(empo-tuulwey) Social media protests - how ANOTHER book on Amazon (written by Mr. Sandusky) is getting a lot of negative attention

Amazon sells a lot of products, and provides the capability for people to review the products.

Google+ user ken mark has noted that people are suddenly paying a lot of attention to this ten-year old product, even though it's not currently available.

The book? An autobiography by a man who goes by the name of Jerry Sandusky.

The title? Touched.

It seems that a lot of people have recently chosen to review the book, although it appears that they haven't read the book. Perhaps they've read something else, such as a grand jury transcript.

Most of the reviews are negative - I only found four positive reviews of the book. One was written back in 2005, back when most of the population didn't know the full story. With what we now know, it's sad to read these words.

Whe you finish this book you wish it was longer. Like a good movie you do not want it to end. It describes a man who has done some great things to help others. How many college football coaches would turn down 3 head coaching opportunities at big-time schools to stay in "Happy Valley". A couple who could not have their own children. Then adopted 6. Not all in infancy. A man who took in foster children and at the same time ran the defense for one of college football's elite teams for 23 years. A kid who never grew up. Yet a person who is so selfless it defies human ego. Everyone reading this should do themselves a moral favor and contribute money to the Second Mile. (...).

Again, this was written back in 2005 - something that people reading the review in 2011 should have realized. The sad thing about this is that unless you were among those few who knew that Happy Valley wasn't so happy, you'd be inclined to take the book at face value, and join in the praise of this wonderful man who cares about kids so much. That's the tragedy here - and, in a different way, it's the tragedy of why just-fired coach Joe Paterno is getting negative press from some people - for someone who reportedly stood for ethics and morality, the claim that he fulfilled the letter of the law rings rather hollow.

The other three positive reviews of Sandusky's book were all written recently - and all were sarcastic.

But this whole exercise goes to show that tools are sometimes used in ways other than originally planned. Amazon provided a facility for book reviews, and people are now using it to express their disgust at the person who wrote the book.