Any reasonable person would agree that, for a politically insensitive act or tasteless joke, permanently ruining someone’s life is too harsh a penalty. But these days public shamings are increasingly frequent. They’ve become a new kind of grisly entertainment, like a national reality show.

The truth is, the cybermob phenomenon won’t go away. Human nature is what it is. Psychology is at play. When they can’t see their victims, people tend to be far more vicious than they would be face-to-face (the online disinhibition effect). And even if some people might be inclined to defend the victim or add some context, they don’t, because they don’t want to get in the cross fire (the bystander effect).

Yet in a twisted way, there’s a certain kind of hope in the increasing regularity of shamings. As they become commonplace, maybe they’ll lose their ability to shock. The same kinds of ugly tweets have been repeated so many times, they’re starting to become boilerplate.

If you’re a target, it’s not actually about you. You’re a symbol, a faceless bull’s-eye for the frustrations of your attackers.