The Evolution of Cancel Culture and Cyberbullying
- Overview
- What Cancel Culture/Cyberbullying Involves
- Negative Effects Of Cancel Culture/Cyberbullying
Overview
A lot of evils are perpetrated under the guise of being “woke” or catching vibes. One of these evils is the cancel culture which has now evolved into a side baby of cyberbullying. Cancel culture can be defined as the act of calling out a person or a company for wrongdoing and getting justice.
Originally, cancel culture was great because it helped right a host of wrongs. Lately, however, cancel culture has evolved into a brand of cyberbullying.
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is the process of using electronic devices such as smartphones and computers to humiliate, bait, defame, intimidate, taunt, embarrass, torment, harass, insult, and prosecute an individual.
Sound familiar? These acts have become so normalized that people don’t even notice that they are indeed crimes. Doxing, the act of sourcing for someone’s old personal information with the intent of sharing it so the entire world can see happens every day. We all laugh about it and move on. We even excuse it with this simple line “if you didn’t want people to see it, you shouldn’t have posted it”.
These personal information could be old pictures, texts, or posts of a particular person that are brought forward so the social media law enforcement can do what they do best. Dissect the matter, acting in the offices of judge and jury. The ruling of this online court is oftentimes unfair and callous. The other day, during a cyber “battle” between Nigerian internet users and Ghanaian internet users, a particular old photo of a Nigerian influencer was brought forward and used to mock said person.
These practices might seem like all fun and jokes but I tell you, they go way beyond that. Do you know that what you say to someone online could destroy them psychologically? Do you care? It is nice to feel good when you’re acting all “savage” but it is human to have some consideration for the next person. A lot of persons have committed suicide or are currently suffering some other psychological disorder just because someone online decided to catch “vibes”.
I will be talking about what “canceling” involves and the negative effects of this culture. Let me be clear, I am not speaking against calling out people or companies for their wrongdoings just to seek justice. This procedure has proven to be effective so far as a lot of people are getting even more solace and help than they would have gotten offline.
The canceling I am speaking against is that which involves the humiliation or intimidation of someone by any means. Calling out an innocent person, falsely accusing them of something they did not do just to defame them is also totally wrong. These are the types of canceling I will be talking about. Let’s go 👇
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What Cancel Culture/Cyberbullying Involves
Snide Remarks
This kind of bullying is what Nigerians call “savagery”. Someone posts something and you give a “savage” reply which is usually a taunt or a comment that mocks the person. This is totally wrong! You really mustn’t have an opinion on everything. If you are going to tell someone something you know will hurt him/her, you need not say anything at all.
Body Shaming
Body Shaming happens everywhere, but it happens more online than offline. There are people who look at your picture just to find fault in what you are wearing and how you look. Then they begin to drop hurtful comments with “haha” or “😂” and to make it worse, other people either join them or behave as though they saw nothing. 🚶♂️🚶♀️
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Posting Of Personal Information
This one is very popular, especially if said person becomes a celebrity later in life. Some people keep ugly and implicating photos of others just to post on the person’s birthday. It might be hilarious but let me ask you something, did you get permission from the person? No. Did you find out if the person would be upset by it? No. It is meant to be a mean surprise. 😏
This style is also used by many despicable persons that dub themselves “social media detectives” their job is to dig into your private affairs the moment you come into the spotlight and use said information to embarrass you. Some persons even go as far as procuring nude photos/videos from a person’s phone and posting it on the internet. This act is criminal and highly condemnable.
Impersonation
Some cyber terrorists/criminal hackers burgle people’s social media accounts and use it to post false information about the person. They could also try their best to tarnish the image of the victim and end the victim’s friendships with others. These people usually have a nasty quarrel with your friends and then block them. It is a very horrible thing, but it happens.
Reporting Accounts
This one is increasing in frequency lately. People now report accounts just because they disagree with another person’s views on a particular topic. Others have something of a reporting “army” of friends who have multiple accounts dedicated to getting the accounts of innocent people blocked.
Death Threats
Yes, people do send death threats to others online. These criminals almost always know very personal information about the person like the school he/she attends, places he goes to, or even information about family members. These threats cause the victim to begin to live in fear or in extreme cases, commit suicide.
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Negative Effects Of Cancel Culture/Cyberbullying
Psychological Disorders
Cyberbullying damages a person in several ways, one of these ways is the development of psychological disorders. An awful thing about these disorders is the way they creep up on you. Some people take a long time to find out that they are suffering from depression. Ignoring the symptoms could also worsen the disorder. 😔
When you begin to notice how sad being online makes you, make changes! If going online makes you feel awful all the time then you need to take a step back from all that bad energy.
Research has proven that PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) can also be linked to incidents of cyberbullying. A “😄” doesn’t mean the person is pleased with what you just said. Stop saying mean things to people. It takes a very high level of bravery for someone to admit that you have hurt them with your words.
Stay away from toxic people, negative people, and those who speak without taking your feelings into account. Personally, I do not tolerate snide comments and quips solely because I have been a victim of cyberbullying and I have been hurt by it. These days, I don’t even wait for you to land with your “savage” comment. I block you. 🚮
Out of sight is sometimes out of mind. If it’ll make you breathe easier, take measures that ensure such a wicked and negative person ceases to see your posts and therefore cannot reply to them. Trust me, nothing is more important than your mental health. Definitely not a toxic friendship!
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Low Self Esteem
Sadly, cyberbullying can also ruin your self-esteem. I know you might say, you shouldn’t care about what people say but that’s you just trying to be “woke”. We are human beings, it is natural that we care at some level. We naturally seek some sort of approval. Anyone that says he/she doesn’t care about what people say most likely has been hurt before.
Such a person has now developed a thick skin and maybe moved on to become a bully himself. What about those who are still “green” and trusting of the world? Must we wound them and scar them before we stop? How many hurting people would sate our thirst for blood and tears?
Body shaming has made so many beautiful people dissatisfied with their bodies and willing to undergo risky surgeries just to change it. Yes, I know that it is their decision but for every decision a person makes, there is a host of underlying reasons. Canceling and cyberbullying is one reason some persons have low self-esteem and poor body image today.
Anger Issues
There are some types of anger issues that canceling/cyberbullying can cause. These are:
Self-inflicted anger which is a person’s anger against him/herself because they believe they have done something wrong. Another type is passive anger. It is called passive anger or passive-aggressiveness.
The passive-aggressive person might not actually look angry but will exhibit indirect aggressive behaviors such as sullenness, stubbornness, fear of intimacy, blaming others for mistakes made, evading problems and direct communication, feigning compliance when someone makes a request and finding it difficult to directly compliment someone else.
Cyberbullying could also make a person react wrongly to positive criticism. A person who has a wave of deep-seated anger developed from incidents of cyberbullying will often lash out at anyone that tries to positively criticize them. You can call it a defense mechanism, an effort to deaden themselves to the darts cyberbullies throw at them. This act can be detrimental to their friendships, relationships, and even extend to their professional lives.
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Suicide
This is the end, literally. This is when everyone comes under the post to type “RIP”. Even those that were catalysts to the death of such persons would cry the loudest online. Other persons would say “bullying is no reason to commit suicide” or “look at me, I was bullied and I never resorted to suicide.”
There is no empathy in that statement. As our faces are different, so are our hearts and our emotions. Some people are naturally thick-skinned, some are emotional and easily hurt. Not everyone can take “a little ribbing” without feeling miserable. Also, “he/she was laughing with us” is no excuse to mock and humiliate someone. When you want to type that snide comment, just remember that your careless words could lead to their death.
In conclusion, cyberbullying is a horrible practice that could have fatal consequences. We should all learn to respect others online and offline. Anonymity has increased the rate of bullying because people believe they can get away with it but do you know that doxing and death threats are crimes in Nigeria? You serve up to three years of jail time for it. Be careful, be considerate, be kind.
Thank you for reading. This is a very interesting topic indeed. Cyberbullying is evolving every day and becoming normalized or harder to spot. What do you think can be done to make it stop? How do we address this issue? If you have been bullied before, feel free to share your experience (you can remain anonymous or use a different name).
Don’t forget to like, share, and comment. The world needs to hear this and your comment will go a long way in bringing succor or clarity to someone. Have a nice day.
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