How Social Media Divide and Equalize Society Through Cancel Culture

Your Name Instructor Name Course Number Date The Double-Edged Nature of Cancel Culture Introduction             In the 10^th episode in season six in the hit series The Game of Thrones, Cersei Lannister is subjected to a humiliating walk of atonement. Walking naked in the streets of King’s landing, the angry public pelts her with rotten vegetables, sticks, and twigs. The scene was a vivid reminder that even powerful and privileged members of society are not immune to public shaming. But this was in 290 AC. Were Cersei present in the 21^st century, she could have experienced what has come to be known as cancel culture. In recent years, cancel culture has taken over social media spaces and while some see it as necessary in keeping prominent figures in check, others see it as a dangerous trend that should be checked. In other words, cancel culture is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. In this view, the current paper discusses how social media, through cancel culture, is dividing and equalizing our society. About Cancel Culture             Powerful public officials, influential businessmen, and celebrities are loved equally as much as they are hated by the public. A big part of the hate comes from the fact that they are usually unreachable by the large public and enjoy privileges around the law and norms of society (Ng 43). But while Cersei Lannister’s walk of shame was through the streets, today’s public shame occurs on social media where people are dragged for their misdeeds, words, or mistakes. Hence, cancel culture is the practice of shunning or boycotting and ostracizing people deemed to have spoken or acted in unacceptable manner (Clark). Since it is impossible to give such people the Cersei-like walk of shame in the modern world, social media has become the most effective platform to do so. According to Bouvier (234), social media is so effective that even brands are not immune to public uproar.             Since the start of Covid-19, there have been several prominent cases of cancel culture. Will Smith was canceled after he slapped Chris Rock on stage in the 2022 Oscars. Even after apologizing for his actions, Smith went on to resign from his membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science and was subsequently banned from the Oscars for 10 years. In another case, J.K Rowling was canceled after she took to Twitter to support Maya Forstater. Forstater had lost her job as a researcher when she tweeted that “people cannot change their biological sex” (Walsh). Since her post had been labelled as transphobic, Rowlings was dragged for supporting the researcher. The most famous case, however, was the cancellation of Dave Chappelle. The famous stand-up comedian and actor received condemnation because of his utterances in his 2021 special release The Closer.  His remarks were deemed to perpetuate transphobia and therefore, seen as supporting or enabling hate against the transgender community.             Business organizations have also faced similar public humiliation on social media. In 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, some organizations sought to reposition themselves as allies rolling out campaigns centered on ending racial inequality. For some, like Urban Outfittters, the move backfired. Instead, the brand was called out on their controversial history of cultural appropriation. In 2011, GoDaddy came under fire when its founder Bob Parsons videotaped himself shooting an elephant in Africa. Within a week, the company lost over 70,000 domains due to social media uproar (Hunter). In a different case, Kenye West has lost deals with companies like Balenciaga, Gap, and Adidas because of his comments and actions such as praising former President Donald Trump, commenting about Jews, and wearing a “white-lives-matter” t-shirt. The brands, acted in this manner partly because they feared being cancelled. Prevalence of Cancel Culture             A 2022 poll by the PEW research revealed that over 61% of American adults have heard a fair amount of the ‘cancel culture’ phrase. In 2020, the figure was 44% indicating that cancel culture is increasingly prevalent (Vogels ). While adults under the age of 30 years remain the most likely group to hear about the term, the survey showed that elderly population (65 years and above) has seen the most significant increase (20%) between 2020 and 2022 in people who have heard about cancel culture. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are some of the social media platforms one which people and brands have been canceled the most particularly with the rise of troll armies and political correctness.             According to Kailyn (pr. 5), “Twitter was the ultimate cancellation machine of” in the past five years. It is on Twitter J.K Rowlings came under fire and it is also on Twitter that others like Kenye West tried to explain their case against cancellation. Aside from being cancelled, former President Donald Trump was also banned from Twitter and other platforms like Facebook because of his remarks on the attack on the Capitol. On Instagram in 2018, the netizens came after the beauty guru Laura Lee because of her problematic tweets in the past. Internet users formed a boycott campaign that threatened to ruin her business and brand (Walsh). The attacks ended only after she posted two videos on Instagram apologizing for her controversial tweets.             According to Clark (4), troll armies and the rise of political correctness have worked to fuel cancel culture. Among the key reasons why internet trolls exist is because they seek response from the celebrities they hate or adore. Canc...