These days, Cancel Culture is something that has become more prominent. While it’s so easy to go viral and become an internet personality, it’s just as easy to get canceled and lose everything you’ve ever worked for. Just like that. For some people, all they need to do to go viral is a single tweet or a single video. Also, all they could need to go down and lose it all is a single tweet as well. Or a single video.
It’s a crazy world we live in, and the internet and social media have come to stay. It gives people more power to do what they can. And even worse, they all share anonymity because it all happens behind a screen and people feel that they can do and say whatever they want and get away with it.
Just a few months ago, a gospel artist was accused of paternity fraud by a social media user. Not long after, another billionaire was accused of being involved in the death of a popular Nigerian celebrity. When you’re in the social space, you’ll always be subjected to one form of dragging or the other. And here in Nigeria, many people have started taking it up with the police.
In the past few months, many social media trolls have been arrested and sent to prison. This is simply because of one or two things that were said at the time or even said in the past.
However, when it comes to the cancel culture, it’s something I believe has come to stay. Because as long as people have access to social media, and as long as they’re willing to make their voices heard, it will continue to be a major thing. So far, we’ve seen a lot of celebrities get canceled. Many of them lose out on million-dollar deals, they get dumped by companies, and their lives are basically ruined simply because the public decided to call them out on whatever it is that they did.
This is good because we’ve seen criminals get to face the music for what they did. From child molesters, human traffickers, racists, and even abusers. They all get what they deserve. Prior to social media, all they had to do was pay off the news agency, pay off a number of police officers, and pay off their victims and they’d feel safe and bold enough to continue their crimes with surprising impunity.
But now, all that is required is for one victim to have the courage to come out and tell her side of the story. Once the internet believes you, they’ll flow right along with you. And help you bring down the culprits, whoever they might be.
But then, there is also the flip side to it, the darker and grittier nature of the cancel culture. Many times, even the innocent suffer from it. You don’t have to be guilty of something to get canceled, the public just has to believe that you are. Many times when victims come forward, they might not be believed because the internet is already awash with similar stories from people who made it up, making it difficult for those who are actually suffering to get the kind of response that they’re after.
So, no matter how you look at it, there’s a good side to cancel culture just as much as there’s a bad side to it. In the end, it all boils down to the individual. Why are you utilizing it? Do you want to cancel someone because they did something bad and deserved to be ostracized? Or do you want to cancel them because you don’t like them? Your answer will tell you if you’re using that power as you should be.
I hope that we’re all doing what we can to stay on the right side of the ever-blurred lines.
