Cancel culture is something that our generation has made to be somewhat normal. Someone does one thing or says something they shouldn’t and immediately the entire internet conspires to ruin their life by commenting on all of their content, boycotting any of their products, harassing or threatening them through direct message or phone calls, and in extreme cases, reaching out to other important members in their lives like a boss or parent. They did something wrong. So, do they deserve it?
Social media has created this platform for young people who can become extremely famous extremely fast, putting them in positions they aren’t equipped to handle. This can be stressful, overwhelming and makes them terrified to ever mess up. But sometimes they do. And this one small thing can define the rest of their lives.
This is such a hard issue because sometimes the things that these “influencers” do are absolutely not okay and show that they are not somebody that we as a generation should be looking up to. They also deserve ramifications and consequences for these actions. However, nobody deserves to be attacked online or in-person and have their lives ruined.
So where do we draw the line? Do we ignore what they have done, simply choose to unfollow and not contribute to their brand any longer? Or do we act and try to reprimand them for what they have done?
Someone should tell them they are in the wrong, but the extent to which we take it on social media these days has gone way too far.
I don’t know about all of you, but I feel that it isn’t our place. I am someone who believes in standing up for others and those who have done wrong facing the consequences. But I am also someone who doesn’t feel that people deserve to be attacked and ‘cancelled’ online. Next time, maybe choose to hit unfollow instead of sending a message or leaving a comment. Maybe be proactive in another way, by addressing the problem with the board of the influencers platform or by sending an explanation of why what they did was wrong instead of attacking them.
There are better ways of addressing these issues than attacking and bullying online. We should all think a little more before we type. Let me know how you all feel.