For as long as people have been able to publicly voice their dissent, some version of cancel culture has existed.
It used to be that letters to the editor and the watercooler were the only places to share our opinions. But today, in our chronically online era, social media's influence has allowed the voices of the dissenters to be incessant, accessible and amplified.
"Social media creates the illusion that hostility is greater because you're scrolling all day," said former stand-up comic and comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff. "Whereas in the old days, we would read the newspaper once a day and then throw (it) out. Today (with) the social media equivalent, we're never throwing out the newspaper."
