Virality Analysis of “Managing Conflicts in a ‘Cancel-Culture’ Environment”

In “Managing Conflicts in a ‘Cancel-Culture’ Environment” by Matt Kucharski he discusses the various ways a company can handle cancel-culture.

Although the term cancel-culture was created after the creation of social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, companies have already found ways to combat a potential boycott.

With this as context, it can be assumed that many celebrities have been briefed on what rules to follow if they're ever the target of cancel-culture. Ironically, if a company or celebrity is called out on something they might have said or done in the past, many would turn to their respective “Guide to Cancel-Cultures” than give a genuine apology.

Because this piece is public information as well, it is borderline satirical that a CEO is giving advice to other CEOs regarding cancel-culture.

Although his list includes updating their conflict policy, allowing people to opt-out, and letting values be their guide, after something has gone viral it is nearly impossible to damage control.

In terms of authenticity and reputation, an incident will most likely go viral over social media because of its emotional response, its culture shock, or its confers to social capital.

Kucharski states that the “world isn’t getting any less complex, and those growing agencies will inherently run into conflicts different from those in the past.” His analysis is completely accurate.

The lines of reality and social media are often blurred and this is why cancel-culture is often followed by the group shaming of thousands across various platforms.

Taking Kucharski’s company advice, for example, it is clear why his rules are outlined in a specific order. His main point is to reduce as much damage done to the company image as possible. Towards the middle of the outline, he states to allow people to opt-out of being apart of anything to do with the company.

The biggest way that these issues become viral is the spider-like web that is created from the strong ties on social media. These strong ties see constant sharing and reproduction of the same thoughts and ideas and it is the main reason why cancel and callout culture have become so toxic in recent years.