Imagine: you’ve just turned 16 years old. Ever since the app TikTok came out, you’ve always wanted to go viral. One day, you post a video of yourself mouthing a well-known song to TikTok, and your video blows up! Everyone in your comments is complimenting you and telling you how much they enjoyed your video. You think, just for a second, that maybe you can build a following on this app. But suddenly, a stranger comments under your post saying that you used to make fun of them when you both were younger. Someone else comments the same thing, and even posts an old yearbook photo of you as “proof”. Within a matter of minutes, your comments are filled with people telling you to leave the app, and your inbox is full of hate messages of people telling you to do horrible things to yourself. Just like that, you’re cancelled. Next.
What is cancel culture? According to my research, the formal definition of cancel culture is “ a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles - either online on social media, in the real world, or both.” In theory, cancel culture sounds like it would be effective. If you do the unthinkable, you do not deserve to be a part of society. Right? I guess that begs the question, when did the unthinkable become being annoying on social media? Cancel culture has been so over exhausted and overused for every minor situation, so much so, that it has lost all its value.
Human beings are inevitably envious. I can even admit that I feel it at times. You see someone doing well, for example, blowing up on TikTok for doing relatively nothing. It makes us jealous. It makes us ask: “why couldn’t that have been me?” That very feeling of “why couldn’t that have been me” is precisely where cancel culture stems. Cancel culture is not, and never
was, a way to teach “bad” people a lesson. It is a way to tear others down in order to bring
ourselves up. It’s a way for insecure people to project their insecurities onto others. Misery loves
company, and “canceling” innocent people is a perfect way for misery to obtain its company.
I mentioned earlier that cancel culture has lost its original purpose. However, if one were to look
deeper into cancel culture, you would find that there was never really a justifiable purpose
behind it to begin with. There is simply no way to justify one human being telling another human
being they do not deserve to live. If ostracism and public humiliation were deemed ineffective
back in the 1800s, why did we think it would suddenly be effective now? The main point I am
attempting to make is that everyone makes mistakes, and no one is perfect. Who are you and I
to determine who belongs in society and who doesn’t, when we’re all the same. I guarantee that
the mistakes people in the spotlight get “cancelled” for, are the same ones that some of us
make daily. Cancel culture is hypocritical. It’s easy to hide behind a screen and comment
horrible things under someone else’s post. However, it’s not as easy to receive those
messages. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Imagine it was you getting “cancelled” for
something so small, or maybe even something you didn’t do at all. In the blink of an eye,
hundreds, thousands, and maybe even millions of people ban together just to tell you you’re
worthless. It’s sad that cancel culture even still exists, and I really believe that we’re better than
that. It’s time we stop expecting those in the public eye, especially children, to be perfect. It’s
time we realize how mentally exhausting it can be reading the same terrible messages over and
over again. It’s time we acknowledge how damaging cancel culture can be to the perception of
one’s self worth. It’s time we abolish cancel culture.
Source :
1. “Cancel Culture.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Jan. 2021,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancel_culture#:~:text=Cancel%20culture%20(or%20call%2Dout,s aid%20to%20be%20%22canceled.%22.
Hey Somi, I really appreciated you bringing to light the severity of "cancel culture", and asking the readers to put themselves in someone else's shoes genuinely helped me connect better with your piece. -Saffiya Haque
ReplyDeleteI love your critiques Somi! I also had similar thoughts about certain times when people were canceled, though you phrase it much more precisely and accurately. You have wisdom noticing that this new version is nothing more than ostracization, something that has existed for a millennia. It's also good that you point out the universal flaws that humanity has. I think you have a good insight into some of the bad trends of our time.
ReplyDeleteI loved how smoothly and concisely you were able to articulate your points. I, like many others, have had similar thoughts regarding the points you make but you were able to organize them and present them in a such clean manner. This really makes for an interesting piece and I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteHello Somi! I liked how you used the blog as an opportunity to bravely talk about a topic as sensitive as cancel culture! I liked that you brought some motives behind cancel culture (ex: jealousy and envy) since they most definitely validated some of my thoughts of why cancel culture exists in the first place. I also agree that cancel culture has no justification to exist and that looking at things from the content creator's viewpoint is a great way to help mitigate such negativity. Great post!
ReplyDelete-Jordan Lin
I think this was such an important topic that needed to be discussed, and continues to be discussed. I definitely agree that cancel culture needs to end because most of the times the reason someone is being "cancelled" is simply false or exaggerated. I hope one day it does end.
ReplyDeleteSomi I absolutely agree with this piece as a whole, this was such a relevant and relatable topic that you chose, your points were also true and fair. Cancel Culture is toxic and does nothing for us but bring each other down as if we are better than one another, the significance of your piece is so loud ABOLISH CANCEL CULTURE!!! -Shannon Thompson
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I was really This topic definitely need to be talked about more. I totally agree that cancel culture needs to come to end. Thank you for sharing - Angel I. Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteSomi this was written really well and is a topic that is really up to date, you did really well describing feelings of others that can be put into play. Good job :) -Hailee Cianciminio
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good piece. I liked how you touched on "Cancel Culture." i feel like this isn't talked about enough and the way you explained it was really well done. - Zeth Sy
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the message you're trying to convey and loved the way you approached it so it was easy to digest, "Abolish Cancel Culture."
ReplyDelete-Caitlin Munar
I liked your reasoning for why cancel culture should be abolished. I especially agree with you when you said that since you're behind the screen, you never really know the effect behind your words. Sometimes, we forget that people on screen are actually real. Good job!
ReplyDelete- Naomi Espiritu Santo
I absolutely enjoyed and agree with your piece. I hate when even the government gets involved and cancels celebrities who promote against them.
ReplyDelete-Hrishika Reddy Nanamala
I am glad that someone had thought of the idea to write about this! Everyday on social media I can always find at least one post that is trying to cancel some celebrity, and it is getting more annoying by the days. You are very right about how everyone makes mistakes, and I do not think people understand that people grow and change over time. You brought up many good points on why cancel culture should not be justified like ostracism and envy. Good work!
ReplyDelete- Chloe Baronia
I highly agree with you on this matter Somi. You put things in an easy perspective where false info is able to take you down without you even being able to explain yourself. It is a horrible way and example to show to younger children on how you should deal with these situations and it is a social media norm that should stop. - Luke Phillips
ReplyDeleteSomi, your piece was easy to read and i loved it. It happens to a lot of people that i have seen and it was honestly not serious. Every day people change and something that you said or did a long time ago and you realized it that you were wrong and stopped doing that action you have changed and you do not deserve to get canceled. I love how you brought attention to this topic as it is prevalent in todays society- hashim mumtaz
ReplyDeleteI liked your blog on cancel culture and i totally agree with your opinion. Social media has a huge affect on people and is a target for negative energy. "time we abolish cancel culture" -White Z
ReplyDeleteEverybody makes mistakes is true but at what point is it too far? Is it profane language, being successful, or murder? There are laws to figure this out for us as a society to keep those truly unfit to participate elsewhere. Cancel culture is merely based on cliques and often bullying so I agree with you Somi and I glad you chose to write about this because it tells me about something that I would not normally think about. ---Anthony Lassos
ReplyDeleteI really love your take on cancel culture. I highly agree with everything you've said, and you laid out your opinion so beautifully. -Amy Harvey :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your piece alot! i agree with the perspective you partake in, this has not been mentioned often enough! good job! -kayla cecilio
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you chose to write about such a current relevant issue. When I came across Cancel Culture, my thoughts were the same. Generally speaking Cancel Culture comes from a place of willful ignorance and is almost always counterproductive. Thank you for using this as an opportunity to speak up about how toxic Cancel Culture really is.
ReplyDelete-Arianna Perez
Wow, I came to this post wondering what cancel culture was, as i've seen the phrase on social media many times. I'm glad you took the time to write this post because I actually became interested in the topic as a whole and discovered that many people hold a similar stance. So far, I agree with your stance and will continue to look into what "cancel culture" has done within our society.
ReplyDeleteRyan Carter
Somi I truly enjoyed reading your writing as you bring into attention a very sensitive topic. The part that stuck out to me the most was about considering the fact that we say things behind a screen and don't really know how our words would affect others. Also it has happened many times that false information put out on social media is able to bring someone down without giving them an opportunity to explain the truth. Great writing! - Arnav Singh
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with every single word you wrote, cancel culture is dumb! Great job with your choice of words, every word was written with a purpose to share more info about this type of online shaming. I also love your message of how everyone makes mistakes, we are not perfect and will never be perfect. - Devin Davis
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and I am glad you decided to say something about it. I loved when you said, "Who are you and I to determine who belongs in society and who doesn’t". People are the same as they were back then on social media, thinking they can do or get away with anything to put others down. Like do they not have something better to do?
ReplyDeleteGood Work!
-Rebekah Diaz
I really agree with your piece. I felt like it went straight to the point and was backed up with substantial reasoning. I also share the same viewpoint on this topic and was intrigued to read about it.
ReplyDelete-Darren Domond
Amazing job Somi. I really think it was great how you pieced your words together to express how serious ending cancel culture is. Cancel culture does not make any situation better and does a lot more bad than good. I am glad you chose to write about this topic because it is very relevant today, especially to those reading this. -Layna Griffith
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this piece especially because social media is so big now and it is so easy to 'cancel' someone. I feel like people will find any excuse to take away someone's platform when they get the chance to and it can be horrible. However, I can see both sides of this argument. Sometimes 'canceling' someone could be for the better but most of the times it is over something silly and people cannot seem to let some things go. Great Job! - Gaby Velasquez
ReplyDelete