Used to think cancel culture was just online drama until my buddy lost his landscaping job over a tweet

Back in 2021 I figured cancel culture was just people yelling at strangers on Twitter. But then my friend Dave from high school got fired from his landscaping job in Portland after someone dug up a tweet he made when he was 19. The tweet was dumb, sure, something about pineapple on pizza being a crime against humanity, but a client saw it and complained to his boss. He lost a steady gig making $22 an hour. Now I watch what I say way more carefully even in private group chats. Has anyone else seen this kind of thing hit people they know personally?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_fisher1mo ago

Yeah that "unspoken anxiety" thing is real, I just started telling clients upfront I keep my online stuff private and they usually drop it.

troy_price1mo ago

Whole cities got that unspoken anxiety now where everybody's scared of their own digital footprint.

the_max1mo ago

Hit em with the old "I left my phone at home" excuse, right? Works about as well as saying the dog ate your homework. But seriously, it's kind of wild how we've all just accepted that everything we type or search could end up as evidence in the court of public opinion. Makes you wonder if we're all just pre-gaming for the day we have to explain that weird 3AM Wikipedia rabbit hole to our grandkids. Guess we traded actual privacy for the illusion of it and a whole lot of side-eye.