Let us take a moment to remember our fallen victims: Kevin Hart, Josh Allen, Justine Sacco, Millie Bobby Brown, and Dario Larralde.

Online behavior has recently taken an attitude of exposing and shaming other users, most notably, public figures. While this has certainly made people more conscious of their online sharing, this trend has also ruined the reputations and careers of many. Rummaging through old tweets, publishing offensive posts, and demanding that these individuals be fired from their jobs should not be endorsed under any circumstances. However, under this new age of privacy infringement and hypersensitivity, this doesn’t seem to be a problem.

What is troubling about these recent exposures is that these so-called “offensive” posts are often jokes taken out of context. Most online platforms, such as Twitter, are a place for people to interact with friends, therefore posting jokes and engaging in friendly banters should be viewed as normal. Nevertheless, various users make jokes that are deemed as “insensitive” by many parties, causing the mass media to immediately label them as “racist” or “homophobic”, which ends up affecting their reputation and can cause irreversible damage to their lives. Some may say that these people get what they deserve, but it is imperative to take into consideration that humor is a subjective concept.

A perfect example of this is the case of Josh Allen, the current quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. During the 2018 NFL Draft, a series of Allen’s high school tweets resurfaced online. In one of these tweets, Allen stated: “Why are you so white? If it ain’t white, it ain’t right!” The media immediately called him racist, yet many failed to realize that this was actually a quote from the popular comedy show “Modern Family”. Allen himself even stated that he had written these tweets in a joking manner with his high school friends. However, no one seemed to notice or care. The Internet mob seemed determined to ruin this person’s life. Is it really a coincidence that these tweets reappeared at such an important moment in Allen’s life? This doesn’t create a more tolerable internet community. Instead, by paying unnecessary attention to immature jokes, more hostility is created and families are humiliated.

Of course, not everyone is joking when posting online. Some people may be depicting their true beliefs and ideologies. Even if this is the case, it’s still not justifiable to demand that someone be banned, fired, or worse just because you don’t agree with what they have to say. Even if these thoughts are retrograde, everyone is entitled to have their own opinions and express them, as long as they don’t hurt others. We should strive for dialogue and understanding, not downright hostility. So if you feel that this article is insensitive or wrong, we invite you to talk to us. Or you could just shame us on your social media and prove our point.