‘Dotty’ Charles calls for return to civility in this brilliant, punchy book. An expanded version of her viral article ‘As a black, gay woman I have to be selective in my outrage. So should you’ the books goes down the angry online rabid rabbit hole. In this engaging and empowering book Charles examines the ways in which social media has changed the idea of protest and also the way people feel and act on their outrage.
Before social media, protest was provocative and empowering. Outrage used to mean something – now it’s just another hashtag, Charles looks at what that means for us, and for the outrage which is being manufactured by every spiked prod of our conscience via update, posting and media manipulator. She argues we are exhausted by it, and the folk who provoke and produce hate and misinformation know that. It’s what they want, it’s the medium not the message, we boil in synthetically sweet outrage and become desensitised to the real. They are hate-mongers, pushers of addictive outrage and we are hooked in responding.
It’s a convincing narrative. Charles picks it slowly apart, shows us what’s occurring and then gives some easy and practical ways of stopping the erosion of real outrage by the insincere quick hit kick of online performative response. Through telling interviews with some hatemonger she shows how these wretches operate, what they need from us, how they manipulate us and the platforms they use affect us. More importantly, Charles shows us what you can do to get a grasp of your own response to things, and learn to focus anger and outrage for productive, effective protest and change.
Never was a book timelier, I’d urge you to read this.
Out now £14.99
You must be logged in to post a comment.