Citations

Calling for Cancellation: Understanding How Markets Are Shaped to Realign with Prevailing Societal Values
Research
April 16, 2023

This study adopts an institutional theory lens to investigate how calls for brand cancellation unfold. In doing so, it provides insight into how markets are shaped to realign with prevailing institutional logics around political ideology, race, gender, sexuality, abuse, and corporate greed. Further, it outlines the triggers that prompt institutional entrepreneurs to attempt to delegitimize the existence of incumbent brands. It also reveals how various actors (consumers, brands, media, affiliates, influencers, opponents) engage in institutional work to disrupt, create, or maintain institutional logics, as well as their own legitimacy. Macro implications for social values, political factions, markets, marketing practices, and brands are discussed.

The Commercialization of YouTube: Can Apology Videos as a Product Ever be Authentic?
Thesis
June 1, 2022

In recent years, YouTube has evolved from a user-generated platform to a platform that thrives on professionalized and marketable content, otherwise known as the era of the social media influencer (Kim, 2012;). This thesis applies neutralization and Millsian theories to help unpack the widespread fraud and deceptive advertising on the platform within a neoliberal capitalist context. The focal points of this thesis are apology videos in the wake of deceptive/fraudulent advertising scandals, cancel culture, and the symbiotic relationship that influencers and corporations share in paid sponsorships on YouTube. The findings indicate that influencers function similarly to corporate entities during scandals and engage in neutralizations to protect their reputation, brand, and business relationships (Schoultz & Flyghed, 2019; Whyte, 2016). This thesis also points to the legal challenges in holding influencers accountable at the level of domestic advertising agencies and on YouTube itself. Lastly, this thesis questions the invisibility of corporations in these scandals regarding how this may be indicative of larger manifestations of corporate power in society.

Cancel Culture: A Career Vulture amongst Influencers on Social Media
The Emerald Handbook of Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media (Chapter 21)
2022

Influencers - whether they are journalists, bloggers, vloggers, public figures, industry analysts, or any individual with a highly engaged social media following - can help expand reach, increase awareness, boost reputation, and drive engagement among target audiences for positive situations and circumstances. While many have seen significant success in their work on and offline, influencers have also been in the spotlight based on actions their audiences do not approve of and as a result, they have been canceled, whereas others have not.

Cancel Culture
Research
December 15, 2021

Given the popularization of the terms “cancellation” and “cancel culture” around the world and specifically in Brazil, some studies have been dedicated to better understanding the dynamics of cancellation and its social effects. This article, through bibliographic and qualitative research, sought to understand what could be the beginning of cancellation, how social networks serve as a platform for cancellation, which contents and profiles are more subject to the phenomenon, in addition to seeking to understand what if it intends to cancel someone and if that in some measure means only a protest or a censorship/restriction of freedom of expression, causing a chilling effect. The present research could not be entirely conclusive. What was found from the respondents to the survey applied in the present research, combined with the trend observed worldwide, is that cancellation has been used as a protest and occurs mainly when the themes involve racial and gender issues.

After Cancellation: The Impact on the Relationship Between the Follower and Digital Influencer and in the Perception of Brands Associated With It
Dissertation
October, 2021

Among millions of followers and partnerships with increasingly common brands, digital influencers seem to be here to stay. Seen as someone close and reliable, your opinions are valued and impact on the consumer's attitude towards the brand and its purchase intention. However, with the rise of cancel culture and the growing cancellation of digital influencers on social networks, it becomes relevant to study not only the impact that this phenomenon has on the relationship of follower with the digital influencer, as well as the impact on the perception of brands to they associated. This investigation proposes to explore these two aspects, in addition to determine the reasons that lead to the cancellation of digital influencers, based on in the qualitative analysis of data, collected in individual in-depth interviews.

Critical Sexual Literacy: Forecasting Trends in Sexual Politics, Diversity and Pedagogy
Book
August 3, 2021

This book is a new and exciting resource for teachers, students, and activists who aim to critically examine contemporary sexuality through the lens of sexual literacy and situated social analysis. This original anthology provides shorter cutting-edge essays on theory, method, and activism, including the nature of globalization and local sexuality discovered in ‘glocal’ topics, processes and contexts.Within the anthology, students, educators, practitioners, and policy makers will find critical conversations regarding a wide array of sexual topics that impact our world currently. These cutting-edge essays inform readers of key moments in sexual history, including areas relating to research, practice and social policy, and provide a platform from which to engage in rich discussion and forecast the development of sexual literacy in our world within multiple contexts.

#CancelCulture: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Cancel Culture and Its Effect on Representation and Voice
Thesis
Summer 2021

Cancel culture has been described by some as a form of online activism. It has also been argued as activism with both negative and positive effects. For the positive side, cancel culture has worked to emphasize the representation and voice of women during the #MeToo movement againstsexual harassment at workplaces. On the other hand, cancel culture has a reputation for being "activism-for-bad" when it silences the voice of people that may contribute to the area of communication for development and social change. For example, it is said to have stifled academic freedom and restricted open debates in cultural institutions. The aim of this thesis is to examine how cancel culture determines whose representation and voice is heard, and has it evolved from being a tool of activism to one that is said to threaten democratic participation?

If I Only Knew: Cancel Culture
Podcast
May 14, 2021

This week on If I Only Knew, Fred and Matt tackle a controversial and consistently relevant topic - cancel culture. 'Cancelling' seems to be a modern trend, facilitated by the internet, and it has very real consequences. But when is cancelling justifiable, what is the value of it, and what are some of the reasons it might get highjacked?

Cancel Culture and the Right to Access Information
Research
2021

The purpose of this analysis is to highlight how the phenomenon of cancel culture affects various principles and fundamental rights guaranteed by all the democratic Constitutions, with particular focus on the Italian system, in connection with the supranational legal system (e.g. freedom of opinion, right to manifestation of thought, right to be informed). The paper aims at demonstrating how these choices undermine the general principle of tolerance, milestone of all democratic States. In connection with the main topic, the issues raised by the provision of customized, sometimes even purged, information by search engines and social media, rather than complete and transparent information, are analysed. The exploitation of such practice in online activism practices, and its dubious legitimacy, are assessed as well.

To Be Alive in an Era of Problematic Faves: A Research Overview of Cancel Culture
Research
2021

In just a few years, cancel culture has become the topic on everyone's lips. It's an exciting, but also to a certain extent a treacherous phenomenon that has etched into our society, both online and offline. It moves quickly and is constantly changing, but where does it come from, and what drives it?

Cancel Culture: The Phenomenon, Online Communities and Open Letters
Research Blog
September 2020

This past year, opinions have steadily accumulated around an increasingly polarizing term: “cancel culture”. Nowadays, whenever a celebrity is involved in a controversy—often related to sexual misconduct or the poor treatment of minorities—, the word “cancelling” inevitably appears on social media. The practice of cancelling emerged on sites such as Tumblr with anonymous users shaming powerful wrongdoers in the hopes of inspiring legal action.