As the amount of users on social media begins to grow, so does the toxicity spread online. In a way to prevent such a thing, the show Love and Hip-hop: Atlanta sprung the idea of cancel culture after a girl was told she was “canceled” when it was revealed that she was pregnant. The main idea of this wave was to stop giving attention and praise to those who were deemed anything considered toxic and had shown no improvement from their past mistakes. Now, this wave has become toxic as it doesn’t let any mistake be forgiven.

The wave was kicking off with movements like #Metoo when girls bravely came forward about their experience with those who assaulted them. After that, celebrities who have shown no improvements from racist, homophobic, or such moments were being called out for their beliefs as it would put down another group of life. The cancelling of the celebrities spread like wildfire on platforms like Twitter and Tiktok with hashtags such as #nameisoverparty or #cancelname. 

The platform Tiktok is no stranger to cancel culture with gossip videos exposing users for their dark and secretive past. Some videos would show them using a racial slur or degrading another group of people. While showing improvements from these mistakes, followers were quick to forget about them and hit the unfollow button. Following these actions, come the hate comments. The words used towards the person being targeted can take a toll on their mindset and bring on the horrible thoughts of themself. Justin Ehrman (12), gave his opinion on the topic, “Cancel culture is a concept that in theory brings justice when people we idolize do wrong, however, more often than not it is used for someone’s own personal gain or to bring others down.” Many can argue they did that to themself; however with a platform that speaks of spreading positivity, isn’t it hypocritical to tear down someone else for their past mistake? People on these apps can quickly rise to fame with the for you page posting videos from anyone. This begins to install fear of wondering if their past could come back to haunt them. Now, oftentimes the cancel culture name is surrounded with a haunting thought of negativity. 

However, there is a good side to cancel culture as it makes people more aware of what they are posting online can have serious issues later in life. With life becoming more online, employers will research those who applied by checking their footprint left on the internet. It’s important to remember the old saying of “Treat others the way you want to be treated”, but there are other guidelines you want to follow when being active online. You not only want to respect others but also yourself. This can be important as you don’t want to tarnish your name because of your footprints online. 

Cancel culture has received more popularity as it spreads to different social media platforms. It has its positivity moments as it can take down dangerous celebrities and influencers. On the other hand, there can be a very negative side as it spreads much hatred towards someone even after just one mistake. The trend of cancel culture has impacted the newer generations making them more cautious with how they interact online. Many sides of this can have a damaging impact on society now, but it has shown positive outcomes as harmful people had their platform taken away.