when it comes to people being “exposed” by old tweets you can’t apply some blanket statement like “it was forever ago” or “this is evil and bad” because it really varies for each individual and y’all are gonna have to deal with that. —

— (rape tw) Tarek Ali has some tweets that are coming out that he made years ago, sure, but as someone who has never found rape funny or lighthearted, im not gonna be able to look at his tweets or videos the same way again. and that’s my personal decision. —

ive never subscribed to the idea of “cancelling” because while it looks like “mob mentality” or whatever, what actually happens is that individuals decide based on the information presented if they’re going to continue financially supporting someone. it’s usually about money. —

— and knowing that as a consumer in a capitalist country, my streams are money. my views are money. my retweeting an influencer’s tweet promoted their brand. i am allowed at any point to cut that source of revenue for any person. if a lot of people do it, so be it —

— personally, if we’re being candid, i still listen to some “cancelled” artists. Kanye West. Justin Timberlake (rarely but). I can’t even pretend to hate Jay Z. It really just depends on your own perception and your own limits and we need to call out people who strike nerves —

— because if we start this whole “it was so long ago, stop being judgy” thing, people start feeling that they’re untouchable. we need to hold people accountable. tarek is an influencer that had every opportunity to scrub his profile of those offending tweets. —

— like dude, you’re mainly known for your YouTube and Twitter personalities. You’re under a microscope that’s probably not the healthiest, but it comes with the territory. You could also keep the tweets up and just be transparent about them prior to being “exposed.”

— but to be like “omg completely leave him alone he was so young!!” is...idk. again, everyone has a past that we don’t want people digging around in (myself included, as ive said), but you can’t just say certain things and expect people to keep quiet. —

— and to finish off this thread, I don’t condone harassment of anyone. I’ve been “called out/exposed” before. I’ve been cyberstalked and sent egregious things. it’s terrifying. people are cruel. but let’s not pretend people aren’t allowed to feel betrayed or hurt.