Cancel Culture: An Ineffective Online Trend

“You’re canceled” is a phrase that many millennials and Gen-Zers have become familiar with, especially in the world of Twitter.

Article By Han Vu-Tran

Cancel culture is a phenomenon that calls out and boycotts people whose actions have been perceived as “taking things too far”. Many people that have been “canceled” have been found to say homophobic, racist, and/or sexist things. However, these days, it seems that those are not the only reasons people are getting canceled.

Although cancel culture may seem like a touchy topic, it is an issue that dictates the lives of many young influencers. With the frequent use of stories on the internet and social media platforms, cancel culture has become more prominent than ever. Before the age of social media, it was difficult to find “dirt” on someone, without directly hearing it from a source. It was much easier for humans to make mistakes, learn from them, and move on. But with the growing influence of social media in our society, it seems that every mistake, no matter its size, is brought into the spotlight.

Of course, there are some errors that are considered to be more than mere mistakes. However, canceling the person responsible for the error does not necessarily ensure that they will learn from their faults and improve in the future. The main problem with cancel culture is that it gaslights young people for making normal mistakes. The internet is quick to cancel those who are simply rumored about, rather than investigating as to whether there is any truth to said rumors.

Cancel culture can be seen as an extension of call-out culture. When someone is initially “canceled”, their mistakes are usually highlighted on social media platforms, namely Twitter. This is considered “calling-out” the individual or group of people that participated in uncalled for behavior. However, the difference between cancel culture and call-out culture is the length at which others go to ensure that the accused lose their followers. After the “call-out” step, the individual is dragged across social media, and every mistake they have ever made is brought to light. This stage is when conspiracy theories start to be released and friends turn into enemies. Hashtags such as “#isoverparty” and “#iscancelled” start to trend. As seen through the actions of many public figures, these stages occur before the individual has had the chance to make a public apology and defend themselves. Most of the time, they acknowledge that the action was a mistake or done during a moment of weakness.

Past Cases

One notable example is the influencer and YouTuber, James Charles. In 2019, Charles was accused of being a sexual predator, manipulating an individual’s sexuality, and having an inflated ego. These allegations were made by a longtime friend of Charles and fellow YouTuber, Tati Westbrook. In a video published on May 10, 2019, Westbrook made the allegations listed above and said that she would no longer like to associate with Charles. The internet eventually calmed down after Charles posted his video “No More Lies” on May 18, 2019, in which Charles refuted Westbrook’s claims through showing text receipts between him and many others involved in the scandal. Charles left the ordeal relatively unscathed, but he is one of few influencers who were able to rebound in the public eye.

Cancel culture does not bring out the best in people. While some people scram to figure out the truth of the story and advocate for a sense of accountability on the internet, the public is truly in charge of the story. They hold the power and are very quick to judge. Most of the time, haters dig up some dirt on an influencer and stretch the truth.

On July 12, 2020, Twitter saw Rick Riordan being canceled for things in his book that people took out of context. This is something that happens relatively often. While Riordan has written some things that are problematic, he has apologized for it multiple times and continues to educate himself. We have seen individuals, on numerous occasions, be canceled even after apologizing publicly. Cancel culture has created a toxic environment where people believe that it is okay to demean the actions of other people, say horrible things to them, and not think about the consequences.

The act of calling someone out makes them more self-conscious about their mistakes. They are then forced to take one of two paths: 1) publicly apologize and be careful not to repeat their actions, or 2) quickly try to end the news story and hide any other mistakes they have made. It is up to the person to decide which route they would like to take, but the pressure under the public eye and their fears of losing everything they have may cloud their judgment.

Cancel culture is a relatively new trend that basically dictates the internet and who we should and should not support. The problem with that is that the standards are not objective, they are subjective. Cancel culture also doesn’t allow people to make mistakes. Young people should be given room to make the mistakes that young people make. The pressure of growing up in the public eye teaches young stars that it is not okay to make mistakes and encourages the idea of being perfect. They fear that stepping out of line would spread gossip like a wildfire. People are quick to cancel other people for something that they are not even sure is true.

Ultimately, cancel culture does nothing, but force people to quickly act in a humiliating situation. Their words and potential apology somehow sums up what kind of person they are. It seems rather cruel that public platforms allow haters to throw around rumors until it becomes something bigger, but this is a gamble that celebrities must accept. Perhaps there will be a time in the near future where the government steps in and enforces rules against cyberbullying that protect these figures from internet hate. However, for the time being, cancel culture promotes a toxic mentality where people do not like being wrong. They thrive on simply criticizing the actions of others. Leaving the action of canceling others, ineffective.

Sources

Hagi, Sarah. (2019 November 21). Cancel Culture Is Not Real—At Least Not in the Way People Think. Time. https://time.com/5735403/cancel-culture-is-not-real/

Kato, B. (2020 July 10). What is cancel culture? Everything to know about the toxic online trend. New York Post. https://nypost.com/article/what-is-cancel-culture-breaking-down-the-toxic-online-trend/

Rodulfo, K., Walsh, S. (2020 June 30). An Extremely Detailed Timeline Of The James Charles And Tati Westbrook Drama. Elle. https://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/a27453234/james-charles-tati-westbrook-youtube-drama-timeline/

Romano, A. (2019 December 30). What is cancel culture? Why we can’t stop fighting about cancel culture. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-debate

Wright, M. (2018 December 31). STAND-UP DEC. 31, 2018. Louis C.K. Mocks Parkland Kids, Nonbinary People in Leaked Stand-up Set. Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/louis-ck-leaked-standup-comedy-audio-parkland-nonbinary.html