What y’all think about this? Stabbing or Joking?

Let me ask (and answer) a few questions. Was this said in jest? Maybe. Was she serious? Who knows. Did she understand what could happen if she posted a video to Tik Tok and it went Viral? I have to assume that she did because she's 22, grew up in an age of social media an has to have seen these things before. Could the video she posted cause a significant amount of backlash? Yes. Does she deserve to face any degree of backlash over this? Yes. Just to be clear, I'm not advocating or condoning threats of physical violence, sexual assault and rape, but if this was a joke, like all jokes made in bad taste, then she opened herself upto critisism and backlash, Does Deloitte have the right to rescind her offer for any reason they want? Yes. Is she blaming Deloitte for the problem that she potentially created? Yes. You see where I'm going with this?

In an age of Social Media, Cancel Culture, and Social Unrest, I'm reminded of the New York Times rule - What would your (Insert friends, family, colleagues and coworkers) think if your decision to do something ended up on the front page of Times. Mind you, if the New York Times still followed the masthead of "All the news that's fit to print" (note the emphasis here - after the Tom Cotton fiasco, I don't think that holds true, but I don't want to turn this into a discussion of the NYT Op-Ed Board and why allowing views from both perspectives is key here regardless of your political views), something like this situation could have been printed on the front page. The problem is that once something goes Viral, there's no turning back. I can think of times before Cancel Culture and Mob Outrage became the norm where athletes would either lose scholarships, be dropped in the recruiting process, or be overlooked because of things that they posted on social media. One bad tweet/social media post could potentially kill your shot at a D1 school. So it's not like being careful about what you say on social media is something that's brand new.

We're seeing this with outrage, regardless of whether it is warranted or not, directed at conservative and right leaning figures, news sources, websites, etc. already because it's not progressive. Both ZeroHedge and The Federalist were both recently targeted - not because of content but because of the comment section - by a group that wants to remove what they consider to be fake news. They went to GoogleAds to complain about the comments section on both of these sites. The Federalist shut down its comments section in order to remain on the GoogleAds platform while Zerohedge refused and can no longer generate ad revenue. Mind you, when Google controls more than a third of both Digital Ad spend and Mobile User Ad spend, if you're cut off from Google Ads, your revenue as an independent website drops perciptiicly.

We're seeing this on the left too, with people being called out for things they did years ago. Past tweets and content have been dug up from the past that is being used to come after people. Just look at the outrage over Jimmy Kimmel right now - as an aside, why is this the issue all of a suddent and no one has brought up the fact that he hosted The Man show. Alyssa Milano was called out over a picture of her looking like Snookie because it looked like blackface. A few years ago, James Gunn was fired from, and subsequently rehired to direct, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 over tweets that were made a decade earlier. Jenna Marbles recently shut down her Youtube channel because she didn't want to deal with what could happen over folks looking at her old content and being offended by it. Alexander Katai was realeased (let's be real - being paid a financial settlement to be released from your contract is effectively being fired) from the LA Galaxy over tweets his wife made about BLM. This happened to Kevin Hart a few years ago when he was asked to host the Oscars. HBO Max pulled Gone with the Wind because of its depiction of Slavery, ignoring the fact that Hattie McDaniel was the first Black actress to win an Oscar for her role in that very same film. McDaniel beat out her co-star, Olivia de Haviland (a amultitime Oscar winner in her own right), for the award This was 24 years before Sidney Poitier became the second Black actor (and first Black male, I might add) for his role in Lillies in the Field.

We live in an age where the online mob can force people to be canceled without batting an eye. It doesn't matter what she said when everyone focuses on what side of the line you're on. We've lost the context, subtext and nuance behind way too many things. Instead, we've replaced it with a visceral and emotional anger. The online mob is on both sides, and that's what happened to this kid. She put up a video, regardless of intent, that was caustic, to say the least. It went viral and the mob decended on her. I'm bringing up both sides here because the outrage comes for everyone. There is no "It's okay when we do it, but not okay when you do it" approach to this type of behavior. It's all or nothing.

I was lucky, in that when I went to college, Facebook was still in its infancy, social media wasn't like it is now, and there was no Tik Tok, Snapchat, Twitter, ,Instagram, etc. But even in the nascent days of social media, the rule was always be cautious with what you post. Now that Social Media is everywhere, I'm surprised it's not covered on day one of orientation. I firmbly believe she should have known better, and the backlash is on her for posting it. My only concern though is this ruining her life. I'm of the belief that making a stupid decision or choice shouldn't fully ruin your life because we all make mistakes, and she's clearly paying the price for it. I don't know what this will have on her future career, but it's going to suck for the next year or two at least.

That said, do I think Deloitte was right to rescind her offer? I think it was an overreaction, but I understand their position. Given how sensitive things are right now, if this didn't blow up the way it did, she wouldn't have lost her job. However, once it makes its way into the 24 Hour News Cycle, their hands were tied. As a company, how can you be associated with someone whos name is making the rounds in a negative light. I hate to draw this parralell, but the stepmother of one of the cops charged in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks was fired from her job despite starting with the company in February of this year. Whether the firing was warranted or not (based on performance, violation of rules and policies, etc. vs the company doing this as a move for CYA because she posted on Facebook that she supports her stepson despite the situation surrounding Rayshard Brooks' death), the optics on this make it look like she was fired because of who her stepson was and her employer wanted to distance themselves as much as possible. Given the climate today, it just makes sense Deloitte did what they did just to protect themselves.