On Labor Day weekend of this year, that scenario played out again. A former lineman in the NFL was away for the weekend and kids broke into his house and about 300 of them had a huge party with all kinds of drugs and alcohol, and did $20,000-$40,000 in damage.
But they also posted liberally on social media, including countless photos of themselves partying at his house.
Brian Holloway, the ex-NFL lineman, was alerted to the social media posts by his son. He made a website HelpMeSave300.com where he republished their (public) media. He hoped to shame them and their into helping repair the extensive damage. Instead, guess what happened? He says a number of their parents have threatened to sue him.
The player retorted that after his years in the NFL lining up against the likes of Lawrence Taylor, he won't be intimidated. TheGothamist picked up the story which has now gone viral nationally. For his part, Holloway is holding a BYO BBQ party in honor of Vets at his house, and is still hoping some of the kids will step forward to help out with the repairs.
It's not the first highly public attempt to use social media to shame wrong-doers. The New York Times reported on the case of the Stolen Sidekick to illustrate how social media can be used by individuals to empower themselves in situations where traditional, large organizational sotluions did not help.
The friend of the woman whose sidekick was stolen effectively used social media to identify and, in a very public way, shame the thief. Ultimately, the thief was arrested and the phone returned.
Brian Holloway just hopes he gets his house fixed.
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