We sent out surveys on what year 7 - 13 students at Nelson College for Girls thought about Cancel Culture. We asked them questions about the problems with Cancel Culture, and how they thought we could avoid it. We had 26 students respond to our survey.
What is Cancel Culture?
Cancel Culture involves the public denouncement of those perceived as racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or perpetuating any other forms of controversial behaviour. It most often occurs on Social Media Platforms to people who have a substantial number of followers. James Charles, Logan Paul and Laura Lee are some of the people who have experienced cancel-culture first hand.
What Social Media Platform is used to 'cancel' people the most?
From this graph, we can conclude that the majority of people think that Cancel Culture occurs most often on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. More people voted for Youtube. We think this is due to the public feeling more involved as they see drama unfold through a video, allowing you to see facial expressions and body language. The video easily spreads as it is suggested to more and more users. When drama occurs, it spreads to other Social Media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, causing more people to become involved.
How does Cancel Culture impact on people?
The impact of Cancel Culture is substantial. Those who are impacted are categorised into the 'cancellers', the 'cancelled' and the 'spectators'.
Cancellers:
Cancellers could feel powerful and satisfied with what they're doing. They could believe they are being funny, and as though it's the only way they can fit in and be known across Social Media. But, the public may look at them differently as they have acted in a way that is unethical. At first, the cancellers gain lots of attention and new followers, but the buzz quickly dies off and they may gain a negative image. They may lose some of their true fans and gain disloyal ones, who have only followed them to stay up to date with the drama. In the long run, Cancel Culture negatively impacts the careers of the 'cancellers'.
Cancelled:
Because of Cancel Culture, anxiety and depression are at an all-time high. It is isolating and lonely. You feel that everyone gave up on you before you could even apologise or correct your mistakes. Those at the centre of this issue are mainly the 'cancelled', they aren't allowed to learn from their mistakes and once they have been called out, they are immediately unfollowed, blocked, and put in the dog-box. Once they have been cancelled, they don't want to voice their opinion, as they are worried they will be shut down once again. Overall the road to redemption for someone who has been cancelled is a long and hard one as they must be extremely cautious about everything they do. One slight wrong can result in them crashing right back down to rock bottom.
Spectators: Spectators can be easily influenced by Cancel Culture, especially young children. Calling someone out over Social Media is one of the worst ways, as many more people become involved and voice their own opinions. The spectators who witness Cancel Culture may be influenced to use Social Media as a way to call someone out. They may be encouraged to bring their own issues to Social Media as they believe this is the best option to get a large reaction. Cancel Culture promotes cyber-bullying to young people, as that is what some of their favourite influencers have done in the past.
How do we avoid Cancel Culture?
We received many different responses to this question. While some people did think that there were ways to avoid Cancel Culture, a small group of people said it was inevitable. One person said “I don't think it can be avoided, honestly. Sometimes "cancel" culture can be helpful to block out sexism and racism etc in the entertainment industry.” Another said that you can’t, “It’s part of human nature, and not an entirely bad thing”. The rest of our responses recommended avoiding Cancel Culture and that we should stay away from drama, and all realize that cancelling doesn’t improve someone's life. Overall, the majority of our responses concluded that the way we can avoid Cancel Culture is in the hands of the spectators. If we do not involve ourselves in the drama and express our opinions on the situation, the number of cancelling situations on social media platforms will reduce.
What is the issue with Cancel Culture?
In conclusion, we found that most people thought that there were many issues with Cancel Culture. They thought it was toxic and was extremely harmful to a large group of people. Mental Health issues were the main aspect as to why Cancel Culture was so awful, as those who have been cancelled will feel isolated and alone in this challenging time in their life. It also leaves no room for people to grow and learn. Cancel-Culture also promotes cyber-bullying to young people on Social Media. Overall Cancel Culture is toxic, harmful and something that users of Social Media should try to avoid and bring to an end.
How does Cancel Culture impact on people?
The impact of Cancel Culture is substantial. Those who are impacted are categorised into the 'cancellers', the 'cancelled' and the 'spectators'.
Cancellers:
Cancellers could feel powerful and satisfied with what they're doing. They could believe they are being funny, and as though it's the only way they can fit in and be known across Social Media. But, the public may look at them differently as they have acted in a way that is unethical. At first, the cancellers gain lots of attention and new followers, but the buzz quickly dies off and they may gain a negative image. They may lose some of their true fans and gain disloyal ones, who have only followed them to stay up to date with the drama. In the long run, Cancel Culture negatively impacts the careers of the 'cancellers'. Cancelled:
Because of Cancel Culture, anxiety and depression are at an all-time high. It is isolating and lonely. You feel that everyone gave up on you before you could even apologise or correct your mistakes. Those at the centre of this issue are mainly the 'cancelled', they aren't allowed to learn from their mistakes and once they have been called out, they are immediately unfollowed, blocked, and put in the dog-box. Once they have been cancelled, they don't want to voice their opinion, as they are worried they will be shut down once again. Overall the road to redemption for someone who has been cancelled is a long and hard one as they must be extremely cautious about everything they do. One slight wrong can result in them crashing right back down to rock bottom. Spectators: Spectators can be easily influenced by Cancel Culture, especially young children. Calling someone out over Social Media is one of the worst ways, as many more people become involved and voice their own opinions. The spectators who witness Cancel Culture may be influenced to use Social Media as a way to call someone out. They may be encouraged to bring their own issues to Social Media as they believe this is the best option to get a large reaction. Cancel Culture promotes cyber-bullying to young people, as that is what some of their favourite influencers have done in the past.
How do we avoid Cancel Culture?
We received many different responses to this question. While some people did think that there were ways to avoid Cancel Culture, a small group of people said it was inevitable. One person said “I don't think it can be avoided, honestly. Sometimes "cancel" culture can be helpful to block out sexism and racism etc in the entertainment industry.” Another said that you can’t, “It’s part of human nature, and not an entirely bad thing”. The rest of our responses recommended avoiding Cancel Culture and that we should stay away from drama, and all realize that cancelling doesn’t improve someone's life. Overall, the majority of our responses concluded that the way we can avoid Cancel Culture is in the hands of the spectators. If we do not involve ourselves in the drama and express our opinions on the situation, the number of cancelling situations on social media platforms will reduce.
What is the issue with Cancel Culture?
In conclusion, we found that most people thought that there were many issues with Cancel Culture. They thought it was toxic and was extremely harmful to a large group of people. Mental Health issues were the main aspect as to why Cancel Culture was so awful, as those who have been cancelled will feel isolated and alone in this challenging time in their life. It also leaves no room for people to grow and learn. Cancel-Culture also promotes cyber-bullying to young people on Social Media. Overall Cancel Culture is toxic, harmful and something that users of Social Media should try to avoid and bring to an end.
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