How one tweet can ruin your life | Jon Ronson

Translator: Albana Lapaj Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

In the early days of Twitter, it was like a place of radical de-shaming.

Ne ditet e hershme Twitter ishte nje vend radikal kunder turperimit.

People would admit shameful secrets about themselves,

Njerezit pranonin sekrete turperuese per veten,

and other people would say, "Oh my God, I'm exactly the same."

dhe njerezit e tjere thoshin, "Oh Zot, jam ekzakteshisht njesoj."

Voiceless people realized that they had a voice,

Njerezit pa "ze" e kuptuan qe e kishin ze,

and it was powerful and eloquent.

qe ishte i fuqishem dhe elokuent.

If a newspaper ran some racist or homophobic column,

Nese nje gazete do te publikonte ndonje kolone rraciste ose homofobike,

we realized we could do something about it.

ne e kuptuam qe mund te benim dicka rreth kesaj.

We could get them.

Mund ti "kapnim".

We could hit them with a weapon that we understood but they didn't --

Mund ti godisnim me nje arme qe ne e kuptonim dhe ata jo--

a social media shaming.

turperimi ne rrjetet sociale.

Advertisers would withdraw their advertising.

Publikuesit do te terhiqnin reklamimet e tyre.

When powerful people misused their privilege,

Kur njerezit e fuqishem keperdornin privilegjet e tyre,

we were going to get them.

ne turreshim per ti kapur.

This was like the democratization of justice.

Ishte si demokratizimi i drejtesise,

Hierarchies were being leveled out.

Hierarkite po sheshoheshin.

We were going to do things better.

Ne do ti benim gjerat me mire.

Soon after that, a disgraced pop science writer called Jonah Lehrer --

Shume shpejt pas kesaj, nje shkrimtar i diskredituar i shkences pop Jonah Lehner--

he'd been caught plagiarizing and faking quotes,

eshte kapur duke kopjuar dhe pervetesuar kuotime,

and he was drenched in shame and regret, he told me.

dhe u permbyt ne turp dhe pendim, me tha.

And he had the opportunity

Ai pati mundesine

to publicly apologize at a foundation lunch.

per te kerkuar falje publikisht ne nje dreke Fondacioni.

This was going to be the most important speech of his life.

Ky kishte per te qene fjalimi me i rendesishem ne jeten e tij.

Maybe it would win him some salvation.

Ndoshta mund ti sillte pak shpetim.

He knew before he arrived

Ai e dinte para se te mberrinte

that the foundation was going to be live-streaming his event,

qe fondacioni do ta trasmetonte live eventin,

but what he didn't know until he turned up,

por ajo qe nuk dinte deri ne momentin qe mberriti,

was that they'd erected a giant screen Twitter feed right next to his head.

ishte qe kishin vendosur nje ekran gjigand ngjitur me koken e tij

(Laughter)

ku shfaqeshin publikimet ne Twitter. (Te qeshura)

Another one in a monitor screen in his eye line.

Nje tjeter ne nje ekran monitori, ne vijen e tij te shikimit.

I don't think the foundation did this because they were monstrous.

Nuk mendoj qe fondacioni e beri kete sepse ishin monstruoz.

I think they were clueless: I think this was a unique moment

Mendoj qe ata nuk ishin ne djeni; mendoj qe ky ishte nje moment unik

when the beautiful naivety of Twitter

kur naiviteti i bukur i Twitter

was hitting the increasingly horrific reality.

po godiste realitetin gjithmone e me te frikshem.

And here were some of the Tweets that were cascading into his eye line,

Keto jane disa nga Tweets qe po i kalonin perpara syve,

as he was trying to apologize:

nderkohe qe po mundohej te kerkonte ndjese:

"Jonah Lehrer, boring us into forgiving him."

"Jonah Lehner, duke na merzitur deri ne faljen e tij."

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

And, "Jonah Lehrer has not proven that he is capable of feeling shame."

Dhe "Jonah Lehner nuk ka provuar qe eshte i afte te ndiej turp."

That one must have been written by the best psychiatrist ever,

Kjo duhet te jete shkruar nga psikiatri me i mire i te tera koherave,

to know that about such a tiny figure behind a lectern.

ta thuash kete rreth nje figure aq te zvogeluar pas podiumit.

And, "Jonah Lehrer is just a frigging sociopath."

Dhe "Jonah Lehner eshte nje sociopat i m***t."

That last word is a very human thing to do, to dehumanize the people we hurt.

Fjala e fundit eshte nje gje shume njerezore per tu thene, per te dehumanizuar njerezit qe lendojme.

It's because we want to destroy people but not feel bad about it.

Ndodh pasi duam te shkaterrojme njerezit por te mos ndihemi keq rreth kesaj.

Imagine if this was an actual court,

Imagjinoni sikur ky te ishte nje gjyq i vertete,

and the accused was in the dark, begging for another chance,

dhe i akuzuari te ishte ne erresire, duke u pergjeruar per nje mundesi tjeter,

and the jury was yelling out,

dhe juria te ishte duke bertitur,

"Bored! Sociopath!"

"I merzitshem! Sociopat!"

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

You know, when we watch courtroom dramas, we tend to identify

E dini, kur ne shohim drama ne sallen e gjyqit, identifikohemi

with the kindhearted defense attorney,

me avokatin mbrojtes zemermire,

but give us the power, and we become like hanging judges.

por na jep pushtetin, dhe ne behemi si gjykates vares.

Power shifts fast.

Pushteti zhvendoset shpejt.

We were getting Jonah because he was perceived to have misused his privilege,

Ne i ishim perveshur Jonah se mendohej se kishte keqperdorur privilegjet e tij,

but Jonah was on the floor then, and we were still kicking,

por Jonah ishte pertok ne ate moment, dhe ne ende po e gjuanim,

and congratulating ourselves for punching up.

dhe pergezonim veten per gjuajtjet.

And it began to feel weird and empty when there wasn't a powerful person

Dhe filloi te ndjehej bosh dhe cuditshem kur nuk kishte nje person te fuqishem

who had misused their privilege that we could get.

qe kishte keqperdorur privilegjet e veta qe ne ti pervisheshim.

A day without a shaming began to feel like a day

Nje dite pa turperim filloi te ndihej si nje dite

picking fingernails and treading water.

ngrenie thonjsh dhe "ne vend qendro".

Let me tell you a story.

Me lejoni tju tregoj nje histori.

It's about a woman called Justine Sacco.

Eshte rreth nje gruaje te quajtur Justine Sacco.

She was a PR woman from New York with 170 Twitter followers,

Ajo ishte nje PR nga New York me 170 ndjekes ne Twitter,

and she'd Tweet little acerbic jokes to them,

dhe ajo u postonte atyre shaka te hidhura,

like this one on a plane from New York to London:

si ajo ne nje avion nga New York ne Londer:

[Weird German Dude: You're in first class. It's 2014. Get some deodorant."

[Burre i cuditshem Gjerman: Je ne klasin e pare. Eshte 2014-ta. Perdor deodorant."

-Inner monologue as inhale BO. Thank god for pharmaceuticals.]

-Monolog i brendshem nderkohe qe thith eren. Shyqyr zotit ekzistojne farmaceutiket.]

So Justine chuckled to herself, and pressed send, and got no replies,

Justine nenqeshi me vete dhe shtypi "dergo" dhe nuk mori asnje pergjigje,

and felt that sad feeling that we all feel

dhe ndjeu ate ndjesine e trishte qe te tere ndjejme

when the Internet doesn't congratulate us for being funny.

kur interneti nuk na pergezon qe kemi humor.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

Black silence when the Internet doesn't talk back.

Heshtje e erret kur interneti nuk na pergjigjet.

And then she got to Heathrow, and she had a little time to spare

Me pas mberriti ne Heathrow dhe kishte pak kohe te lire

before her final leg, so she thought up another funny little acerbic joke:

para ndaleses se saj te fundit dhe mendoi nje shaka tjeter te hidhur dhe gazmore:

[Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!]

[Duke shkuar ne Afrike. Shpresoj mos te marr AIDS. Bej shaka. Jam e bardhe!]

And she chuckled to herself, pressed send, got on the plane, got no replies,

Dhe nenqeshi me vete, shtypi "dergo", hipi ne avion, nuk mori asnje pergjigje,

turned off her phone, fell asleep,

fiku telefonin, ra ne gjume,

woke up 11 hours later,

u zgjua pas 11 oresh,

turned on her phone while the plane was taxiing on the runway,

ndezi telefonin nderkohe qe avioni po zbriste ne piste

and straightaway there was a message from somebody

dhe menjehere kishte nje mesazh nga dikush

that she hadn't spoken to since high school,

me te cilin nuk kishte folur qe prej gjimnazit,

that said, "I am so sorry to see what's happening to you."

qe thoshte, "me vjen keq te shoh se cfare po te ndodh."

And then another message from a best friend,

Dhe nje mesazh tjeter nga nje shoqe e ngushte,

"You need to call me right now.

"Duhet te me telefonosh menjehere.

You are the worldwide number one trending topic on Twitter."

Je tema me e biseduar ne Twitter ne rang boteror."

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

What had happened is that one of her 170 followers had sent the Tweet

Cfare kishte ndodhur ishte qe nje nga 170 ndjekesit e saj e kishte derguar Tweet-in

to a Gawker journalist, and he retweeted it to his 15,000 followers:

tek nje gazetar i Gawker, dhe ai e kishte ripostuar tek 15,000 ndjekesit e tij:

[And now, a funny holiday joke from IAC's PR boss]

[Dhe tani, nje shaka pushimesh nga shefi i PR tek IAC]

And then it was like a bolt of lightning.

Dhe me pas ishte si nje stuhi rrufesh.

A few weeks later, I talked to the Gawker journalist.

Disa jave me vone, fola me gazetarin e Gawker.

I emailed him and asked him how it felt, and he said, "It felt delicious."

I dergova nje email ku e pyeta se si u ndje, dhe ai tha, "Mrekullisht."

And then he said, "But I'm sure she's fine."

Dhe me pas shtoi, "Por jam i sigurt qe ajo eshte shume mire."

But she wasn't fine, because while she slept,

Por ajo nuk ishte fare mire, sepse nderkohe qe ajo flinte,

Twitter took control of her life and dismantled it piece by piece.

Twitter mori kontrollin mbi jeten e saj dhe e shperbeu ate pjese pjese.

First there were the philanthropists:

Ne fillim ishin filantropet:

[If @JustineSacco's unfortunate words ... bother you,

[Nese fjalet fatkeqe te @JustineSacco... ju shqetesojne,

join me in supporting @CARE's work in Africa.]

bashkohuni me mua ne mbeshtetjen e punes se @CARE ne Afrike.]

[In light of ... disgusting, racist tweet, I'm donating to @care today]

[Ne djeni te...tweete-ve te shpifura rraciste, po dhuroj tek @care sot]

Then came the beyond horrified:

Pastaj erdhen te tmerruarrit pamase:

[... no words for that horribly disgusting racist as fuck tweet from Justine Sacco.

[...nuk kam fjale per tweet-in e tmerrshem, te shpifur dhe rracist nga Justine Sacco.

I am beyond horrified.]

Jam i tmerruar pamase.]

Was anybody on Twitter that night? A few of you.

Ishte njeri ne Twitter ate nate? Disa prej jush.

Did Justine's joke overwhelm your Twitter feed the way it did mine?

A e permbyti shakaja e Justine faqen tuaj te Twitter sic me ndodhi mua?

It did mine, and I thought what everybody thought that night,

Ndodhi tek e imja, dhe mendova ate qe cdokush mendoi ate nate,

which was, "Wow, somebody's screwed!

qe ishte, "Wow, dikush e pesoi!

Somebody's life is about to get terrible!"

Jeta e dikujt eshte duke u bere e temerrshme!"

And I sat up in my bed,

Dhe u ula ne krevatin tim,

and I put the pillow behind my head,

vendosa jasteket pas kokes,

and then I thought, I'm not entirely sure that joke was intended to be racist.

dhe mendova, nuk jam teresisht i sigurt qe ajo shaka kishte qellim te ishte rraciste.

Maybe instead of gleefully flaunting her privilege,

Ndoshta ne vend te mburrjes me privilegjet e saj,

she was mocking the gleeful flaunting of privilege.

ajo po tallej me kete mburrje me privilegjet.

There's a comedy tradition of this,

Ka nje tradite te kesaj ne komedi,

like South Park or Colbert or Randy Newman.

si South Park ose Colbert ose Randy Newman.

Maybe Justine Sacco's crime was not being as good at it as Randy Newman.

Ndoshta krimi i Justine Sacco ishte qe s'ishte aq e zonja sa Randy Newman.

In fact, when I met Justine a couple of weeks later in a bar,

Ne fakt, kur takova Justine disa jave me vone ne nje bar,

she was just crushed,

ajo ishte e derrmuar,

and I asked her to explain the joke,

dhe i kerkova te shpjegonte shakane,

and she said, "Living in America puts us in a bit of a bubble

dhe ajo tha, "Te jetuarit ne Amerike te vendos brenda nje flluske sapuni

when it comes to what is going on in the Third World.

kur behet fjale per ate qe ndodh ne Boten e Trete.

I was making of fun of that bubble."

Une po tallesha me ate fllusken."

You know, another woman on Twitter that night, a New Statesman writer Helen Lewis,

Nje femer tjeter ne Twitter ate nate, nje shkrimtare e re, Helen Lewis,

she reviewed my book on public shaming and wrote that she Tweeted that night,

shqyrtoi librin tim per turperimin publik dhe shkroi qe publikoi nje Tweet ate nate,

"I'm not sure that her joke was intended to be racist,"

"Nuk jam e sigurt qe shakaja e saj kishte qellim te ishte rraciste,"

and she said straightaway she got a fury of Tweets saying,

dhe tha qe menjehere mori nje furi Tweet-esh qe shkruanin,

"Well, you're just a privileged bitch, too."

"Ndoshta edhe ti je nje k***e e privilegjuar."

And so to her shame, she wrote,

Dhe per turpin e saj, shkruante,

she shut up and watched as Justine's life got torn apart.

ajo heshti dhe vezhgoi se si jeta e Justine u coptua.

It started to get darker:

Filloi te behej akoma me e erret situata:

[Everyone go report this cunt @JustineSacco]

[Te gjithe raportoni kete k****n @JustineSacco]

Then came the calls for her to be fired.

Pastaj filuan kerkesat qe ajo te pushohej nga puna.

[Good luck with the job hunt in the new year. #GettingFired]

[Fat te mbare ne kerkimin per pune ne vitin e ri. #PushimngaPuna]

Thousands of people around the world

Mijera njerez rreth e rrotull botes

decided it was their duty to get her fired.

vendosen qe ishte detyra e tyre ta pushonin nga puna.

[@JustineSacco last tweet of your career. #SorryNotSorry

[@JustineSacco tweet-i i fundit i karrieres tende. #NukmeVjenKeq]

Corporations got involved, hoping to sell their products

Korporatat u perfshine me shpresen e shitjes se produkteve te tyre

on the back of Justine's annihilation:

mbi kurrizin e asgjesimit te Justine:

[Next time you plan to tweet something stupid before you take off,

[Heres tjeter qe planifikoni te tweet dicka idiote para se te niseni me avion,

make sure you are getting on a @Gogo flight!]

sigurohuni qe po niseni me nje udhetim @Gogo flight!]

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

A lot of companies were making good money that night.

Shume kompani ishin duke bere shume para ate nate.

You know, Justine's name was normally Googled 40 times a month.

E dini, emri i Justine normalisht kerkohej ne google rreth 40 here ne muaj.

That month, between December the 20th and the end of December,

Ate muaj, nga 20 Dhjetori deri ne fund te Dhjetorit,

her name was Googled 1,220,000 times.

emri i saj u kerkua ne Google 1,220,000 here.

And one Internet economist told me that that meant that Google made

Dhe nje ekonomist i internetit me tha qe kjo nenkuptonte qe Google beri

somewhere between 120,000 dollars and 468,000 dollars

diku midis 120,000 dollare dhe 468,000 dollare

from Justine's annihilation, whereas those of us doing the actual shaming --

nga asgjesimi i Justine, nderkohe ata nga ne qe bene turperimin e drejteperdrejt--

we got nothing.

s'morem asgje.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

We were like unpaid shaming interns for Google.

Ishim si praktikante turperimi pa pagese per Google.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

And then came the trolls:

Pastaj filluan talljet:

[I'm actually kind of hoping Justine Sacco gets aids? lol]

[Po filloj te shpresoj qe Justine Sacco te marri SiDA? lol]

Somebody else on that wrote,

Dikush tjeter shkruajti rreth kesaj,

"Somebody HIV-positive should rape this bitch and then we'll find out

"Dikush qe eshte HIV-positiv duhet ta perdhunoj kete k****n

if her skin color protects her from AIDS."

dhe pastaj do te zbulojme nese ngjyra e saj e lekures e mbron nga AIDS."

And that person got a free pass.

Dhe ky personi u la te kalonte.

Nobody went after that person.

Askush nuk e sulmoi ate.

We were all so excited about destroying Justine,

Ishim te gjithe kaq entuziaste te shkaterronim Justine,

and our shaming brains are so simple-minded,

dhe truri yne turperues eshte kaq i thjeshte,

that we couldn't also handle destroying somebody

saqe nuk mund te perballonim te shkaterronim dike

who was inappropriately destroying Justine.

qe po shkaterronte Justine ne menyre te papershtatshme.

Justine was really uniting a lot of disparate groups that night,

Justine po bashkonte shume grupe te deshperuara ate nate,

from philanthropists to "rape the bitch."

nga filantropet tek "perdhunoje k****n."

[@JustineSacco I hope you get fired! You demented bitch...

[@JustineSacco shpresoj qe te pushohesh nga puna! K***e e cmendur...

Just let the world know you're planning to ride bare back while in Africa.]

Beji botes te ditur qe planifikon te kalerosh pa shale nderkohe qe je ne Afrike.]

Women always have it worse than men.

Femrat gjithmone e kane me te veshtire se meshkujt.

When a man gets shamed, it's, "I'm going to get you fired."

Nese nje mashkull turperohet, eshte, "Do bej te te pushojne nga puna."

When a woman gets shamed, it's,

Kur nje femer turperohet, eshte,

"I'm going to get you fired and raped and cut out your uterus."

"Do bej te te pushojne nga puna dhe te te perdhunojne dhe te te presin uterusin.'

And then Justine's employers got involved:

Pastaj punedhenesit e Justine u pefshine:

[IAC on @JustineSacco tweet: This is an outrageous, offensive comment.

[IAC per tweet-in e @JustineSacco: Ky eshte nje koment ofendues dhe i papranueshem.

Employee in question currently unreachable on an intl flight.]

Punonjesja ne fjale eshte momentalisht e paarritshme ne nje udhetin nderkombetar.]

And that's when the anger turned to excitement:

Dhe aty inati u kthye ne ngazellim:

[All I want for Christmas is to see @JustineSacco's face when her plane lands

[Gjithcka dua per Krishtlindje eshte te shoh fytyren e @JustineSacco kur avioni i saj te zbrese

and she checks her inbox/voicemail. #fired]

dhe ajo kontrollon inbox/mesazhet zanore. #epushuar]

[Oh man, @justinesacco is going to have the most painful

[@justinesacco do te kete momentin me te dhimbshem

phone-turning-on moment ever when her plane lands.]

te ndezjes se telefonit kur avioni i saj te zbresi.]

[We are about to watch this @JustineSacco bitch get fired. In REAL time.

[Per pak do te shohim kete k****n @JustineSacco te pushohet nga puna. Ne kohe reale.

Before she even KNOWS she's getting fired.]

Para se ajo vete te di qe po pushohet.]

What we had was a delightful narrative arc.

Ajo cfare ne kishim ishte nje hark narrativ tejet i bukur.

We knew something that Justine didn't.

Ne dinim dicka qe Justine nuk e dinte.

Can you think of anything less judicial than this?

A mund te mendoni dicka me gjykuese se kjo.

Justine was asleep on a plane and unable to explain herself,

Justine ishte ne gjume ne avion ne pamundesi per te shpjeguar veten,

and her inability was a huge part of the hilarity.

dhe pamundesia e saj ishte pjese e madhe e gallates.

On Twitter that night, we were like toddlers crawling towards a gun.

Ate nate ne Twitter, ne ishim si femije qe po zvarriteshim drejt nje arme.

Somebody worked out exactly which plane she was on, so they linked

Dikush arriti te gjente saktesisht ne cilin avion ishte, dhe e lidhen

to a flight tracker website.

me nje website qe ndiqte udhetimet.

[British Airways Flight 43 On-time - arrives in 1 hour 34 minutes]

[Udhetimi i British Airways 43 mberrin ne kohe- per 1 ore e 34 minuta]

A hashtag began trending worldwide:

Nje hashtag filloi te perhapej boterisht.

# hasJustineLandedYet?

#akazbriturJustineende?

[It is kinda wild to see someone self-destruct

[Eshte pak cmenduri te shohesh dike te vetshkaterrohet

without them even being aware of it. #hasJustineLandedYet]

pa qene vete i vetedijshem per ate qe po i ndodh. #akazbriturJustineende]

[Seriously. I just want to go home to go to bed, but everyone at the bar

[Seriozisht. Dua thjesht te shkoj ne shtepi qe te shtihem ne shtrat, por te gjithe tek bari

is SO into #HasJustineLandedYet. Can't look away. Can't leave.]

jane te dhene pas #akazbriturJustineende Nuk mund te bej sikur nuk shoh. Nuk mund te iki.]

[#HasJustineLandedYet may be the best thing to happen to my Friday night.]

[#akazbriturJustineende mund te jete gjeja me e mire qe i ka ndodhur te premtes time.]

[Is no one in Cape Town going to the airport to tweet her arrival?

[A do shkoj dikush ne Cape Town ne aeroport te presi zbritjen e saj?

Come on, twitter! I'd like pictures]

Jepi Twitter! Dua foto.]

And guess what? Yes there was.

Dhe gjejni cfare? Po, dikush shkoi.

[@JustineSacco HAS in fact landed at Cape Town international.

@JustineSacco KA zbritur ne fakt ne Cape Town Internacional.

And if you want to know what it looks like to discover

Dhe nese doni te dini se si duket dikush

that you've just been torn to shreds because of a misconstrued liberal joke,

qe sapo eshte shperbere ne copa per shkak te nje shakaje liberale te keqkuptuar,

not by trolls, but by nice people like us,

jo nga karagjoze, por nga njerez te sjellshem si ne,

this is what it looks like:

kjo eshte si duket:

[... She's decided to wear sunnies as a disguise.]

[...Ajo vendosi te vishte syzet si nje mbulim.]

So why did we do it?

Pse e beme dicka te tille?

I think some people were genuinely upset,

Mendoj qe disa ishin realisht te merzitur,

but I think for other people,

por mendoj per njerezit e tjere,

it's because Twitter is basically a mutual approval machine.

ndoshi sepse Twitter eshte ne thelb nje makine aprovimi reciprok.

We surround ourselves with people who feel the same way we do,

E rrethojme veten me njerez qe ndihen ne te njejten menyre si ne,

and we approve each other,

dhe aprovojme njeri tjetrin,

and that's a really good feeling.

dhe kjo eshte nje ndjenje shume e mire.

And if somebody gets in the way, we screen them out.

Dhe nese dikush nderhyn, ne i perjashtojme ata.

And do you know what that's the opposite of?

Dhe e dini e kunderta e kujt eshte kjo?

It's the opposite of democracy.

Eshte e kunderta e Demokracise.

We wanted to show that we cared about people dying of AIDS in Africa.

Donim te tregonim qe na vinte keq per njerezit qe po vdisnin nga AIDS ne Afrike.

Our desire to be seen to be compassionate is what led us to commit

Deshira jone per tu pare si te dhembshur eshte ajo qe na nxiti drejt

this profoundly un-compassionate act.

ketij veprimi thelbesisht jo te dhembshur.

As Meghan O'Gieblyn wrote in the Boston Review,

Ashtu si shkroi Meghan O'Gieblyn ne shkrimin tek Boston REview,

"This isn't social justice. It's a cathartic alternative."

"Kjo nuk eshte drejtesi sociale eshte nje alernative per katharsis."

For the past three years,

Gjate tre viteve te fundit,

I've been going around the world meeting people like Justine Sacco --

Une ka shetitur boten duke takuar njerez si Justine Sacco--

and believe me, there's a lot of people like Justine Sacco.

dhe me besoni, ka shume njerez si Justine Sacco.

There's more every day.

Ka perdite e me shume.

And we want to think they're fine, but they're not fine.

Dhe duam te mendojme qe jane shume mire, por ata nuk jane mire.

The people I met were mangled.

Njerezit qe takova ishin te gjymtuar.

They talked to me about depression,

Me flisnin rreth depresionit,

and anxiety and insomnia and suicidal thoughts.

ankthit dhe pagjumesise dhe mendimeve vetvrasese.

One woman I talked to, who also told a joke that landed badly,

Nje femer me te cilen fola qe po ashtu tha nje shaka qe u mor per keq,

she stayed home for a year and a half.

qendroi ne shtepi per nje vit e gjysem.

Before that, she worked with adults with learning difficulties,

Para kesaj, ajo punonte me te rritur me veshtiresi ne te mesuar,

and was apparently really good at her job.

dhe ishte shume e mire ne punen e saj.

Justine was fired, of course, because social media demanded it.

Justine u pushua nga puna, sigurisht, sepse rrjetet sociale e kerkuan.

But it was worse than that.

Por ishte me keq se aq.

She was losing herself.

Ajo po humbiste veten.

She was waking up in the middle of the night, forgetting who she was.

Ajo zgjohej ne mes te nates dhe harronte se kush ishte.

She was got because she was perceived to have misused her privilege.

Ajo u vu ne shenjester sepse u perceptua qe po perdorte privilegjet e saj.

And of course, that's a much better thing to get people for than the things

Dhe patjeter, eshte nje arsye shume me e mire per tu vene nen shenjster

we used to get people for, like having children out of wedlock.

sesa arsyet e tjera qe perdornim, si te paturit femije jashte martese.

But the phrase "misuse of privilege" is becoming a free pass

Shprehja "Shperdorim i privilegjeve" po kthehet ne nje leje

to tear apart pretty much anybody we choose to.

per te coptuar pothuajse kedo qe ne zgjedhim.

It's becoming a devalued term,

Po kthehet ne nje shprehje te zhvleresuar,

and it's making us lose our capacity for empathy

dhe po na ben te humbasim aftesine tone per empati

and for distinguishing between serious and unserious transgressions.

dhe per te dalluar midis shkeljeve serioze dhe atyre joserioze.

Justine had 170 Twitter followers, and so to make it work,

Justine kishte 170 ndjekes ne Twitter, dhe per ta bere te funksiononte,

she had to be fictionalized.

ajo duhej te kthehej ne nje karakter joreal.

Word got around that she was the daughter the mining billionaire Desmond Sacco.

Zbuluam qe ajo ishte vajza e miljarderit te minierave Desmond Sacco.

[Let us not be fooled by #JustineSacco her father is a SA mining billionaire.

[Mos te genjehemi nga #JustineSacco i ati i saj eshte milrajder minierash.

She's not sorry. And neither is her father.]

Asaj nuk i vjen keq. As te atit te saj.]

I thought that was true about Justine,

Mendoja se kjo ishte e vertet rreth Justine,

until I met her at a bar, and I asked her about her billionaire father,

deri kur e takova ne nje lokal, dhe e pyeta per babain e saj miljarder,

and she said, "My father sells carpets."

dhe ajo tha, "Im at shet tapete."

And I think back on the early days of Twitter,

Dhe kujtohem rreth diteve te hershme te Twitter,

when people would admit shameful secrets about themselves,

kur njerezit pranonin sekrete te turpshme rreth vetes,

and other people would say, "Oh my God, I'm exactly the same."

dhe njerezit e tjere thoshin "O zot, jam ekzaktesisht keshtu."

These days, the hunt is on for people's shameful secrets.

Keto dite, gjuetia ka filluar per sekretet e pista te njerezve.

You can lead a good, ethical life,

Mund te jetojme nje jete te mire dhe etike,

but some bad phraseology in a Tweet can overwhelm it all,

por nje shprehje e keqe ne nje Tweet mund ta permbysi te gjithen,

become a clue to your secret inner evil.

dhe te kthehet ne nje sinjal te te keqit sekret brenda teje.

Maybe there's two types of people in the world:

Ndoshta ka dy lloj njerezish ne bote:

those people who favor humans over ideology,

ata qe i japin perparesi njeriut perpara ideologjise,

and those people who favor ideology over humans.

dhe ata qe i japin perparesi ideologjise perpara njeriut.

I favor humans over ideology,

Une i jap perparesi njeriut perpara ideologjise,

but right now, the ideologues are winning,

por tani, ideologet po fitojne,

and they're creating a stage for constant artificial high dramas

dhe po krijojne nje skene per dramacitet artificial te vazhdueshem

where everybody's either a magnificent hero

ku kushdo ose eshte nje hero i mahnitshem

or a sickening villain,

ose nje keqberes i pershtire,

even though we know that's not true about our fellow humans.

edhe pse e dime qe kjo nuk eshte e vertete per njerezit.

What's true is that we are clever and stupid;

Cfare eshte e vertete eshte qe ne jemi te zgjuar dhe budallenj,

what's true is that we're grey areas.

cfare eshte e vertet eshte qe ne jemi ne zona gri.

The great thing about social media was how it gave a voice

Aspekti me i fuqishem i mediave sociale ishte dhenia e nje zeri

to voiceless people,

njerezve pa ze,

but we're now creating a surveillance society,

por tani po krijojme nje shoqeri vezhgimi,

where the smartest way to survive is to go back to being voiceless.

ku menyra me e zgjuar per te mbijetuar eshte te kthehesh ne te qenin pa ze.

Let's not do that.

Mos ta bejme kete gje.

Thank you.

Faleminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

Bruno Giussani: Thank you, Jon.

Bruno Giussani: Faleminderit, Jon.

Jon Ronson: Thanks, Bruno.

Jon Ronson: Faleminderit, Bruno.

BG: Don't go away.

BG: Mos u largo.

What strikes me about Justine's story

Cfare me befason ne historine e Justine

is also the fact that if you Google her name today,

eshte fakti qe po e kerkove emrin e saj ne Google sot,

this story covers the first 100 pages of Google results --

kjo histori mbulon 100 faqet e para ne rezultatet e Google

there is nothing else about her.

nuk ka asgje tjeter rreth saj.

In your book, you mention another story

Ne librin tuaj, ju permendni nje histori tjeter

of another victim who actually got taken on by a reputation management firm,

te nje tjeter viktime qe u mor persiper nga nje firme e menaxhimit te reputacionit,

and by creating blogs and posting nice, innocuous stories about her love for cats

dhe me krijimin e blogjeve dhe postimeve te kendshme, histori te pafajshme rreth dashurire se saj per macet

and holidays and stuff, managed to get the story

pushime dhe gjera te tjera arriti ta hiqte historine

off the first couple pages of Google results, but it didn't last long.

nga faqet e para te Google por nuk zgjati shume.

A couple of weeks later, they started creeping back up to the top result.

Disa jave me vone, filluan te ngjiteshin serish ne fillim te rezultateve.

Is this a totally lost battle?

A eshte nje beteje e humbur perfundimisht?

Jon Ronson: You know, I think the very best thing we can do,

Jon Ronson: Mendoj gjeja me e mire qe mund te bejme,

if you see a kind of unfair or an ambiguous shaming,

kur shohim kete lloj turperimi te pandershem

is to speak up, because I think the worst thing that happened to Justine

eshte te flasim, sepse mendoj qe gjeja me e keqe qe i ndodhi Justine

was that nobody supported her -- like, everyone was against her,

eshte qe askush nuk e mbeshteti te gjithe ishin kunder saj,

and that is profoundly traumatizing,

dhe kjo eshte thellesisht traumatizuese,

to be told by tens of thousands of people that you need to get out.

te te thone qindra, mijera njerez qe duhet te largohesh.

But if a shaming happens and there's a babble of voices, like in a democracy,

Por nese turperimi ndodh dhe ka disa zera, si ne demokraci,

where people are discussing it, I think that's much less damaging.

kur njerezit e diskutojne rreth saj, mendoj qe kjo eshte shume me pak e demshme.

So I think that's the way forward,

Mendoj qe kjo eshte rruga per te perparuar,

but it's hard, because if you do stand up for somebody,

por eshte e veshtire, sepse nese ti del ne mbrojtje te dikujt,

it's incredibly unpleasant.

eshte tmerresisht e pakendshme.

BG: So let's talk about your experience,

BG: Le te flasim per eksperience tuaj,

because you stood up by writing this book.

sepse ju moret nje qendrim duke shkruajtur kete lliber.

By the way, it's mandatory reading for everybody, okay?

Meqe ra fjala, eshte e detyrueshme te lexohet nga te gjithe, dakord?

You stood up because the book actually puts the spotlight on shamers.

Ju mbajtet qendrim sepse libri e vendos fokusin tek "turperuesit".

And I assume you didn't only have friendly reactions on Twitter.

Dhe besoj nuk patet vetem reagime miqesore ne Twitter.

JR: It didn't go down that well with some people.

JR: Nuk shkoi dhe aq mire me disa njerez.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

I mean, you don't want to just concentrate --

Dua te them, qe nuk dua te perqendrohem

because lots of people understood, and were really nice about the book.

sepse shume njerez kuptuan dhe ishin shume te sjellshem per librin.

But yeah, for 30 years I've been writing stories about abuses of power,

Por po, per 30 vjet kam shkruajtur histori rreth abuzimeve me fuqine,

and when I say the powerful people over there in the military,

dhe kur them njerezit e fuqishem atje tek ushtria,

or in the pharmaceutical industry, everybody applauds me.

ose ne industrine farmaceutike te gjithe me duartrokasin.

As soon as I say, "We are the powerful people abusing our power now,"

Sapo them " Ne jemi personat me fuqi qe po abuzojme me fuqine tone."

I get people saying, "Well you must be a racist too."

Njerezit me thone "Atehere dhe ti duhet te jesh nje racist."

BG: So the other night -- yesterday -- we were at dinner,

BG: Nje nate me para dje- ishim duke ngrene darke,

and there were two discussions going on.

dhe ishin dy diskutime qe po zhvilloheshin.

On one side you were talking with people around the table --

Nga njera ane ju po flisnit me njerezit rreth tavolines--

and that was a nice, constructive discussion.

dhe ishte nje bashkebisedim i kendshem dhe konstruktiv.

On the other, every time you turned to your phone,

Nga ana tjeter, sa here ndiznit telefonin

there is this deluge of insults.

kishte nje varg ofendimesh.

JR: Yeah. This happened last night. We had like a TED dinner last night.

JR: Po, kjo ndodhi naten e kaluar. Kishim si nje darke TED mbreme.

We were chatting and it was lovely and nice, and I decided to check Twitter.

Po bisedonim dhe ishte shume e kendshme dhe une vendosa te kontrolloja Twitter.

Somebody said, "You are a white supremacist."

Dikush tha" Ti je nje supermacist i bardhe."

And then I went back and had a nice conversation with somebody,

Pastaj u ktheva dhe pata nje bisede te kendshme me dike,

and then I went back to Twitter,

pastaj u ktheva serish ne Twitter,

somebody said my very existence made the world a worse place.

dikush tha qe vete ekzistenca ime e bente boten nje vend me te keq.

My friend Adam Curtis says

Miku ik Adam Curtis tha

that maybe the Internet is like a John Carpenter movie from the 1980s,

qe ndoshta interneti eshte si nje film i John Carpenteer i 1980's

when eventually everyone will start screaming at each other

ku heret e vone te gjithe do fillojne ti bertasin njeri-tjetrit

and shooting each other, and then eventually everybody

dhe ti gjuajne njeri-tjetrit, dhe ne nje moment dikush

would flee to somewhere safer,

do te arratiset ne nje vend te sigurt,

and I'm starting to think of that as a really nice option.

dhe po filloj ta mendoj si nje opsion te mire.

BG: Jon, thank you. JR: Thank you, Bruno.

BG: Faleminderit! JR: Faleminderit Bruno.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)