In a time where we’re utterly consumed by social media, cancel culture has become more prevalent than ever. But has it gone too far?
If you’re unsure as to what cancel culture is, it’s ultimately where a person gets ‘cancelled’ for their actions.
Without getting too deep into it; it’s the idea that we can ‘cancel’ something, or someone, due to it being problematic – though it’s got to the point where you can be impacted by a simple disagreement.
There are lots of descriptions of cancel culture on Urban Dictionary. One describes it as: ‘To have your legal rights to free speech circumvented by an angry online mob putting organized pressure on your employer/business associates to terminate your employment/business relationship.’
Cancelling someone used to be as simple as ignoring them and not investing in their products for a while; but cancelling someone has now become people sending hate towards a person – sometimes with multiple angry tweets and threats.
Being cancelled has become so prominent on social media that people with a large platform fear saying the wrong thing – even by accident – because they won’t cope with a barrage of hate.
Sure, there are people who say absolutely terrible things, and they deserve to be noted – but it’s got to the point where normal people making small mistakes are being faced with an overwhelming amount of hate. It’s no longer just disagreements or opinions, it’s personal abuse and comments that can be harmful.
People forget that the user on the other side of the screen is an actual person – of course, disagreements are normal and fair – but it is easy to stop consuming a person’s content and hit that unfollow button.
But getting to the point where a person is afraid to use their social media – something that at the moment, is incredibly helpful to people struggling during the pandemic – is not okay.
The reality is, cancel culture is toxic. By ‘cancelling’ someone you suggest that there is no room for growth. That their act is unforgivable and they deserve to pay a price.
I am all for holding people accountable for their actions (especially brands). But cancel culture has led to a world where people are afraid to be themselves – which leads to people not speaking out about important issues.
It also leads to those that have been ‘cancelled’ being impacted mentally. It is only when someone takes their own life as a result of the abuse that people talk about the importance of kindness but things definitely need to change.
We need to learn to educate rather than attack. Everybody makes mistakes, it is human. But equally, we need to allow people to acknowledge and understand what they did wrong and prove that they have changed.
Most importantly, we need to remember that the person you are angrily tweeting towards at 3am is a human just like you.
If you wouldn’t say it to someone you care about in person, you shouldn’t say it online.
(PS. Please don’t cancel me for this).
