I love Ashley Charles's perspective on how we live our lives online these days and the way we expend our energy there: outrage without any thought to the benefits that energy expenditure will provide. Also, considering the interlinking of outrage & activism and thinking of outrage as a currency to be spent or something that should turn into action. She has such a fresh, practical, well thought out approach to this most frustrating part of modern life - it made me feel much better about how the future could be!

So to get it out of the way, I listen to 1Xtra almost daily and generally would have caught some or all of Dotty’s Breakfast show*. There you have it – I wouldn’t call myself a super fan but I probably know more about Ashley ‘Dotty’ Charles than I do most authors I read.

I enjoyed Outraged. I wasn’t sure what I was getting and probably only read it because Dotty mentioned it on her radio show but it was a solid read. It was a succinct overview of how outrage is expressed and escalated on and by social media. Dotty illustrated her points with notable cases that you were likely to have heard of. I’ll leave you to enjoy being reminded of those.

I don’t know why I was mildly surprised but this was a well researched book for it’s category – General Fiction, informative and also entertaining. It wasn’t off the cuff – she is good at riffing, nor did she as is colloquially known ‘half ass it’. Thought, direction and research had gone into this book which made it lightweight enough that it covered broad points but not as detailed to make you think that you were studying the topic for a qualification.

"People are so intent on projecting a self-serving image of morality that they now piggyback any prominent cause that might help position themselves as ethical and compassionate"

People, that is you, me and others, take their interests, anger, frustration, sadness and even joy, express it in real life/on social media and it is the reaction to that, which is sometimes out of proportion to the original expression. The original intent/slurs/’ism’s/bad behaviour, etc is almost lost in the noise of the pile on of responses.

"Collecting moral Brownie points by pointing out even the slightest of improprieties.."

We – that is human beings – have forgotten what to be upset about as – it is as if we see a snippet of an argument or story and are immediately swayed into support or opposition. Our starting point is 100% and increasingly ramps up, until we are a foaming, vibrating megaphone of opinion. Is our opinion based in fact or the number of times we’ve heard that story?

"True outrage v misplaced outrage"

What I took from this was that everyone has a right to their opinions and likewise everyone has the right to disagree with said opinion, but disagree from your informed point of view and not the prevailing one aka the one with most likes or retweets. It isn’t about picking your battles so much as being proportionate in your outrage and doing something with your vocal displeasure. Words should translate into actions.

"We don’t need to care less; we just need to care better."
Outraged, exceeded my expectations and entertained with too many quotes for one review.

And I will leave the last word to Dotty as she sums it up perfectly.

"…we need to transfer our resistance from the Internet to the real world and reignite the purposeful outrage that drove society forward in the offline era."

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an eArc in exchange for a candid review.

Early reader opinions seem to suggest that this book is more controversial than I expected, or indeed experienced. Like the ouroboros eating itself, "Outrage" seems to be eliciting that very response in some who feel the content isn't anything they didn't know already, or that the author's (funny, observational) commentary is questionably offensive. Hilarious! I suspect that those who choose to buy the book won't be those who need it most. Personally, I admire Ashley 'Dotty' Charles's plain speaking and writing style. I found the book informative, well-researched and a good resource for anyone attempting to navigate the minefields of social media. "Outrage" presents a collection of ideas and observations that made perfect sense to me and allowed me the space to consider my own behaviour - past and present. My biggest take away is that I will consciously try to ensure that I continue listening to those with whom I don't always agree and strive to keep my timeline diverse, in order that I don't fall into the trap of the self-important echo chamber. I've already learned from experience to choose my battles wisely. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

This is hands down one of the best books I've read in 2020, and without doubt the best non-fiction book I've read.

Dotty explores some of the most interesting instances of social media outrage of recent years and just how ineffective it can be. So many of us are guilty of jumping on the current social media outrage bandwagon, causing real societal issues to be overlooked.

This book is insightful, well-researched, and absolutely hilarious. I highly recommend it.

I wasnt too sure how this one. A lot of things went over my head and lost my interest. Some parts of it made sense and let mr see some things from a different point of view and I learnt some bits from it. The case studies throughout the book were a good insight into the things that happen within the world.

Outraged is a magical combination of enlightening and entertaining. The potential minefield of a subject is made easier to chew on because of the great use of humour and straight talking approach,

The examples used are interesting and unpacked from all angles. Each example I read helped me think through my own beliefs and past actions.

Ashley Charles asks us to consider carefully when we use our outrage - her approach makes me think we have a reserve of outrage that is difficult to replenish and so we should use it wisely. This is a guide to social justice that will lead to real change.

In a world where it seems that there is a new source of outrage every day, Ashley 'Dotty' Charles takes an insightful look at performative outrage.

Featuring interviews with Rachel Dolezal, Katie Hopkins, Richard Wilson (founder of Stop Funding Hate), and Stephanie Yeboah (@NerdAboutTown), Charles takes an in-depth and balanced look into outrage.

The final chapter succinctly sums up Charles' proposed approach to outrage, addressing that we should not be outraged but that we should be more deliberate in our outrage and seek tangible change.

This book was not quite what I expected. I think I went into it expecting either a saucy dissection of significant moments of online outrage or a very specific set of steps of how to turn outrage into action. Whilst both of those things are touched on, this book asks the reader to evaluate their outrage in a much more individual way.

Eight stars out of five? Screw it. Twelve stars! Please take all of my stars!!

I was rolling, physically rolling with laughter (and sympathy, if one can roll with sympathy?) from the first chapter. It’s quite a short read - I finished it in around 3 hours - and yet packed full of personality from page one. I already want it read it again.

What I love about Dotty is that she can hold her hands up and admit to having fallen into the many ‘outrage traps’ herself, so this book in no way feels like a lecture or a swipe at the reader. Rather, it investigates why we behave in the ways that we do and analyses how we’ve ended up so damn offended all the time. ‘We don’t need to care less; we just need to care better.’

Somehow we spur each other on, keep awful newspapers in business and put food in the mouths of outrage-hungry celebrities we actually wish would die slow and painful deaths from starvation. In all seriousness, it really opened my eyes to how self-serving a lot of public outrage actually is.

I find it truly fascinating to learn about our behaviours and motivations. I also have to take my hat off to Dotty, that she managed to interview such awful people and remain so totally calm and professional throughout. Even when interviewing a White woman con artist who had been branding herself as Black to get ahead in her career and homophobic outrage-mongers like Katie Hopkins (Dotty is both Black and homosexual).

Picking just one favourite quote is so difficult here, because I have to choose between laughter-gasps and life-changing realisations, but I feel this one represents the tone of the book so well and I couldn’t stop laughing during a very serious topic of discussion:

‘There’s loads of different ways,’ he says in a measured tone that convinces me he wears his hair in a side parting,…

An absolute masterpiece of a book, I honestly cannot sing its praises loudly enough. More please!

I came across this book during the aftermath of the death of George Floyd when the world is ruled by #blacklivesmatter #blackouttuesday and many others. In the times, when I knew my couple of followers on Instagram would lynch me if I dared to post something during blackout Tuesday, and when I was afraid I will get lynched for not posting the black square. Despite knowing, most of these people posting black squares actually don’t care and are racist themselves. Not saying I agree with police brutality, just drawing parallels.
Great use of case studies, interviews, different opinions, and humour. I don’t think I have agreed so much with a book I have read, and I felt like I should highlight a lot of things I read. This book made my laugh, made me nod, made me try to remember to excerpts of it and discuss the power of online movements with my friends and family.
Wonderfully written and could be seen as controversial. Saying things just the way they are, this book is a must-read for everybody getting outraged just about everything and sharing each social movement hashtag on social media. It’s for everyone blindly reposting and not actually thinking about the issue, and for everyone like me, who gets annoyed on people blindly reposting.

This book is an easily-accessible, thought-provoking read on outrage in a digital age with real-life examples, case-studies, academic findings and influencer interviews from those at either end of outrage and vitriol. It most importantly provides insight into how we can focus on important issues and how we can effect real, lasting change.