Canceling Soc-Med’s ‘Justice System’
To call out the wrongdoing is right, but to shame the person to the point of no redemption is not.
Amid controversies and wrongful actions committed by celebrities and other prominent figures, there is always a response from the masses in the form of backlash or boycott, in a phenomenon that social media users know today as ‘cancel culture.’ While it is commendable and reassuring to know that wrongdoings committed by those in the spotlight will always be called out, social media is already taking this power too far.
This kind of power that social media has is not even effective in most cases. Defenders of the cancel culture claim that cancel culture help holds celebrities accountable for their actions and may even have immediate consequences for them after getting ‘canceled,’ which is all that cancel culture positively does. Its defenders claim that the consequences of cancel culture are positive in a way that it forces the wrongdoer to take accountability and learn from it, but it does more harm than good. Cancel culture, as already noted by many critics, only prevents opportunities for an effective, diplomatic conversation between the wronged and the wrongdoer, and only serves as a hindrance for content creators who simply want to follow their passion — to create content.
Take for example Mark Averilla, also known as Macoy Dubs. In August, Averilla in a tweet announced that his viral “Aunt Julie” content will be temporarily put on hold, blaming ‘cancel culture’ that he said should be cancelled instead of the ‘good vibes’ culture. He stated that there were some Filipinos who wanted him to go back into dubbing as Macoy Dubs and not Aunt Julie and rebutted that he is only here to create content.
In that specific instance, it goes to show how much cancel culture could affect a passionate content creator. But it is not just limited to Macoy Dubs. Other celebrities who have previously expressed their political dissent also suffer from backlash and even boycotts. Catriona Gray and Angel Locsin, whom all are working for the rightful cause especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, faced backlash as well for expressing their views, especially with the ABS-CBN shutdown and the signing of the Anti-Terror Law.
It is just saddening that not only passionate creators were being crushed, but also opportunities for a healthy, diplomatic conversation were being discouraged by the phenomenon, yet ironic that social media encourages other creators to continue following their passion regardless of the odds. It should already occur to social media that content could still be enjoyed regardless of its creator; thus, they should not be overly sensitive to the people’s actions.
While the calling out of serious issues such as harassment and abuses is commendable, social media’s cancel culture — its justice system — does not do any content creators justice.
