What is a shit storm?

The phenomenon "Shitstorm" was created with Facebook & Co. - but what exactly is that?

Shitstorms - a phenomenon of the Internet

How quickly such a shit storm can spread was observed in April 2013 on the Facebook page of soccer player Mario Götze. A few minutes after it became known that he was moving from Dortmund to Bayern Munich, there were numerous posts with hate messages, hostilities and threats on his page.

• As the name suggests, it is a "storm" of "dirt", a flood of numerous messages with negative and above all insulting content.
• This phenomenon occurs on social networks, mainly on Facebook and Twitter. The users mostly refrain from constructive discussions and write their opinions openly and clearly, without thinking deeply about them and its consequences.
• The certain anonymity on the Internet makes this mass phenomenon possible. Social network users feel safe behind your screen and do not have to confront the person you write to directly. This leads the shitstormers to say things that they would not normally say.
• Shitstorms affect not only individuals, but also companies and public institutions such as political parties.
• There are several reasons for shitstorms. In the one case, only one football player changes to another club. There are more explosive cases, for example, in which companies catch a shit storm through their own behavior, which is perceived by users as wrong. See the next paragraph for more examples.

Examples of shitstorms on the WWW

Shitstorms actually always have a negative impact on the people and companies concerned.

• The then 13-year-old student from the USA, Rebecca Black, also drew positive things from a shit storm. Her parents financed the production of a music video with her as a star. The video has now been clicked on YouTube over 50 million times. Although most of the reviews are negative, and hardly any comment is positive, Rebecca increased her awareness and got a record deal.
• In July 2012, a Vodafone customer complained about an unusually high bill on the mobile operator's Facebook page. When there was still no response after a few days, the post already had over 50, 000 likes and over 5, 000 hostile comments against Vodafone. The company tried to talk itself out of this lack of customer service and got away with a more or less big image damage.
• At the beginning of 2013, the ARD showed a documentary about the working conditions of Amazon employees, which were monitored by supposedly right-wing radical security personnel under poor conditions. There was immediate hostility to Amazon on their Facebook page.

Tip: If you want to arm yourself against a shit storm, the web app "Shitstormarm" helps you, which monitors suspicious activity on your Facebook page.