Congratulations to Monica Lewinsky for making an outstanding speech at TED about online bullying
Almost 20 years after her affair with then-President, Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinksy is back in the public eye, reminding audiences about the dangers of internet shaming.
After her emotional speech about online abuse at Forbes’s 30 Under 30 Summit six months ago, and her article for Vanity Fair last year, this March Lewinsky took to the TED2015 stage in Vancouver to address her personal experience of what she calls our “culture of humiliation”.
Her 18-minute long speech, called “The Price of Shame”, explained what it was like to be at the center of the first major scandal brought by the internet, instead of traditional news sources. “I was patient zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously,” Lewinsky said.
Lewinsky is calling for a “cultural revolution,” away from the “culture of humiliation” and towards an internet community of empathy and compassion. “Anyone who is suffering from shame and public humiliation needs to know one thing: you can survive it. I know it’s hard. It may not be painless, quick or easy, but you can insist on a different ending to your story.”
Lewinsky’s TED talk has been very well-received, as illustrated by its 4 million plus views worldwide, she portrayed a poignant and heartfelt narrative… “Public humiliation as a blood sport has to stop,” she said. “We need to return to a long-held value of compassion and empathy.”
In 1998, says Monica Lewinsky, “I was Patient Zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously.” Today, the kind of online public shaming she went through has become a constant. In a brave talk, she takes a look at our “culture of humiliation,” in which online shame equals dollar signs - and demands a different way.
