What if We Actually Deplatformed the Problematic?

Finding the feminine urge to ignore the drama

CREDIT: pinterest/@moodynympho

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Peace is something we sometimes struggle to find, but you have to admit – whether it was a noticeable change or subliminal – your jaw became a little less clenched, shoulders less tense and you let out a breath you might not have realized had been caught in the back of your throat, when Donald Trump was banned from social media.

It really felt like the world – no matter the million other problems occurring simultaneously – somehow became a little less chaotic.

So, think of what a world it would be if we decided to deplatform all of the problematic people causing a shit show on the TL.

I would picture it to be like a scene from a cartoon with bluebirds chirping, the grass greener than you’d imagine it on the other side and a technicolor rainbow hanging overhead.

In the case of Trump, we had grown so used to being subjected to constant Twitter nonsense, we didn’t realize the mental toll it was taking on us.

But even though that evil has been somewhat snuffed out, there are still many people wreaking the same havoc all over social media.

We’ve got Joe Rogan, Jamie Lynn Spears and Kanye West to name a few.

Free speech is a thing; yes, we all know that. But in the case of Rogan, the misinformation he is spreading is inching closer and closer to the actions that got Trump booted off the digital island.

Spotify decided to continue to giving this man a platform but will provide a disclaimer on the episodes where he discusses COVID-19 to soften the blow.

In another instance of a large platform uplifting badly behaved XYZ-list celebs, Alexandra Cooper, host of Call Her Daddy, had Jamie Lynn Spears on as a guest following the Britney Spears conservatorship controversy.

Regardless of what Cooper’s intention may or may not have been in having Spears on the show, she still allowed a shady figure the chance to cause more harm to her own sister who had already suffered through a 13-year conservatorship.

Finally, we’ve got West who has just fully been spouting off on his soapbox to his 14.5 million Instagram followers.

With upwards of 2.3 million likes on his posts, it's obvious that his audience is just simply eating up all the content threatening to physically assault Pete Davidson and showing signs of mentally abusive behavior toward ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

But it’s all so entertaining, right?

Now, I’m not here to judge, because I’m obviously privy to all the drama as well. But why do we consistently feed into it?

I get it. It’s an immediate serotonin boost and a way to instantly forget about your own issues by looking through glass at how the other side handles their's oh, so publicly.

It’s highly improbable we would be able to accomplish deplatforming the problematic through actual removal from social media, but we could make the collective decision to quit the drug of deranged dramatics.

And what better way to do so than through nonchalant, cool-girl lack of care. We have so much better to do than waste hours relentlessly trying to catch up on the latest gossip that will undoubtedly be overshadowed by the next story in no time.

So, I challenge myself and all of you to take a step away from the problematic, and in doing so, allow them one less person to have their misguided message consumed by.

Absorbing content from problematic people should become somewhat looked down upon.

Imagine how you’d feel if you started chattering about the latest celeb antics and were met with the response of “Oh, I don’t pay attention to that kind of nonsense.”

That might make you reconsider using your valuable time taking in the train wreck.

But at the very least, if you don’t think you can quit cold-turkey; please, unfollow Kanye West on Instagram.

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Jillian Rodriguez is an Online Writer at Rowdy Magazine. You can find her sitting in her bedroom under a mirrorball listening to Taylor Swift, sipping iced coffee, and contemplating which seemingly mundane moments of life to add to her many drafts; maybe you’ll show up in her writing one day. You can reach her at @jillygabrielle on Instagram for more info.