Cancel Culture Ruins Lives…? (Tori Weir)

12/2/2019

The internet and social media has given increased power to private individuals, online influencers, and organized online groups that will make an impact on public impression and reputation. In fact, this power made it possible for them to “cancel” the visibility, influence, and career of individuals perceived to have acted improperly from their public position. People who are found guilty of saying or doing certain offenses, such as hateful language, indecent public behavior, sexual assault or simply doing something that is looked down on, will get online attacks through social media, death threats, or public release of their private lives. The goal of “canceling” is to shame, intimidate and professionally destroy an individual.

For advocates, it is seen as a way of being empowered to resist long-standing forms of abuse and prejudice. This is seen best in the #MeToo movement where it empowered women who were victimized by sexual abuse, sexual assault, and rape to tell their stories. By doing so it brought out the guilty and they became the first to be “canceled”. In some eyes, cancel culture is “redressing historical inequalities and bringing greater accountability” to the behavior of individuals in positions of power. “Cancellation isn't personal. It’s a way for marginalized communities to publicly assert their value systems through pop culture” according to the article on Vice.

On the other hand, cancel culture may view its tactics as an assault on the right to privacy and a way of trying individuals publicly for offenses without any meaningful "due process." It is seen as targeting to destroy a person’s reputation and judge them without the substantiation of evidence. It can be viewed as bullying a person into silence and due to that, it can be taken out of hand.

My questions to you guys are, what is your opinion on cancel culture? Has it gone too far? What are some benefits as well as negatives aspects? Why might someone want to do this? How would you feel if you were being the one who is being canceled by simply from saying something wrong? Is there an alternative way to bring people who could have committed a crime out?

Sources:
https://time.com/5735403/cancel-culture-is-not-real/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbw9pa/what-is-cancel-culture-twitter-extremely-online

39 Comments

Andy Gebhardt

12/8/2019 02:27:52 pm

The idea of cancel culture is one that I have never beard named. I know of what it consists of and it happens a lot I have just never heard it called cancel culture. I believe it consists of two sides though. One that relates to marginalized groups and one that applies to the bullying side of it.
When it comes to getting a message across it is often a good way to do it. Shaming someone else should not have to be the right way but if they deserve it then sometimes it is a good way for the public to learn of it. However, like all things, a lot of power can be five to the people that control these types of media because they can put whatever they want for the public to see and ruin a person or company’s reputation.
Most individuals and groups use canceling to make themselves look better. By taking down an opponent or critic they are opening up more options for themselves.
As far as crimes go, cancel culture is hard because the criminal often gets a lot of verbal and possibly physical abuse because their story is out there. It would be better to have every case in the court system but there is not always enough evidence and only a few people know of the actual crime.
Overall, the hardest part about canceling is the information or lack of it. When the public does not see all sides they make a simple decision about what is right and that can be difficult to change. Cancel culture should change so that people can be more informed and still learn reasons behind the canceling.

Andy Gebhardt

12/8/2019 02:28:59 pm

“Five” should be “given”

Paige

12/8/2019 04:44:21 pm

I did not think of it as a tool to be used to take down an opponent. It is interesting that you say that. Do you think that cancel culture is more directed toward bullying and hurting people and reputations, or for personal gain?

Madicyn

12/8/2019 05:17:17 pm

Cancel culture can be both I believe. Some people may use it as a way to bully and cause harm to others, or they can do it to gain something personally. It’s just a way for people to point fingers and obsess over something or someone that’s doesn’t personally affect them.

Faith

12/8/2019 04:49:06 pm

Shaming someone could be extremely damaging to their self-worth, but it is different if one actually had done what was said.

Paige

12/8/2019 04:41:41 pm

I have never heard of cancel culture before but after reading about it I think it is wrong. I do not believe that people should be shamed in that way. I feel that those who have committed crimes and severe wrongdoings should be punished by law and not groups of people set to ruin a criminal's life.
Cancel culture can get out of hand very easily and destroy an individual's life. A good person who has made some bad decisions could be emotionally, socially, and mentally ruined through social media and the cancel culture lifestyle.
I believe that the law is the best way to deal with criminals. Shaming them on social media seems childish and completely wrong. Someone who makes a bad decision does not become a bad person, but cancel culture makes them feel that way and as if they can never redeem themselves. This, altogether, is wrong.

Ezra

12/8/2019 04:54:35 pm

What about people who have not committed any crimes, and are being tried based off of their character. Should they still be handled by the law?

Brax Kauffman

12/8/2019 05:05:45 pm

While I am not completely sure exactly what canceled culture all entails, if they put it out there do you think they deserve the backlash?

Faith

12/8/2019 04:46:45 pm

When I hear “cancel culture” I think of the whole drama between YouTuber James Charles and Tati Westbrook. This drama led James Charles into a huge “scandal” which made him lose millions and millions of subscribers, whilst having millions of people making terrible comments that he could see. They wanted him to be “canceled” for what had allegedly been done, but turned out to be untrue, and many fans began to watch his videos again. He said in an interview that it showed him who his real friends were, and who stuck by his side through it all, but also put him in the darkest place mentally he has ever been. Several months later he still is not anywhere near how he was before the whole situation began. This goes to show some of the main pros and cons within “cancel culture”. Through all the drama and lies people will still be there for you and you will learn who are the people you should keep in your life and the people you should not keep in your life. But the cons will still outweighs the pros, cancel culture can take a tool on ones mental health, success, and self-confidence.
However, “cancel culture” has mainly been know to be used on social media with more successful people. It is not usually found in schools as a form of bullying. But if people did try to cancel one another for saying something people didn’t agree with or because of a rumor, bullying would be so much worse. Personally, I would feel really annoyed by the situation because it is so immature for someone to do and damaging for the other person being attacked.

Ezra

12/8/2019 04:50:02 pm

Rumors have the ability to ruin someone, and a person should always double check their facts before putting information out there.

Madicyn

12/8/2019 05:08:08 pm

The scandal with James and Tati was shown all over social media and was a very public event that happened in both of their lives. They were both talked bad about, lost subscribers and respect, they lost time, and they lost good mental health. This cancel culture can be dangerous. some people could become obsessed with hiding behind their screens and saying terrible things, but using the excuse to “cancel” someone.

Tori Weir

12/8/2019 06:12:29 pm

I liked that you mentioned cancel culture can really do damage on a person's mental health, success, and self-confidence. No one knows how that person is doing and dealing with everything unless they know them personally. Do you think we can stop cancel culture?

Ezra

12/8/2019 04:46:56 pm

When I think of this term “cancel culture” the only thing that comes to my mind is Logan Paul. Logan filmed that video in the forest where people go to commit suicide in China and found and filmed that persons dead body. I believe that Logan should have been kicked from YouTube, and others agreed but in the end he was just heavily looked down on and lost a lot of subscribers. He got what was coming to him seeing that his fanbase is mostly 12 year olds and they got to witness what a dead body looked like, so I believe that the internet did what was right by trying to cancel him.

People have the choice to like whatever they want and look at whatever they want on social media. I think that there should be some sort of way to block out anything that might offend a person so they don’t have to deal with it what so ever on social media. Other than this I can not see a way to solve the issue.

Faith

12/8/2019 04:50:46 pm

It’s crazy he didn’t realize the damage that may come with uploading that video. But people will always feed into the drama if it means they will get more attention.

Brax Kauffman

12/8/2019 05:04:24 pm

Obviously what he did was wrong so do you believe he deserved to be ridiculed to the extent that he was? Or do you think there could have been other ways it could have been handled?

Sabrina

12/8/2019 06:32:42 pm

The biggest problem with these larger cancellations is that no one ever goes back to forgive. They are labeled evil and their lives are as good as ruined. Another thing about cancel culture is as soon as one person cancels someone, the internet will jump on the bandwagon without knowing everything and the cancellation will grow like a wave.

Aiden

12/8/2019 06:45:49 pm

I think the internet needs to know the full story instead of just assuming things. Knowing the nature of Logan Paul and his family I think he deserved everything he got and more. That was an arrogant move and he needed a lesson he more than likely didn’t even learn.

Andy Gebhardt

12/15/2019 09:32:41 am

That is a good example and at that point it was his fault that it happened. He should not have put that on his channel and it would have been better to not even talk about it. Cancel culture definitely got to him and he has had problems staying popular. What should Logan Paul have gotten because he showed these graphic images?

Brax Kauffman

12/8/2019 05:18:12 pm

Like majority of us, cancelled culture is a new term to me. From what I took away from it I believe there are two different sides to it. The first is for when people post things and then began to get shamed because of what they posted. When it comes to this situation, I believe that whenever people post anything on their own, they should be prepared for the backlash that they receive. This can include positive and negative comments. This is how the modern world conveys their collective ideas on different subjects. Even if they are usually only the majority of the people ideas. The second side to this is when people get things posted about them without their consent. In this case , I believe that cancelled culture can be a bad thing. This is because a persons life is spread throughout social media and personal details about themselves are revealed and belittled. Because of this my opinion does not sway one way or the other.

Tori Weir

12/8/2019 06:06:53 pm

It is interesting how our culture made "cancel culture" a norm now on social media. I knew this was happening but never knew that it had a official name. It is honestly sad that if someone well known posts on social media they will get hate no matter what.

Erykah

12/8/2019 08:57:27 pm

Building a shield against negative comments are necessary when posting on social media. It is nice to see powerful influencers who radiate positivity and ignore ignorant hate comments. It is also important to read and consider criticism that is not meant to be hateful because it can become helpful to prevent problems in the future.

Alyssa Farnworth

12/8/2019 06:07:41 pm

Cancel Culture is a form of social protest. I believe that it can be both positive and negative. Many people don’t recognize their wrongs until they feel the backlash. For others it may be a form of bullying. It depends on if they are guilty or not and what they are guilty of.

Cancel culture calls out a person for being problematic in any given situation. It is a form of social culture saying what they are and are not willing to accept from people. If someone is going to do something wrong, I feel that they should accept the repercussions of their actions.

Cancel culture is negative because it doesn’t require any facts. Many times when a person is cancelled their was no proof to back up the claims against them. This is obviously negative because a person's life could be ruined from untrue claims. An example of “negative canceling” is James Charles all of the claims against him proved to be untrue and it very negatively affected his mental health. It is positive because some people should not be remembered in a positive light. Some examples of “positive canceling” would be people like R. Kelly and Harvey Weinstein they used their influence to take advantage of and rape women. They deserve all of the negative energy that came to them and shouldn’t be remembered for their successes but all of the trauma they caused.

Madicyn

12/8/2019 06:10:22 pm

Cancel culture seems just like another way for people to talk badly about celebrities, hoping to get reactions or obsessing over it. People seem to use celebrity lives to make their own more interesting and having something to do. It seems to me that it is childish and not the most mature to share an opinion about controversial subjects. It causes a lot of backlash and common people talking badly about others online or publicly seems like a waste of time.

In some situations, it might be beneficial if it is gone about correctly. People doing the wrong thing or posting things online about other people, should be punished somehow. Cancelling people just isn’t the way to go. It is public, and can greatly harm the people who may be innocent in the situation. YouTube or other agencies should be dealing with the negative things or situations that are being put out Into the world. Not people behind their computer screens causing harm to others.

Sabrina

12/8/2019 06:27:45 pm

I've also noticed the pitiful attempts to "cancel" celebrities so my perception of cancel culture is rather negative. While there may be some good intentions in it, it is overall a permission slip to talk badly about others.

Paige

12/8/2019 06:27:59 pm

I did not think about celebrities when I was writing my post, but they seem to be the largest victims of cancel culture.

Alyssa Farnworth

12/8/2019 06:32:33 pm

I agree that cancel culture can be childish. How do you think dealing with the issue privately would better solve the problem for those involved? Would the person actually change?

Sabrina

12/8/2019 06:25:32 pm

In my experience with cancel culture it has mostly become a petty way to show disapproval for someone else's actions. Cancel culture is a widely accepted way to shame someone and that is wrong. It is alarming to me that we have created a "culture" that feeds off of criticizing others. Protests like the #MeToo movement can be very helpful and enlightening. The goal is to bring a positive change and yet here it seems to be giving permission to personally attack individuals because of cancel culture. If people could just use their moral compass, logic, and an open mind to address these things, we wouldn't need a cancel culture. A large part of this is refraining from passing judgement and being aware that other people can mess up too. The positive cancellations that others have been mentioning are simply doing the right thing and speaking out. I don't know why we have to give these actions a special name. It is my hope that one day our society will create a positive culture among the cancellations that are popular now.

Alyssa Farnworth

12/8/2019 06:38:51 pm

I agree that there are more positive ways to handle situations, but do you think there are any people who deserve the negative recognition of cancel culture?

Aiden

12/8/2019 06:42:44 pm

I took a completely different approach than you but this opens my eyes to the things I have experienced.

Kately Cockrell

12/8/2019 08:50:48 pm

I agree, The MeToo movement was certainly an important one, and we could do more with people speaking out about a problem. When people accuse others of something irrationally, it becomes useless as a “culture”

Aiden

12/8/2019 06:41:02 pm

After learning the term cancel culture’s meaning I’ve decided that it is a useful tactic in battling a rival on the internet. With our adapted ways for people to show their opinions through social media and memes we can effectively “vote” on what we agree with through likes and comments. For the content creators and influencers that have have rivals and opposition in their livelihoods the act of bringing up past things done about others solidifies their point. When someone has a bad past then people have dirt in them to accomplish their own aims. I think this isn’t a necessarily bad thing. The YouTuber “idubbbz” has been extremely successful from this tactic. He makes a video in his content cop series about why he sees someone as a terrible person which dually gives him attention and causes the internet to hate on the person that the videos about. Though extreme bullying does exist to those who don’t deserve it, a lot of the notable Internet personalities do things that merit hate on their names. It is a good thing because it exposes the lazy, arrogant, and frankly unintelligent people on the internet. Those that do their research and have decent morals profit from this tactic. The internet is a great thing we have and as far as entertainment I think people wanting famous people canceled is humorous.

Andy Gebhardt

12/8/2019 08:31:47 pm

Your take on cancel culture is a different perspective. I did not think of it as individual likes and comments on a page or account. It makes sense because a lot of information and biases people have come from different personal pages. Do you think the online media has more influence than printed papers?

Andy Gebhardt

12/15/2019 09:35:07 am

Your take on canceling is interesting. While I agree that it can be amusing it can also be dangerous and like you said a form of bullying. Why do you think people do it when they are not being directly hurtful. Is it to gain attention or just to get revenge on someone else?

Josephine

12/8/2019 07:32:50 pm

I believe that people should have all the facts and evidence before calling someone out. Ruining someone's life out of speculation is not right. I would say that in some areas cancel culture has gone too far, like I stated before it is just not right to condemn someone based on suspicion. However I do see the other side to this as well, based on people's reaction to other's wrong doing online it might make people think twice about committing a serious crime such as sexual assault. It is also good in a sense that now that person is known to everyone and people can be alerted if they are truly dangerous. People choose to partake in cancel culture because they want the faults of others to be known. However calling people out for minor things is not right. If there is a miscommunication or something small like that there is no reason for someone to be ridiculed.

Andy Gebhardt

12/8/2019 08:29:39 pm

I agree with what you said about having the evidence. Knowing the full story is important and can seriously impact how it is interpreted. Do you think that is a problem with the justice system and rarely knowing the exact story?

Kately Cockrell

12/8/2019 08:46:24 pm

I agree completely. What are some instances that someone has wrongfully been accused? What is your opinion on this?

Kately Cockrell

12/8/2019 08:43:32 pm

“Cancellation” is a tool like any other. People will use it for whatever purpose they see fit. Whether or not that purpose is the right one is debatable. I certainly don’t think it’s right to “cancel” someone without proper evidence and investigation. It’s a tool that people can use to ruin someone because of gossip. In a way, it can turn into a gross witch hunt for very minor and minuscule things. It’s important to make things known about a dangerous and disgusting individual, but wrong to point a finger at literally anyone who might seem slightly off.

Erykah

12/8/2019 08:52:54 pm

Gossip can influence people to judge before they fully understand a topic, which is unfair. This is why people need to look at both sides before establishing their own opinion. People deserve better than a single glance.

Erykah Foss

12/8/2019 08:48:08 pm

Cancel culture is a scary reality. It has ruined careers, families and lives. As long as there are hundreds or thousands of people who agree with each other, their opinions eventually spread to others like a disease. This effect is most likely caused by search engine corporations who choose what is seen on the first search page. Most people are guilty of never looking past the initial links, which are typically about a specific, one-sided opinion. This results in the reader taking the side without further research on a topic. I think people should try to be more mindful of what they read. It is important to hear all opinions equally before deciding on one.

There are bad people who get called out on social media, which can be good because it brings awareness to a problem. However, there are times where these situations get out of hand. Activist Loretta Ross wrote about the toxic online cancel culture in the New York Times: “Call-outs are justified to challenge provocateurs who deliberately hurt others, or for powerful people beyond our reach. Effectively criticizing such people is an important tactic for achieving justice. But most public shaming is horizontal and done by those who believe they have greater integrity or more sophisticated analyses. They become the self-appointed guardians of political purity.”

Being canceled because of poor word choice is shameful and wrong. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance after admitting they were wrong and apologizing. Although words can hurt, it’s not as drastic as a physical offense, which could deserve cancelation. Overall, calling out and canceling are too powerful, but I do not think there is any way to stop its continual growth.

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