Lolcow Catastrophe

If this triggers you, you're the problem and I implore you to better yourself instead of typing hate comments (￣～￣;) A few weeks ago a man delusionally confessed his feelings for a youtuber on tiktok, and with that newfound internet fame, (or more like, infamy) certain aspects of his life and personality have now been resurfaced from his accounts of different plataforms. Many argue that this hate was influenced because, and in the name of, his harmful and biased opinions on an abuse situation. As well as comments he has made on indigenous American topics and just his personality in general. Some people have gone as far as to attempt to diagnose him with some mental illness which would explain his behaviour. (scroll to the end to see my short take on the whole tylerchatastrophe situation) To all of this situation, I wanted to express my opinion, especially to see if others think the same about this niche ass discourse. ╮(￣ω￣;)╭ Before anything else, I must preface that I'm basing my opinions on the online environment I find myself in as well as surround myself with. On another corner of the algorithm some people aren't aware of this situation or any relevant thing surrounding it, so I can only speak about the experience I have. So when I say things like "everyone" or "everybody" I'm actually just referring to the atmosphere in which I find myself. With this being said: doesn't it feel like lately everyone is extremely hostile on the internet? It seems like it only takes a mistake or a cringey video for someone's life to burn up in flames and, even worse in my opinion, for people to justify harassment and hate and in even some cases, violence towards others. (I hope it's not needed to clarify that I'm not grouping those "others who make mistakes" with people that have committed crimes or harass and spread harmful messages) I couldn't possibly pinpoint the reason behind this phenomenon but I see it enough to notice it and to find it annoying. I like watching lolcows ＼(＾▽＾)／ I like following accounts with little to no followers full of cringey videos and dances and laughing at them I however, don't feel any hatred or a need to insult these people. What they do doesn't affect me at all and these people are not bad or evil because they like things I deem cringey.

In these spaces I move in, especially those surrounding art communities and fandoms that I'm not even a part of, especially those surrounding lolcows, there seems to be an influx of "alt" and "marginalized" people who at the smallest chance they get, jump on the hate train against those people that could be them if they were more conventionally attractive. ヽ( `д´*)ノ Lolcows and making fun of people has stopped being because of terrible things they've done (if it ever was about that) and has now turned into making fun of appearance and identity whilst at the same time the protagonists behind the hate cry about being made fun of and hated on. People want to be alt, different, part of marginalized communities, bullied... (Obv some even are without wanting to) And then they make fun of people like them. This makes me wonder if they want to fit in with the people that hate and bully them to appease them into not hurting them more or if they're just faking a general mindset that being part of these groups entail. In other words: you're not alt if you make fun of people for how they look, a disability they might have, how they dress, how they talk, how they feel, etc. ψ(▼へ▼メ)～→

Many would disagree with this point but there's an extremely simple answer as to why I think this is true: Being alt in any capacity means that you differ from the norm, and that usually comes with harassment and being judged. Of course, "being alt" has become more mainstream and watered down with time but to contribute to a subculture or social group in general, it's expected that you know about their values and ideology. If someone were to dress like a skinhead or wear n4zi symbols, what ideology would we expect them to have? And as well it's perfectly reasonable to expect your peers from a certain subculture to not be hypocrites and ignorant and to be upset when they are and don't represent at all the group they claim to be a part of. With subcultures and groups, the actions of the people visibly and actively participating in the scene end up describing the values of this group. For example, if every single punk started abusing people, everyone would think all punks are abusers and would refrain from dressing or participating in the culture. (`ー´) So when you pretend to be part of a movement/subculture/mindset and then turn around and judge others, virtue signal by assigning them a mental illness (which btw does absolutely nothing but stigmatize these disorders ffs) or make fun of others for the things they enjoy (prime example is series like tadc or hazbin hotel) you're just as bad as those who judge you for being "weird".

Coming back to the topic of hostility on the internet: This phenomenon reminds me of the Standford prison experiment where given certain roles and access to power, people will do atrocious things even if it doesn't represent them and their morals. With the internet we are all given access to people who overshare a lot and can be traced back and targeted in the physical world where there exist many more real consequences. Something that I think contributes as well (and that I'm knowingly pulling out of my ass because there is no real data that I feel comfortable referencing) is a need for community that affects mostly teenagers who are more prone to do reckless things. ψ( ` ∇ ´ )ψ There are people on the internet that, having the tools to do so, truly believe that they're the right ones to administer justice to others even when they know nothing about the situation that inspires them to do this in the first place. Having said all this, I should start talking about the reason that inspired this post: TylerCatastrophe and the grave he's dug himself on social media. This will be short because I honestly can't be bothered about investigating all the shit he's done and I care more about the point I made previously than this. To put it shortly, I think he deserves to be corrected and told off for the things he said about the abuse caused by the "brighton biter" just for the sake of his very apparent parasocial relationship with him. I also think he is incredibly obnoxious and the way he speaks and presents himself reminds me of this one guy ik irl that I'm like 70% sure has to be narcissistic (I still won't diagnose a literal stranger lol). However it's weird to me how people are genuinely judging his necklaces when some of them look really cool and yea his art may be bad but if there's someone buying it (and in my case no one wants my commisions..) who am I to judge lol. I also think the comments he made about being "two spirit" were stupid but I'm in no position to say anything about it cuz im not even american lol Of course, none of this justifies harrassment and the desire to make him lose his livelihood, his friends, his platform, etc. Σ(▼□▼メ) There are people out there actually harming others and I'm convinced the hate mob is just focused on him because they find him ugly and cringe. It's pretty sad. I might add more in a few days because this is all just a bit of disorganized thinking whilst procrastinating to not have to study. Anyways that's all for now!! Make sure to read the disclaimer and byee!! 

Disclaimer!! I know there is a big lack of scientific evidence or objective arguments in this text and as a person that deeply values scientific justification and statistics, I understand if I have had something wrong but I also want to say that this isn't the truth, it's my truth and my opinion. If it were a study of some kind I would have done the necessary research but I'm writing this to just spill out my thoughts. Still, please don't believe all of this at face value, these are my own experiences and things I've personally noticed and I would hate for someone to take this as fact without properly informing themselves first. My ideas on this topic aren't even that rigid and permanent since I don't think that there's cold, hard evidence that supports them.