Urban Dictionary Defines a Canceled Culture

Urban Dictionary defines a canceled culture as “the state of being canceled out of a social or cultural network, or having one's social life shut down due to pressure.” That definition would make me want to cancel my social life now, because it describes so much of what I experience every day. Indeed, it almost makes me wish that I were still a social butterfly.

The canceling out of culture is also a function of the global shutter down of the Internet, which has given us with a new vocabulary for describing how we interact with each other in our non-traditional private and public digital spaces. It seems there is such a thing as too much social interaction. Perhaps the new Oxford dictionary will correct this misnomer and redefine our terms. Perhaps “cultural” and “digital” are two separate concepts in the Oxford dictionary. Maybe they should be combined. Or perhaps, “Cancel Culture” really is a better name for it all.

In the modern world, people get cancelled out of social media because they have been “canceled out of the loop”, so to speak. They are not real people. They are only simulated avatars in cyberspace; people with no flesh and blood, just an identity on a digital billboard. But how did they get cancelled out of that social media environment? The answer may not be as obvious as one might imagine.

Urban Dictionary on Twitter: “Cancel Culture: A desire to cancel 

In my opinion, the real cause of cancellations in the modern online social networking environment comes from three things: careful weighing, targeted messaging and content, and boredom. Let's look more closely at these factors. We can use the word cancel culture in a generic way to describe the phenomenon of getting quickly and publicly canceled out of a networking environment. A casual reader might therefore think that “cancelled out” is a synonym for “not accepted”. But that is not quite right, in my opinion: careful weighing is necessary, targeted messaging is necessary, and boredom is inevitable.

When you are not in the loop, when you are being asked to participate in activities that you neither want to nor need to do, you become very anxious about being “canceled out”. That anxiety can make you behave in unproductive ways. You may start to cancel out of your own communication. You may start to withdraw from participation in online communities and networks.

Youthsplaining: Everything You Need to Know About Cancel Culture

What is the corrective for this cancellation process? The first corrective is to remember that you were never truly accepted, that you were always being declined, always being placed in some kind of temporary inconvenience. The second corrective is to gain the ability to understand the distinction between being forced to do something and having to do it. Cancelling your membership is not the same as being forced to do something. Cancelling your membership in a networking community is different from being forced to do something, but being forced to do something may still have the same effect as being “canceled out”.

The third corrective is to realise that you should be able to do something in spite of being “canceled out”. Canceling an online membership can be likened to being “canceled out” by being forced to sign an agreement with someone else. You are still entitled to that membership; you just had the option to cancel it. Likewise, if someone has decided to cancel your membership, even if you request them to cancel it, you are still entitled to the services that they offered you, even if they cancel you out. What you cannot do is to try to cancel out their cancelling decision, because you will always be placed in an inconvenient position, even if you request them to cancel. When you learn to put these three corrective strategies into practice, you will find yourself in a much more powerful bargaining position, one that will help you enjoy the full benefits of cancellation culture.

Don't let yourself be bullied by the cultural phenomenon of “cancellation culture”. Take control of the negotiation process and stop being bullied by the cultural tendency to force cancellations. Learn to counter cancel and insist on cancellation. When you practice negotiation skills in the workplace, you will increase the chances that you will be able to negotiate better contracts for your employer later on.