The Role of Anger in Online Cancel Culture

Jonathan C. Satterfield
Dr. Chad Mohler, Faculty Mentor

Canceling is a recent phenomenon in which an online community publicly withdraws support from a prominent figure in response to the figure’s problematic behavior. While canceling is intended to hold powerful people accountable for their actions through social media, it often receives negative attention for its misuse or overuse. This paper argues that canceling is primarily motivated by anger and the desire for the canceled figure to suffer as retribution for their perceived wrongful action, and it discusses the ethical implications of acting out of anger on social media. It also examines what factors of social media contribute to heightened anger reactions and to the prominence of canceling as a tactic for enforcing social norms online.

Keywords: anger, social media, ethics, Internet communication, Canceling

Topic(s):PHRE Senior Seminar
Philosophy & Religion

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA