Cancel Culture is defined as: a modern internet phenomenon where a person is ejected from influence or fame by questionable actions. It is caused by a critical mass of people who are quick to judge and slow to question. It is commonly caused by an accusation, whether that accusation has merit or not. It is a direct result of the ignorance of people caused by communication technologies outpacing the growth in available knowledge of a person. In simpler terms, it is when a group of people accuse an individual of something they may have not done, causing them to either lose their job, or go on a platform to explain themselves. Even though cancel culture is infamously known amongst people who use social media/media users, there is still a positive side to this culture. 

One of the most popular effects from cancel culture was the James Charles and Tati drama. Because of Tati’s accusations, in 2019, she caused James Charles to lose millions of subscribers. His subscriber count decreased so dramatically, that there were watch parties for his subscriber count going down. To continue, he was cyber bullied, he lost some of his closest friends, and was a victim of the many other youtubers contributing to the mess. However, once he had the “receipts,” which is slang for proof and documentation that he was not wrong of what actually happened, he gained all of his subscribers back and more.  Tati could’ve caused James to lose business, closer friends, his career, and have a decline in his mental state, just because of her claims and allegations over simple vitamins that she was promoting. 

On the other hand, there is still a positive outcome from this as well. There were two Youtubers who were also in the James and Tati mix that got called out: Shane Dawson and Jeferee Star. With some research, a live stream, and social media: Shane and Jeferee were deemed as “cancelled.” In the past, Shane Dawson consistently talked about little girls in a pedophilic way, committed questionable and sexual actions towards his cats, and did black face. He was even told to stop doing his antics, but he continued to talk inappropriately about young children, and on top of that, collaborated and made documentaries with people who have wrongfully done wrong to others and excuse them from these perpetrating acts. His biggest collaboration was with Jefferee Star who has lied consistently to his fans, called people slurs, and paid people to date him, when their sexual orientations were not the same as his.  When Shane was cancelled, he accepted it. On the other hand, Jeffree tried to make an apology video, but it was filled with excuses.  Now these people are unsuccessful and have been held accountable.

Lastly, there are the situations of people who say their opinions, and people calling out someone who has already addressed that situation they are calling them out on in the past. There was once controversy over Kevin Hart’s homophobic tweets he posted in the past. However, he admitted he was wrong and discriminative, and apologized. Nevertheless, when he was announced that he was going to be the host for the Oscars, social media users brought up his homophobic actions that he already apologized for.  If a person has admitted their wrongful actions, apologized, and recognized the problem: then it shouldn’t be brought up again. People should be able to have their opinions as long as it is not offensive, hurtful, or discriminatory. 

In conclusion, there is a good side and a bad side to Cancel Culture. If a person did something that was wrong, and was not held accountable for their actions, then they deserve to suffer the consequences. However, if a person was held accountable when it happened, and apologized and recognized the problem, then it does not need to be brought up again. It is different if that person keeps making that same mistake afterwards on and on again. Lastly, but not least, people shouldn’t be cancelled or harassed for their opinions, as long as it’s not hurting someone else’s feelings, if it is offensive, or discriminative. In other words, recognize when Cancel Culture is being problematic or not, and call them out when they are in the wrong so the negative side of Cancel Culture can decrease.