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JoJo Siwa on Karma
JoJo Siwa is no stranger to online scrutiny and criticism. The recent criticism of the 20-year-old singer, dancer, actor, and former “Dance Moms” star has been too intense to ignore, and it appears that some individuals are relishing fueling the ugly fire.
People raced to give their thoughts on Siwa’s clothes, exaggerated dance skills, and voice after she debuted her new song and music video “Karma” on April 5.
Social media users attacked her for wanting to showcase one of her ex-partners on her podcast, “JoJo Siwa Now.” They were also angered by her intention to create a new type of music called “gaypop.”
“The internet has taken me through the freaking ringer,” Siwa stated in an interview with Billboard. “But at the end of the day, I made the art that I wanted to, and I’m so happy, so proud, so excited to bring this version of pop music back.”
Hating Increases Confidence?
According to media and psychology experts, obsessing over others’ cringeworthy moments and blunders, particularly those of celebrities, helps us feel better about ourselves. Schadenfreude is a phenomenon in which we find pleasure, excitement, and satisfaction in the struggles, failures, or misery of others. This ultimately reveals more about ourselves, the bullies, than the victims.
“There seems to be a narrative thread that we like watching people make this climb to wealth and status,” said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. “But once they arrive, one of the last narrative strands remaining is watching them collapse. And if you look at some of the stories we tell, you’ll notice that we get a lot of schadenfreude from it.”
Social Comparison
Another psychological theory known as “social comparison” helps explain our fascination with this Jojo Siwa drama, according to Elizabeth Cohen, an associate professor of psychology at West Virginia University who studies media and contemporary culture.
It asserts that humans would constantly seek to compare themselves to others in order to determine where they fit in the world. If you believe someone is “better” than you, you engage in upward social comparison.
“The problem with upward social comparison is that it can be positive, but it makes you feel like you’re not where you need to be,” he said. “So it can be motivational, but it can also make you feel bad about yourself.”
The opposite is downward social comparison, which occurs when you consume information primarily to look down on others, a tendency that is prevalent in the social media landscape.
“Social media activity is an endless repeating cycle of controversy, outrage, and our sacred right to say whatever we want about whoever we want with no consequences,” said David Schmid, an associate professor of English at the University of Buffalo who studies Americans’ obsession with murder and crime, to USA Today. “Once we’ve chewed (a person) up and spat them out, we’ll move to someone else, and so it goes on, ad nauseam, at a pace dictated by our ever-shrinking attention span.”
Online trolling is viral and can be addictive
Because the internet provides some kind of anonymity, a “feel and post” cycle happens with little regard for the impact on others, according to media psychologist Pamela Rutledge. These unvarnished opinions can harm those they target. In extreme circumstances, “trolling can become addictive,” she explained.
“When someone finds causing harm to be funny or amusing, they also feel a reward in the pleasure pathways,” Rutledge said. “Similarly, if someone feels manipulated or that (a person is) undeserving, they might take pleasure in attacking them to compensate for their envy, guilt or sense of humiliation.”
@aninxii I CANT NO MORE WHY DOES JOJO SIWA MOVE LIKE THATSDH 💀 #fyp #karma #jojosiwa ♬ Karma – JoJo Siwa
It’s a reality now that practically anything can go viral and bring unwanted attention your way.
If you ever find yourself in such a scenario, “don’t invest too much in the feedback you get from people who don’t actually know you,” Rutledge said. Why? Because “we love a redemption story, but we’re all too ready to pull someone back down to earth if they get too much glory.”
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