I recently deleted a couple of my old blogs which I deemed a tad ‘problematic’. Of course I didn’t see anything wrong when I wrote them but as society changes, so must my blogs. Man, if ever there was a fine line between being witty and being outright offensive… I was tiptoeing around there for sure. A lot of cheeky statements were flying around and no doubt a few were met with hostility. I remember one of my guys reposting a certain blog on his Facebook wall and I couldn’t believe how much heat I was catching in the comments section. I was tempted to direct message him asking to untag me lol. But it was all justified. Those blogs were below the belt and naturally people took offence. I did have vegans camped out in my Facebook comments section after my “Protein over Plants” blog though but their lack of meat meant they didn’t have the stamina to maintain that battle. And maybe it was ignorance as to why I never reviewed those blogs earlier, angry people are generally more vocal. I even got called a “bootlicker” for a guest blog I didn’t even write so yeah… I tend to take these things with a pinch of salt.
So now they’re removed from my blogging site… with the only copies on my hard drive and potentially screenshotted by my enemies patiently waiting for me to blow lol. Waiting for me to gain an ounce of credibility before letting social media know they didn’t agree with an article I wrote. Of course I say this in jest but it always amuses me when someone is living their stress-free life only to make it big and bam, people have dug up receipts from their past, trying to dull their shine. Screenshots dating back from 2013 can and will be used against you in the court of social media. Tweets from when you were a teenager will be scrutinised without the need for context. Imagine sitting on material hoping and waiting to out someone… and 2020 has definitely led to a number of people, celebs especially having their past antics bite them in the ass. Whether it’s your favourite musician or that YouTuber you grew up with, it seems like everyone is being outed with their problematic views coming to light.
Don’t bother apologising though, that never goes down well. I’ve seen people get peer-pressured into apologising only to be told that their apology wasn’t good enough. You could have the most choreographed apology going and people will say it’s not sincere lol, there’s no winning. And although I’ll never condone some of the wayward views and actions I’ve been seeing recently, society seems to thrive off people’s downfall and lick our lips for the next sign of drama. Never did I think I’ll see the day when Ellen DeGeneres would be getting dragged online but 2020 has been full of surprises. But the fallout this year has really told me how selective cancel culture really is. Katy Hopkins was spewing her poison for ages before she was finally axed, but it only took one attempt for Wiley to be removed from the whole internet lol, vanished like the BLM U.K. charity donations… too soon? And Wiley having his ish shutdown due to his antisemitism isn’t the hill I plan to die on, but it’s the fact that racism, homophobia, islamophobia and all those other phobias aren’t dealt with the same urgency.
But what’s that phrase they say about people who live in glass houses? The same people cancelling Wiley have been saying Wiley-esk comments for ages but just haven’t been caught in the act. “Man not yet outed for his problematic views denounces man recently outed for his problematic views”. Or maybe you have been open but your 7 followers have just turned a blind eye. Either way life has a funny way of teaching you a lesson; 2020 is the year to exercise political correctness. One wrong move and you’re deactivating your LinkedIn account ‘cos people are contacting your line manager asking if they condone your recent behaviour. I’ve seen people’s names become twitter hashtags overnight because their social media antics went viral. But as the world becomes more progressive, like everyone else I am responsible for what I put out in the atmosphere. ‘Cancel culture’ and ‘facing the consequences of my actions’ are too very different things.
Joe
