Social Media is one of the greatest inventions of the new age. It is a place where people can find diverse communities, create friends from around the world, share their experiences, give advice to others, and so much more. However, it also has its negatives, which aren’t subtle or scarce. As much as social media can create amazing things, it can make just as equally bad things. Anyone who has been on any social media for even a day can probably realize that.
These platforms are undoubtedly amazing, but when it comes to having an anonymous profile on social media, it’s easy to get away with things if you’re careful. And that is a bigger and bigger problem by the day. Maybe it’s not so much social media as it is a problem with the person themselves, but it is an enabler of these people’s behavior. When sitting behind a screen, knowing you will probably never encounter the people you’re talking to in person, I’m sure it’s much easier to say whatever you want. Is it worth it, though?
Of course, when I say this, I mean when people just say discriminatory or offensive things unprompted, which shouldn’t ever be considered acceptable. However, I want to focus on something else specifically: the idea of “cringe culture,” although most people don’t refer to it as that anymore.
Being on the internet with so many different people, you will see things you may not understand or think are weird. Which is completely fine; you are entitled to have your own opinions. But when these things don’t harm anyone, what is the point of negatively commenting on them?
A recent example of this that you might have heard of was the “Love Surge” video posted by Lilianna Wilde on TikTok. In this Tiktok, Lilianna shared a little ritual with her boyfriend where she says, “When one of us has so much love in our limbs that we can’t contain it and feel like we’re going to explode.” And they proceed to hug their partner while shaking with ‘love,’ to put it simply.
While, yes, watching the video, it’s understandable to consider it weird. I thought it was a little strange, but that was the extent of it. But, in all fairness, in the video, she even warned people at the beginning that it would be “the corniest, most couply thing ever.” However, a couple of weeks later, Lilianna posted a follow-up video addressing the response to that video, saying how people were wishing things like domestic violence, SA, and even death on her for it. These are all horrendous things to wish upon someone.
And for people to be comfortable saying these kinds of things, there must be an environment that’s already hostile. Looking at the comments on that video, most were just poking fun, but some people were just being downright rude. And while making a mean comment on the internet seems harmless to some people, it creates a slippery slope. When people see someone who shares the same opinion, they can proceed to post something along the same lines because they feel safe doing so. And that can often lead to these extreme situations where you have people sending death threats, among other things.
While Lilianna seems to be doing just fine now, there have been cases where people haven’t been able to get away from the hate and completely removed themselves from the internet, or in some cases, people have killed themselves because of extreme bullying on the internet.
And all this is possible because getting away with things on the internet is so easy. Bullying has always been a thing and has had consequences as extreme, but these platforms enable behavior like this with no repercussions. In contrast, bullying in real life is riskier because people are watching.
By all means, I’m not saying that social media should have never been created. I am saying that when interacting with people online, you have to realize that they are actual people, too. Whether they’re adults, teenagers, or little kids, everyone has feelings that matter. And sometimes you can forget that when you’ve been scrolling through TikTok for two hours straight. There will always be people who will be deemed ‘weird’ and ‘cringe’ by others, but someone else being ‘cringe’ doesn’t hurt you. So, what’s the point in trying to break them, especially their feelings?
So, if you take personal offense to people being cringy on the internet, I urge you to rethink your stance because I promise you it’s probably not that serious. The world desperately needs more positivity, love, and acceptance, as stereotypical as it sounds. Being kind to others not only makes other people happier, but studies have shown that it can also make you happier!
Also, given the time of year, it should be known that October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so now is an excellent time to educate yourself and others on similar problems! And if that interests you, some good sites to refer to would be StopBullying.gov and NCTSN.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. It’s easy to get away with things on the internet, but that’s not necessarily an invitation to.
