Is Cancel Culture Good or Bad? Yes.

It's 2020. We've had the possiblity of World War 3, Brexit, Bryant's untimely death, an ongoing pandemic, murder hornets, BLM protests, anti-quarantine protests, and the year isn't even over.

With (many) people inside, the internet became a (mostly) safe haven. Content across platforms to stay inside grew, but as time went on, and people became more frustrated, past videos, actions, and events came to light.

The Smash Ultimate community was hit with multiple allegations, YouTube is dealing with its problems on people with huge platforms not apologizing for past mistakes, and even more allegations came out in general, and Twitter continues to trend insert *name* is over party.

Although these are legitimate reasons to deplatform someone, is it enough for the masses on social media to speak out?

Cancel culture, as it has been dubbed, is when social media decides that someone must attempt to atone for their actions, no matter how long ago it was or to the degree it was done. Even something ambiguous can be enough for you to get cancelled, and one person attempting to cancel you can be enough for it to spark into something greater.

It, so far, has not truly worked. People generally still retain their platforms, and unless legal action is involved, are not deplatformed. On YouTube, and for celebrities in media, there is truly no way to deplatform them for good. People can still get money if their actions are unknown.

The development of cancel culture, and its purpose of "accountability", can be attributed to parasocial relationships. When you believe yourself to befriend a content creator, or anyone with a large amount of followers, it can make "stans".

Stans are, by definition, crazy fans who like someone so much it becomes their identity. Although the term can be applied to any kind of fan now, its original definition can define the percentage of people who are in parasocial relationships. That small percentage are vocal enough that they can overpower those who are normal fans that know their favorite YouTubers, streamers, or anyone with a following, are human.

People who criticize cancel culture are right to do so, even if it is for what could be considered a perfectly moral cause. Its methods lead to mental health problems, and enough bullying due to wrong actions does not change, but hurt.

Cancel culture is good in theory, but bad in practice. It does not do what it means to, as in get rid of negative influences in media that perpetuate false narratives and cause direct harm to others, but allows them to stay and accidentally "dramatizes" serious events.

So, what can we do?

That matters from community to community and what someone did to get cancelled.

Generally, an apology for something that happened years ago that did not directly harm someone, that is genuine and not looking to victimize themselves lets who ever was cancelled off the hook (unless, again, you discount that small percentage of stans looking for a friend to get on their knees and cry.)

For what has occurred lately throughout platforms?

The serious allegations need both legal and direct action. No one likes to acknowledge that they unknowingly supported someone capable of horrible actions, and continuing to defend and support them harms everyone.

It's a tricky situation, since it's more difficult to deal with events that didn't result in legal action, despite the harm that was caused.

Generally? Listen to every side, look for evidence, see what legal action was done or could be done, don't pretend to know your favorite people on the internet, and let actions speak for themselves.

Jenna Marbles wasn't cancelled, but decided to leave for her past actions, and yet people who have done more serious versions of what she did still have their platforms.

Cancel culture? Redo it. Don't waste your time idolizing a person, just like their content, since you have no idea who they are in terms of their beliefs. You aren't friends, you have no power over each other, don't waste your energy defending or attacking them, and just stop supporting their content if you think they've done something that deserves for them to not get your money.