Cancel Culture and Mental Health: Let's Talk About It

some think they're doing good on the internet when in reality their actions can be toxic let's dive into some online behaviors that are actually harmful cancel culture is cancel culture good or bad well when someone commits serious crimes like SA or grape cancelling them seem straightforward but for Less clear issues or allegations thoughtful consideration is needed but often neglected cancel culture promotes an all good or all bad perspective but human nature is far more complex it involves the mass shaming or boycotting of an individual or group based on their actions or statements often without fully

understanding the context humans are flawed beings and it's in our nature to make mistakes a person can innocently post a clip meme or tweet only to be misinterpreted as something sinister and even when they acknowledge their mistake the internet often doesn't allow room for Redemption according to a study by the Pew Research Center 61% of us adults say they're familiar with the term cancel culture and opinions are divided on whether it is effective or fair this phenomenon is toxic because it creates an atmosphere of fear where people are afraid to speak out or make mistakes

they say the internet never forgets sometimes maybe it should AI manipulation in the wrong hands initially we might think AI art and images are harmless they're just fun and games why take it seriously we can generate art anytime with AI and it often looks impressive if you overlook the odd fingers however many AI generated artworks are actually created from stolen samples of real artists work AI uses these samples to produce new images raising serious concerns about the originality and ethics of the art when it comes to creativity the internet was once a safe space for

artists to share their work now artists can't be vulnerable with their art because predatory AI tools steal genuine Creations without giving them any credit on a darker side of things what if AI manipulation ends up in the wrong hands and those intentions become malicious a report by Deep Trace Labs found that 96% of deep fake videos online in 2019 were of pornographic nature usually targeting women with AI images becoming increasingly realistic the misuse of Technology can have devastating consequences for the victims deep fake pornography can lead to sex tortion or perpetrators create fake explicit videos

or images of someone and use them to Blackmail or coers the victim this can result in severe emotional and psychological trauma damage to the victim's reputation and even lead to job loss or strained personal relationships we lack new laws to protect people from these issues because technolog is advancing faster than the justice system can keep up doxing is the act of publicly revealing or publishing private personal information about someone without their consent this can include Det details like their home address phone number email and other sensitive data the goal is often to intimidate harass or

harm the individual and it can lead to Serious privacy breaches and safety concerns but often times doxing can be disguised as something good when it's framed as an act of exposing someone for a perceived wrongdoing or unethical Behavior remember when PewDiePie got doxed here on YouTube yeah that was quite crazy while the internet can be a powerful tool for calling out bad or illegal behavior and seek Justice it can also be misused to defame and damage someone's reputation unjustifiably to put it plainly doxing is the jungle Justice for today's culture the psychology behind doxing is

saying hey let's take this attack Beyond threats and tweets to where the heart can be worse and even lethal a study conducted among Secondary School students in Hong Kong highlighted that doxin can severely impact the mental health of victims leading to anxiety depression and even PTSD it's a gross violation of privacy that not many recover from gatekeeping gatekeeping is the act of controlling or limiting someone's access to something by enforcing specific standards or criteria while it can help maintain standards or quality it can also exclude or marginalize people and ideas this happens even in online

spaces and forums imagine you'd love to be part of an online community an online support group for a minority group an online political Forum or an online career Network and and for weird reasons you're told you can't belong because you don't meet some arbitrary standard don't fit a certain image have a different opinion don't fit a certain demographic profile or because of prejudiced assumptions about your background whether it's for political religious social or support groups gatekeeping can be toxic because it contradicts the pillars these communities stand for also it excludes people and suppresses diversity of

opinions making it more challenging for new members to feel welcome no one has the right to tell you you can't belong do you agree with these takes like this video and share your thoughts in the comments your feedback matters and creating safe spaces online posting sensitive content without warning some people are epileptic and sensitive to flash photography some have no tolerance for explicit content some are sensitive to gory and violent images and videos and specific topics like an living or essay May trigger others posting sensitive content with a warning is not only in considerate but

can also be harmful while it's important to raise awareness about these issues giving your audience a heads up is important if you're sharing triggering content it shows them behind the content you are human and you care virtue signaling it's great to have morals and raise awareness but when someone does it just for validation profit or exploitation it's virtue signaling it is when someone expresses opinions or values mainly to show off their moral correctness or gain social approval rather than genuine commitment for example someone uses popular hashtags to align themselves with a trend in cause gaining

likes and followers but doesn't contribute time or resources to actually support the cause or when a celebrity attends a high-profile charity event wearing a designer T-shirt with a slogan supporting environmental causes they make sure to be photographed and post extensively about it in social media but they continue to travel frequently in private chats and have a lifestyle that heavily contributes to their carbon footprint which leads us to the next Point exploiting tragedy for Content this act is closely linked with virtue signaling using someone's tragedy to create content for views or likes as disrespectful and exploitative

for example when an artist or famous person is UN alived because it is viral news everyone wants to jump on it and act like they've been fans when in reality they don't actually care it degrades the individuals involved but also trivializes serious issues people are victims of on the other hand individuals might voraciously consume media that depicts traumatic events such as crime documentaries news reports of violent incidents or graphic movies this constant exposure can high in feelings of anxiety and distress among viewers without them knowing also exploiting tragedy for Content desensitizes viewers to real life

suffering and undermines genuine activism it's a line between raising awareness expressing empathy and just being being exploitative in the name of social justice many individuals and organizations have unconsciously crossed that line in the wake of social justice on social media and in support groups there can be a tendency to share and engage with stories of personal trauma while this can foster community and support it can also lead to a cycle where individuals are continually exposed to traumatic narratives which can be overwhelming insensitive are cruel pranks oh come on it's just a prank what's the worst

that could happen prank channels really took off on YouTube in the early to mid 2010s with many popular pranksters getting huge followings cruel pranks especially those that cause physical harm or emotional distress are toxic they often Target unsuspecting individuals causing real pain and discomfort for the sake of entertainment there has been a rise of pranksters with cameras roaming the streets these pranks could involve asking deeply personal questions or daring individuals to pull outrageous stunts one recent case of this was popular streamer Natalie Reynolds who dared an innocent woman to jump into a pool what was

sad was that the woman couldn't swim and began to drown while the streamer and her camera crew fled the scene luckily bystanders came to the drowning lady's rescue even while having fun with pranks we must ensure they remain harmless physically and emotionally for the participants in the online audience let's not normalize cruelty just for the clicks bandwagoning bandwagoning happens because people have the natural desire to conform and think that if everyone else is doing something it must be the right choice but jumping on the bandwagon to shame or support someone just because it's trending can

be dangerous this behavior is tied to cancel culture it discourages critical thinking and promotes a mob mentality history and Trends prove that people are more likely to conform to popular opinion in social media even if it goes against their own beliefs for example if an individual is being trolled cancelled or hyped because it's popular everyone jumps in without having the full context of the reason why it's important to form your own opinions rather than blindly following the crowd Echo Chambers engaging only with like-minded individuals in content can be good because it provides a sense of

community and validation but the dark side of it is that it can create Echo chambers that reinforce biases and reduce exposure to diverse perspectives this can lead to polarized views and the lack of understanding of other viewpoints and the nflix documentary the social dilemma former employees of top social media companies revealed the intentional strategy to ensure algorithms reinforce Echo Chambers so if you support a particular cause the only content you'll see will be Pro that cause while opposing viewpoints are filtered out limiting your exposure to diverse perspectives and reinforcing your existing beliefs it's essential to

seek out diverse perspectives to broaden your understanding of the world despite numerous attempts like content flagging Comm Community notes censorship and other systems out there to make social media platforms safe and positive for everyone at the end of the day it comes down to us to be the change we want to see social media may not be the real world but it is real people in it we should always be kind and respectful regardless of how different we are for more in-depth analysis of social media Behavior watch this video what are your thoughts on this

topic share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below if you like this video be sure to give us a thumbs up and hit the Subscribe button for more content we'll see you in our next video thanks for watching and stay safe