Shame Nation

September 15, 2017
This is a welcome and timely guide to practical Internet use. Scheff, a parents' advocate and Internet-safety activist, suffered from an anonymous smear campaign and wrote this book with journalist Schorr to advise the many others who have experienced or fear similar attacks. From sextortion to cyberhumiliation, Scheff explains how shame happens, how to defend yourself online, how to weather the storm, and how to recover from attacks on your reputation. Like most social problems, solutions and remedies arise through experience and time. Scheff details many of the organizations and companies that have been created to combat the scourge of shame online while providing many case studies, stories of survival, and campaigns of support. There is a chapter on trolls, and how to deal with them, but little specifically dealing with the partisan political trolls poisoning our democracy. Parents will find the book's advice useful in protecting their children from danger as they explore online, as will anyone who has made a hasty comment or tweet and lived to regret it. Shame Nation is a strong addition to any collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)