Hmm. Mayhaps I think the way the internet treats its celebrities is impacting our collective psyche.
Like idk. I think the whole "digging up dirt on someone you slightly dislike to justify why you're correct rather than annoyed" and "they should have done xyz to make up for it. No not like that" and the rush to distance yourself from even the slightest unsavory facet about a person you have never met IRL is damaging actually.
MORE than in the sense of "you shouldn't do that." I think most rational adults can agree that being parasocial is bad and obsessing over mistakes and poor taste and botched interactions is detrimental. Callout posts and anon hate and so on are bad. That's a given.
But I think the prevalence of that culture is negatively impacting even people that don't participate in it. Knowing there's a subset of people out there who WILL skewer you for the slightest infraction, or WILL hold an unforgivable grudge against you if they find out what you did years ago, has to make it REALLY FUCKING HARD to afford yourself any grace, right? Because there's that looming implication that you're damaged forever if you step a toe out of line.
And I think that's what leads to people having a panic attack about being wrong about something. Or being called out for bigotry. And maybe also contributes to the whole hyper-aggressive protectiveness of characters and media you identify with. Like, ideally, you admit you were wrong, you grow up, you move on. But how do you do that if you've got this deep-seated fear that if the people you cared about found out, they might be part of that unforgivable-grudge-holding subset?
Idk. Am I making sense? I think I'm making sense.
Let’s not forget the quite literal life-threatening harassment that can appear if you’re just some guy being cringe on main.
You don’t even have to do anything objectionable. You can be some guy who is a little too sincere online. Next thing you know, strangers are filming you at work and you get fired. Or maybe you made a face in the back of someone’s video because you didn’t consent to being filmed and you’re annoyed. Congrats, the entire world knows you as an IHOP Karen and will attempt to ruin your life.
It’s hard to accept accountability for any actual wrongdoings when literal Nazism and being slightly judgmental because someone else recorded you without your consent gets the same level of vitriol. Like, we wonder why kids nowadays are such anxious messes who don’t like being around other people, and while I’m sure it can’t be boiled down to just one reason, I’m sure this is part of it!
