Friends ask friends to wear masks.

 

Public shaming is very popular these days.  Here's what my students had to say about it last month...

 

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2020/11/should-we-be-shaming-people-into-doing.html

 

I get it.  It's very tempting to call someone out about their bad behavior.  The problem is - who gets to decide what's bad?

 

President-elect Biden has been shaming Trump publicly over the past few weeks in an effort to get him to do his job.  Trump's reaction?  He's playing golf.

 

We really shouldn't be surprised.  Shaming is not on the list of most effective persuasion techniques.

 

What is on the list is liking.  Research shows that taking a few minutes to establish commonalities - which leads to liking, prior to negotiations, results in successful outcomes 90% of the time versus 55%  if this step is skipped. (Cialdini, 2020)

 

Every time we can get another person to wear a mask we all win. 

 

So focus your efforts on people who like you.  Explain that you wear your mask to protect them.  Ask them to do the same for you. 

 

You never know, it might just work.

 

 

Cialdini, R. (2020) Science of Persuasion.  Influence at Work.  retrieved December 30, 2020, from

https://www.influenceatwork.com/principles-of-persuasion/

Should we be shaming people into doing the right thing?

 

We all know the power of peer pressure.  Research shows that 2/3 of us will conform in public.  And no one wants to be the dumb one.

 

Given the persuasiveness of those feelings and the reach of social media is it any wonder that public shaming is on the rise?

 

Perhaps it started with the Karens.  The pattern is predictable.  First the bad behavior is captured on video and posted on social media.  Then the person is identified by name.  Shortly thereafter they are fired while protesting furiously that their actions have been misunderstood.

 

Last week the law firm representing Donald Trump in his bid to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania resigned after the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of the lawyers involved were published on Twitter by The Lincoln Project.  One has to wonder how many calls and emails they received.

 

This week the advocacy group Fossil Free Media has launched a campaign targeting advertising and PR firms, designed to pressure them into discontinuing their work with fossil fuel clients.  The Clean Creatives campaign will seek to expose relationships between shops and clients that mysteriously don't seem to appear on the companies' websites and sustainability reports.  

 

They are also reaching out directly to high-profile players in the industry and running targeted ads on LinkedIn seeking people willing to sign pledges to discontinue work with fossil fuel companies. (Faw, 2020)

 

Apparently the inspiration for the campaign came from Amy Westervelt in her podcast "Drilled."

https://www.amywestervelt.com/

 

What do you think of this approach?  Does it make you uncomfortable to shame people in public?  Should people be held accountable for their actions?  What about the actions of the companies that they work for? 

 

Have you ever contributed to any advocacy groups that promote shaming?  Have you ever called or emailed someone to pressure them into doing something?  How would you feel if someone did that to you?

 

 

Faw, L. (2020, November 24)  Advocacy Group Seeks To Shame Ad Agencies, PR Shops Hyping Fossil Fuel Industry.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved November 25, 2020, from

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/358053/advocacy-group-seeks-to-shame-ad-agencies-pr-shop.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=120543&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI