Pop Culture

Pros And Cons Of Cancel Culture: Tool For Change Or Trendy Toxicity?

By Dear Media | February 12, 2025

Cancel culture has become a HOT topic in today’s world. It’s everywhere we see it on social media, the news, and even talk about it in our everyday conversations. It totally reshapes the way we hold people accountable, but it’s also sparked some heavy debates on fairness, freedom, and forgiveness.

Cancel culture can take on so many different forms, easily blurring the lines of right and wrong. On one hand, it’s great for sharing a public sentiment and demanding justifiable change. On the other hand, it can feel like a digital justice system with a little bit of mob mentality, leading to some unnecessary public shaming.

Like everything else in life, cancel culture has pros and cons. But where do we draw the line? In today’s post, we’ll explore the good, bad, and complicated truth of cancel culture. You may be surprised at its impact on our society!

Pros And Cons Of Cancel Culture: Tool For Change Or Trendy Toxicity?

Before discussing the pros and cons of cancel culture, we need to take a step back and discuss what it started as and what it’s morphed into today. This will help you better grasp its overall impact. Plus, knowing its advantages and disadvantages can help you figure out where you stand in the ever-evolving debate!

What Is Cancel Culture?

At its core, cancel culture is the act of calling out public figures, brands, or even entire movements for perceived missteps, with the goal of holding them accountable for their actions and sparking change. The idea of public shaming isn’t new, though it’s ALWAYS been around but the internet and social media have given it an entirely different face.

Social media platforms allow people to voice their issues IMMEDIATELY, which is great, right??? Issues spread like wildfire and gain a huge amount of attention in real time. But, rapid fire accusations and overwhelming public outcry aren’t always what they seem.

Instead of taking time to really evaluate an issue, people often band together and jump to conclusions before seeing the whole picture. This means harsher consequences, unnecessary “cancellations,” and real-life losses. What might have started as a small, local issue now can be broadcasted globally in a matter of, honestly, minutes.

From ruined reps to lost jobs, the stakes in the cancellation game have suddenly become much higher.

How Is Cancel Culture Good?

It holds people accountable for their actions.

Cancel culture is the most powerful way to make someone take responsibility for their actions. Think about it! When we hold people accountable and call out inappropriate behavior, especially as a collective voice, they’re gonna step back and think about what they’ve done.

Whether a celebrity makes a super offensive comment or a corporation treats its employees unethically, canceling them demands accountability. In a world where consequences for bigger names feel non-existent, social media gives people a chance to call these people or corporations out publicly.

Cancel culture encourages essential social change.

When collective outrage is loud enough, society reevaluates specific social issues and their associated values. We’re not talking about the “#nomoreselfies” cancellation that was going around a few years ago (what even was that???). We’re talking about things like racism, sexism, and equal rights real-deal, no-BS issues.

Cancel culture sparks important conversations about social justice so that as a society, we can deem what’s acceptable and what’s straight-up wrong.

It’s “we the people,” not “we the rich and powerful.”

It’s no secret that historically, the rich, famous, and powerful often faced little to no consequences for their behavior even if their words or actions should’ve never been excused in the first place.

Cancel culture shifts the power back to the people, making it nearly impossible for people of power to escape their wrongs. This has really leveled the playing field so that everyday people have more of a voice. This doesn’t just help hold people accountable; it helps promote an equal society.

It encourages critical thinking and reflection.

In its best moments, cancel culture pushes society to think critically about the impact that their words and actions have on other people. When someone or something is scrutinized, they’ll likely rethink their actions and either change or ultimately apologize.

This isn’t just good for accountability, though. It really fosters personal growth, meaningful change, and a genuine understanding of social issues from different perspectives. It can also lead to conversations about collectively doing better moving forward.

Cancel culture can strengthen a sense of community.

When you’re going through a hard time or struggling with an internal conflict, one of the best ways to feel understood is to get involved in a community. This is basically how cancel culture works.

When people with similar values and hardships stand against harmful behavior, it fosters solidarity. For example, think about the #MeToo movement. People all over the world who suffered sexual abuse, harassment, and assault came together not just to spark change but to feel heard by people who understand and relate to them. Or BLM, where the world came together to call out the injustices of a marginalized community. That’s a huge win in our books.

Speaking of the #MeToo movement and women’s empowerment, listen to this episode of The Bad Broadcast to channel some of that feminine rage. For an authentic and honest conversation about the BLM movement, you need to listen to this episode of The Nicole Walters Podcast.

How Is Cancel Culture Bad?

Cancelling someone can incite bullying and harassment.

Even if the end goal of cancellation is to encourage a reaction or change, it can go way overboard. When someone is “canceled,” oftentimes, people run with it and use it as an excuse for online bullying and harassment.

These hateful messages and personal attacks can turn into real-world consequences, like actual violence and emotional distress. The mob mentality can turn a call for accountability into an all-out assault on someone’s personal life. This episode of De-Influenced with Dani + Jordan talks about the negative effect of mob mentality in instances where it’s not needed.

Mob mentality can lead to intolerance and exclusion.

Cancel culture can quickly lead to a “you’re either with us or against us” thought process. And honestly, sometimes it isn’t that black and white! Someone can do something wrong but still deserve the chance for redemption, and sometimes, people just come together and decide, “yeah, let’s cancel this today.” Listen to Whitney Cummings on this episode of Not Skinny But Not Fat to hear her viewpoint on this scenario.

Casting people with different opinions out isn’t just harmful; it’s straight-up toxic. Instead of allowing people to grow and change, it encourages consistent exclusion and punishment.

It can promote a fear of speaking out in general.

The fear of being canceled can make free speech feel impossible, even in good faith. When there’s a risk of cancellation just because of disagreements over opinions, it stifles important conversations and ideas.

People will ultimately hold back on sharing their thoughts on sensitive issues. Not even because they fully disagree but because they’re worried that if they’re misinterpreted, it gives the go-ahead for the world to publicly shame them.

It’s kind of like that whole situation with J.K. Rowling speaking on the trans community, right? She stated that she simultaneously stands with the trans community while also acknowledging her viewpoint on sex. It was a thought-provoking conversation that ultimately led to a debate on “to be or not to be canceled.”

The lack of context and all-around misinformation has a heavy impact.

One of the biggest drawbacks of cancel culture is the lack of context and misinformation. Someone speaks out about something, people run with it without looking further into the issue, and suddenly someone is canceled over something that’s totally blown out of proportion.

The rush to judgment and being misinformed about a situation has detrimental consequences that people forget to consider. Your favorite IG influencer may have said that “Sally Smith” (just an example!) stole her BF, and then suddenly Sally is getting death threats when that’s not even what actually happened the BF reached out to her first. See where we’re going with this?

Listen to this episode of Recovering from Reality to hear Sofia Franklyn talk about how she was cancelled for one thing when something totally different was actually going on.

Cancel culture erodes the concept of forgiveness.

In a world where mistakes result in permanent punishment, there’s literally 0 room for growth and redemption. Imagine if you were immediately cast out every time you made a mistake instead of being forgiven and given a second chance. It hurts and, honestly, is unfair. Listen to this episode of House Guest to hear what 90210’s AnnaLynne has to say about Cancel Culture.

Once someone gets canceled, it’s hard to regain public trust even if they’ve shown genuine remorse and taken actual steps toward positive change. This “zero-tolerance” approach leaves little room for someone to have the ability to stop their wrongdoings, grow and change their behavior.

For even more insight on cancel culture, check out this episode and this episode of the Him & Her Show!

Cancel culture is good, bad, messy, and complicated but it’s important to discuss!

In a world where everything can turn into a debate, it’s important to know when a cancellation is necessary and when it’s down-right overrated. In times when someone did something genuinely inappropriate and unforgivable, hold them accountable! But, if someone just said something you don’t personally agree with, skip the cancellation and agree to disagree.

Check out the Dear Media blog for advice on anything from pop culture to mental health. And, don’t forget to check out the DM shop for tons of must-haves, like this “Be Safe, Be Kind, & Hot” sweatshirt!

And while we’re talking about cancel culture, don’t forget to prioritize the most important thing of all: your mental health! Check out these super important posts for more: