AIBU to think TikTok is fuelling a really toxic, judgmental culture?

[Pastelpoppy]

This isn’t a “celebrities are people too” thread , but that’s where it started to make me think.
DH took me to see Justin Timberlake recently — we had a great night, the show was brilliant and the atmosphere was really positive. A few days later, a friend sent me some links to TikToks where Justin was really being mocked, and I was honestly shocked by the amount of hate he was getting. Apparently, one of his shows didn’t go well and now it’s become a trend to tear him down. Most of the people making videos admitted they hadn’t actually been to a show — they just watched a few clips and suddenly had “informed” opinions and joining this ‘trend’ that involves tearing someone else down.
I ended up doing some more scrolling and noticed similar happening to others like Katy Perry and Rita Ora. All slightly older pop stars, and none of them seem to fit the current social media “ideal” anymore — so they’re fair game, it seems.
Now, I get that these are wealthy, public figures and they’ll hopefully be fine. But it’s the wider attitude that bothers me — this culture of piling on, judging people instantly, turning one person’s bad moment into entertainment, often with little context. And a lot of it comes from people who also post about kindness and mental health — yet don’t seem to think twice about mocking someone else online.
What worries me more is that this way of thinking seems to be filtering into everyday life. People seem quicker to judge, less willing to give others the benefit of the doubt, little empathy and a sense that it’s fine to shame someone if you don’t like something they’ve done (or think they’ve done).
I know the Daily Mail has always done this kind of thing, but TikTok seems to be taking it a step further where it’s much more personal, and maybe more widely accepted.
AIBU to think this is all getting a bit toxic — and depressing? I’d rather not say anything if I don’t have anything nice to say.

I don't get anything like this on TikTok.

It's set to my algorithms of Ornithology,
Animal rescues
Wild Foxes
Astronomy
and the occasional clever and talented Dancers.
I don't see any hatred at all.
If I did, it would be rejected and reported.

It’s really toxic. The Blake Lively PR spat really demonstrated how orchestrated it can be. In this instance it sounds like content creators jumping on a trend for engagement. There were probably only a handful of people who were dissatisfied with the gig in the first place.

I try to just look at Tik tok for recipes and workout tips and try to avoid falling down rabbit-holes. It’s hard though. A while ago my algorithm kept on giving me videos of people having bust ups with airlines staff on flights. I have no idea why. I didn’t watch them and I’m not even a frequent flyer.

In fairness those celebrities most likely don't see it and have basically everything, they should be able to handle a joke (not threats of cource). Also I saw the videos from that concert, if I had gone, I'd want a refund. For that speicifc concert, he sang one or 2 lines in the chours and the rest of the time had the microphone on the stage and was just walking around clapping. He didn't sing a lot of the time, whilst I'm pretty sure this was only the one show, you'd be pretty disappointed if you paid and this one night he wasn't that bothered to put on a good performance. On a more general point TikTok is a broad place and has lots of different content, I don't think people are becoming less empathetic because of trends, I do think society has become less empathetic because of individualism and a lack of community structure and division through populism so people just blame each other more.

But on pop stars, I think people like to occasionally have some decent jokes about them, and why shouldn't they, these people have almost everything and profit of a lot and often are very 'out of touch' like Katy Perry in that space flight. As long as its not hateful speech or threats then I don't see the problem, poking a bit of fun at them.

I only see black girl shower tok and this woman who saves a lot of glass jars.

I'm on potatotok and booktok

Completely agree, OP. I’m a big fan of Justin. I saw all four of his UK tour shows last year and one of his summer festival shows this summer. He was phenomenal at every single one - live vocals, dancing, brilliant live band, he played the keyboard and guitar, was engaging and charismatic with the crowd. The ultimate all-round entertainer. Yet if you read the headlines about him, it makes him sound washed up and in need of retirement.

Unfortunately, Justin has always been seen as fair game for the online pile on he gets. He has never been ‘forgiven’ for his past when he was still a teenager. Highlighting Britney’s infidelity in Cry Me A River or the Janet Jackson costume malfunction at the Super Bowl (note: she had a freaking star decoration on her boob so was clearly ‘in’ on the stunt), to name just two things that he did ‘wrong’.

The fans know the truth, but the media, obsessive Britney stans, and general observers joining in for the sake of likes, create their own narrative. He is scrutinised and over analysed to such an extent that the guy can’t even breathe for fear of being accused of stealing oxygen from someone else. They choose to ignore that he only had one bad show out of a run of 121. They choose to ignore how generous he is with contributing to charities. They choose to ignore how kind he is to his young fans. They choose to ignore that he is a human being. They also choose to forget that he has been in the public eye since he was 11 years old and instead choose to treat him differently to other child stars who have struggles.

Now his tour is over, I hope he disappears for a while so he can rest and focus on his recovery from Lyme disease.

TikTok is probably one of the most toxic apps that’s ever been made.

Social media generally is toxic and damaging. It adds nothing valuable to society whatsoever. X is a total dumpster fire. Everything else just contributes to the avalanche of narcissism and a whole generation of people with zero attention spans.

Heart and soul seems to have gone out of so much of what we're presented with as entertainment now. It's sad.

@TheLivelyViper This is what I was trying to get at. Forming strong opinions based on a few seconds of video, then running with those assumptions, feels really damaging. I saw the clip too, it was literally just a short snippet of one song, hardly a fair reflection of the whole show.
And yes, the Katy Perry space mission thing was ridiculous, but the continued ridicule feels excessive. I don’t see it as harmless fun, it’s people actively enjoying tearing someone down. Yes, celebrities will likely be fine, but this kind of behaviour says something worrying about how we treat each other in general.
I completely agree with your point that social media isn’t the only factor here, but TikTok in particular does concern me. It’s largely aimed at a younger, more impressionable audience and when the algorithm keeps pushing this type of negative content, it’s not hard to see how some people start to believe that mocking others is just normal behaviour.
@ItsAJourney well said and absolutely agree with you! The music isn’t really DH’s cup of tea, but he was genuinely impressed with the show and even said he’d happily go again! I hope JT gets the rest and recovery time he needs.