In recent years, one of the most prolific social medias to arise is Tik Tok, a social media based around short-form videos. Tik Tok, like most social medias, has garnered viewers and creators from all walks of life, all with different viewpoints. Due to the widespread use of Tik Tok, cancel culture has started to arise within it. As we have discussed in class, Cancel Culture is very widespread and has varying effects on how people operate within a platform. Due to Tik Tok gaining a huge following in recent years and with how young the demographic is, I think it is a good idea to see how it compares to other social medias.
On Tik Tok there are many different viewpoints, and while many are good and helpful there are some who promote very problematic behavior and views. For example there was a Tik Tokker, kno
wn as Akezura a while that I followed about a year ago, who was seen as a very nice guy, but then there were chats and information released where he said very racist and anti-semetic views. At first he apologized and said that he had learned and moved on, but then more information came out about him still being apart of a white supremacist group. Soon after he deleted his account and as far as I know he has not been online since. Along with getting rid of people with problematic views, Tik Tokkers have also been able to deplatform brands that falsely advertise. In 2021, Hyram Yarbro had reviewed a makeup product and called it out for it’s harsh scrub ingredients and the general poor quality of the ingredients. Later a different TikTokker called the Derm Doctor had looked at the product under a microscope revealing it to have jagged and rough edges which leads to uneven exfoliation on th
e skin. These reviews and videos were enough to warn people of buying these faulty products. (Shira)
Many times when someone is supposedly “cancelled” they aren’t actually cancelled, they will usually come back a couple days later with a lazy apology and continue to make the same content. (Cerria) A Tik Tok personality known as Lil Huddy had a video of him saying the n-word leak online, while he did make a little apology and move on without any further consequences or evidence of him learning from it. (Cerria and Schlewitt) Also, Many times when someone is “canceled” they are able to just continue like nothing happened due to the fans that still f
ollow them. Another example is the Tik Tok content creator onlyjayus was originally a very progressive and helpful individual on Tik Tok, but like Lil Huddy, a video leaked of her saying a slur. This caused her to lose some followers, but she is still very active today and still shows herself as a very progressive person.
Sometimes times when someone is cancelled, it ends up with someone permanently ruining someone's career. Many times cancel culture is used with things that people did years ago and people will not allow others to change from their past selves. Cancel Culture encourages a biased selection of the innocent and the guilty, even when they are both perpetrators of the same crime. (Cerria and Schlewitt) Due to the young nature of many people on Tik Tok cancel culture can be extremely destructive to their mental health due to them still developing. And many of the creators receive way too much negative backlash which can cause really bad mental trauma. (Zoe) Popular Tik Tok star Charli D’Amelio is currently one of the biggest people on Tik Tok has a target on her back. People online went through her family's’
history to find that her father was charged with a DUI when he was younger, and for some reason they pushed the hatred onto Charli for a situation she had no control over. (Zoe)
Even though Tik Tok is a very young platform its seems to have grown and be very similar to how Cancel Culture works on other social medias. Tik Tok has helped show that Cancel Culture has a very wide spectrum of how it is used. With it sometimes being helpful, sometimes does not make a difference, and sometimes its harmful. But no matter what, with most things it must be used with consideration, due to the wide range of its effects.
Cerria, Annie, and Jessi Schlewitt. “'I'm Just a Kid': The Toxic Selectivity of TikTok Cancel Culture.” Hi's Eye, 8 May 2020, https://hiseye.org/7139/entertainment/im-just-a-kid-the-toxic-selectivity-of-tiktok-cancel-culture/#:~:text=TikTok%20cancel%20culture%20exists%20between,death%20threats%20at%20their%20doorstep.
Mobley, Jordyn. “Opinion: Cancel Culture on TikTok Is Irrelevant.” McIntosh Trail - The Student News Site of McIntosh High School, 25 Jan. 2021, https://mhstrail.org/opinion/2021/01/25/opinion-cancel-culture-on-tiktok-is-irrelevant/.
Reagen. “There's Something Wrong with Cancel Culture.” Medium, UNDERSTATE, 13 May 2021, https://medium.com/understate/everything-wrong-with-cancel-culture-and-tiktok-af577ab98c37.
Shira, Dahvi. “The Power of Tiktok Cancel Culture.” Glossy, 25 Oct. 2022, https://www.glossy.co/beauty/the-power-of-tiktok-cancel-culture/.
Zoe. “Tik Tok Cancel Culture.” Zoe 101, 27 Mar. 2020, https://sites.psu.edu/zoechristidis/2020/03/27/tik-tok-cancel-culture/.
Commentaires