The Impacts Of Cancel Culture On The Online World

I have to admit, I feel pretty disgusted with myself. It’s easy to fall into trends which make us feel as if we are dealing justice or advocating for better rights. Cancel culture started off as something we believed would empower us with the help of technology, but now, I’ve realised just how toxic it is. It’s not just toxic, it’s ineffective, and it’s destructive. I recently took part in a cancel culture campaign against a celebrity and it truly shocked me out of my stupor, seeing the effects it had.

Toxic for Our Mental Health

To start off with, cancel culture can have a huge impact on the mental health of those who are targeted - something that I have seen firsthand myself. When there are “millions of people [that] hate you very loudly” it could also be “perceived as, Kill yourself”, as Taylor Swift brought up in an interview with Vogue. With the singer being in the spotlight often and having her fair share of drama and feuds, it shows how even celebrities can feel isolated. Not only that, but there are millions of people online who don’t have fan bases as large and aren’t insulated by privilege. Cancelling them can have a huge effect on their jobs, their lives, and even personal friendships. 

Connect Back Misunderstandings

Many people online make a living by being entertaining, but this can also lead to them being misunderstood or their opinions and words taken way out of context. It’s why stand up comedians are often so controversial and get criticism for being offensive. They get audiences to confront taboo topics and initiate conversations about it. People can take this as a misunderstanding, causing a lot of online debate, which is why it is currently so hard to act comfortably online without getting so much hate.

It’s sad that there isn’t any of the lighthearted fun we had in the past, because our words can be twisted and used against us and many even dig up old comments from the pasts of people who have changed and grown tremendously since then.

Creates a Bad Environment and Mentality around Social Media

Encouraging cancel culture because it is the popular thing to do creates unhealthy spaces for us in the social media world. Be more open minded. Cancel culture has now been commonly referred to as the mob mentality. People are so easily offended.

This is a crucial point: the loudest voices on the internet shut down someone who simply disagreed.

Rebuttal

Many people speak out about issues that oppose their own opinion, but conveniently ignore and even support someone that they admire due to personal bias. This diminishes the worth of their opinion and is a completely unacceptable mentality. Being educated about legitimate issues that people should be canceled for is important, rather than picking up on trivial issues about a person.

Call to Action/Solution Ending Statement + Reinstatement of Contention

Cancel culture is an ineffective way of dealing with problems. The online world has become a hurtful and dangerous space, detrimental to the mental health of those in the public eye no matter their circumstance. However, we shouldn't completely write off cancel culture. Instead, we must focus and work towards what cancel culture was originally meant to achieve, and address the underlying issues of racial, social, supremacy and gender differences, have conversations about our mistakes and help each other to learn and grow. After all, we are all only human.