I was a very stubborn child growing up. Whenever my best friend wronged me, I did what every rational kid would do: stop speaking to her. In my anger, I used silence as a form of punishment. However, as opinionated as I was, my silent treatment ended immediately after my friend made clear she was sorry. It never struck my mind to prolong a punishment simply because she made one mistake. Mistakes are inevitable, but they are made for a reason. Learning from previous mistakes is key to individual growth. Unfortunately in many cases online, influencers and celebrities are not permitted to grow from mistakes. Instead, they would be “cancelled” for their entire career. While many may believe social media call out is effective to bring necessary change, that is simply not true. Social media platforms should definitely continue focusing on educating others, but rather go about it in a nurturing way.
Here are 3 Reasons Why Cancel Culture is Toxic: Reason 1: It has been blown out of proportion: On social media platforms such as Tiktok or Instagram, cancel culture is inescapable. It is thrown around and used inappropriately. Terms such as “cultural appropriation” and “gaslighting”, both of which are serious issues, have been tossed around at random and overused. This has watered down the original meaning of these terms. Influencers can get cancelled for the littlest things nowadays. Instead of focusing on actual wrongdoers on these platforms, the social media population is spending too much energy on holding grudges and cancelling influencers for their entire career. Reason 2: Inability to grow from past mistakes: Once cancelled, no amount of learning, apologizing, or growth will redeem anyone in the public eye. The consequences of a mistake results in harsh punishments that prioritizes penalizing social media stars over educating them on their harmful actions. If a celebrity has shown that they have understood their mistake and are working on fixing the damage they have done, they should be allowed a second chance (depending on the level of wrongdoing they did). Reason 3: Dehumanizes celebrities and influencers: Cancel culture assumes celebrities and influences are not human and therefore have an inability to possess flaws. Mistakes are human nature, but if we learn from them, then it is perfectly normal to make them once in a while. However, social media stars are put at an enormously high standard from a young age where they are unable to make mistakes. They are expected to be perfect under ridiculously high pressure. If us normal people were scrutinized at the level these celebrities are, most of us would probably slip up once in a while.
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July 2021
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