By skyforbes 
This isn’t accountability. It’s a modern witch hunt.
The Algorithm Takes You On a Moral Outrage Tour
Discussions that begin on social media play out vastly different than face to face conversations. The anonymity and lack of requirement to connect or read social cues makes it easy for discussions to devolve into a series of social misfires. Sometimes it is intentional, and sometimes it is not. In either case, it creates an intellectual disparity among us as people. People type things they would never say out loud. People get angrier and angrier as the algorithm takes them from version to version of a story, each one containing bits of misinformation or even outlandish claims. Viral drama is conceived. There is no better place to witness this disparity than Tiktok.
It is easy to tell angry emotional stories on social media. You are not on a stage with a microphone, millions watching and waiting for authentic content. You are in your home or safe space sharing a narrative you control just as easily as you control the lighting. Your viewers feel safe responding to content because they too are in a safe place, where there will be no immediate consequence if they respond with anger, resentment, or cruelty. As a result, there is an embarrassing trend on TikTok where creators who are monetized utilize content as a means of harassing and/or publicly shaming groups of people they do not like or feel marginalized by. The goal is to lure viewers in with their thoughts on the latest viral discussion. Creators begin telling a story of some sort of social wrongdoing, either against the creator or another person. To increase attention, creators often don’t respond to people directly. A comment that challenges the creator’s thoughts prompts a brand new video instead and the discovery of a brand new villain. Viola. Two hundred thousand followers later, TikTok is paying you to hand your viewers pitchforks to hang the latest witch. Rather than have a normal rational discussion.
Bring Ye Jobs of Thine Enemies….
There are numerous examples of viral incidents on TikTok that end with harassment, threats, and/or contacting the employer of the newest villain. For example, The Antipasto Debacle. This incident resulted in real harassment of the Mean Couple who did not wish to have the Unwelcome Stranger in their house. There was a rumor the wife lost her job even. Whether or not they were polite or rude, the response from TikTok was extreme and at times unreasonable. The Reddit discussion linked above shows comments from users stating they would invite ANY stranger into their home if they had an antipasto plate like Unwelcome Stranger.
Really? Any stranger? I have a hard time believing this is the way viewers would have actually responded had a stranger shown up at their house for a holiday gathering. Apparently Mean Couple did respond but that only made the harassment worse. Their apology, explanation, and response only increased the negative attention they got. The truth was, viewers did not care about the real story. No apology was going to be sufficient for the mob this incident created. They were bad, Unwelcome Stranger was good. An international discussion ensued. The Internet Jury had spoken.
Imagine yourself telling someone you know this story:
“A friend of mine invited me to a Fourth of July party. I made a gorgeous antipasto salad. I was so excited to meet new people. But when I got there, the people were extremely rude to me. They did not want a stranger in their house, even though I was told I was invited. Because the people who lived in the house did not want me there, I obviously left. I was extremely hurt by the way I was treated. So I stood outside of their house crying and telling every single person who passed by what happened. Now they lost their jobs. People are visiting their home to harass and threaten them too. But they shouldn’t have been rude to me. Now they are being held accountable for making me leave a party.”
Okay so you probably can’t tell that exact story. It is already a piece of internet history. But do yourself a favor. The next time there is a viral incident on TikTok where one person is being attacked because of something they said, and it doesn’t matter what they said, take note of that incident. Do the exact thing I said above. Retell the story out loud to a person you know well, face-to-face. Tell it like a casual story. Does it sound normal? Does saying it out loud to someone in person, face-to-face over coffee feel comfortable for you? It likely will not or at least shouldn’t.
This is just one of many incidents. There was Kendra Hilty who received violent threats for her videos, discussing romantic feelings for her therapist. A woman who goes by boymomx3 on TikTok went viral recently also for creating a TikTok about her grocery haul. Commenters were outraged at the food she was feeding her three sons and did not disappoint in attacking her. Several viewers even discussed notifying child protective services of the diet she was providing for her children. It was thought to be reasonable to call the custody of her fed children into question. The fact that grown adults could not understand the severity of such an action? Not surprising. It is social media. They have the freedom to let their inner selves out when in like-minded company. The more everyone else joins in on the bullying, the more right it feels.
And no real consequences.
How Did We Get Here?
It is obvious Tiktok loves their mobs. Why else would they allow monetization of the accounts that participate in organized harassment?
For the record, I didn’t think the Mean Couple in The Antipasto Debacle should have been rude. I also think their home is their home and what they did is not as abnormal as it was made out to be. I did also find the response of the Unwelcome Stranger, well…….strange. The immediate instinct to whip out your mobile device when you start to cry so you can record your tears in real time is very abnormal to me. Is it normal to discuss falling in love with your therapist? No. Did the grocery haul mom choose unhealthy foods at the grocery? Yes.
But public humiliation, shaming, harassment, and threats aimed at these people? How did people get like this? When did this become an acceptable response to behavior we simply don’t like?
Bullying for Accountability Became Commonplace When TikTok Started Encouraging It
I used to think it was generational, but Tiktok has changed my mind. It seems to be people of all ages, all races, all religions, all walks of life eager to consume TikTok drama rabidly and then share nasty insults in the comments section like hyenas. While not every creator utilizing their TikTok for performative justice participates directly…..they certainly allow and encourage it. They profit off of it. Which is complicity.
I did get my own personal experience with a monetized creator on TikTok who regularly utilizes her content and loyal followers to attack others personally and professionally. I will tell that story but I want to tell the stories of others first. I quickly learned I was not alone in being the newest target of a specific creator & her followers, mostly due to my profession.
Above all, my experience made me draw one very important conclusion: There are people who chronically feel unheard and unable to control their own lives in some way. Social media gives them a little bit of their power back. It gives them a 24/7 adoring audience, ready to attack any viewer questioning their credibility or integrity. TikTok is very effective at providing an otherwise lonely, unheard person the community they lack outside of their device. These are the people “advocating” for social justice on TikTok.
That is how a bully is made. And thus, their mob is born.