I was like half awake for the production of this whole video. It’s been a tired week… 😅 Check out my Instagram: www.instagram.... #animaljam #animaljamplaywild #ajpw #playwild
Dude, this video is so good on so many levels... I can't thank you enough for being the voice of reason in the midst of all of this. I have SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS it's not even funny, so I figured I'd share just a slice of my perspective as someone whose been a Jambassador for like 8 years now or something LOL. BARE IN MIND - I would NEVER take issue to someone being cancelled for legitimately harmful acts like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, grooming, etc. Anyone who does those things SHOULD BE CALLED OUT, so PLEASE do not take this the wrong way. The thing is, I've been "cancelled" or called out by people more in the past year or so since I've returned to the AJ community than any other point in the history of me being a part of it. I am by no means a perfect person, but I'm 25 and grew up on the internet, so I have a solid understanding of how to conduct myself. However, this new wave of "Animal Jam Cancellations" or whatever you want to call it, is literally unavoidable. There is no way to foresee the ways in which you will be considered a bad person until it happens. It saddens me deeply because I had to part ways with some very meaningful connections I had with the community. For example - last year I revamped my Discord server because I wanted to provide the Animal Jam community a place to connect with one another more openly. Unlike other platforms, Discord allowed us to play games together, go in giant group calls, or host Stage events where I could actually TALK to other community members, which was really awesome! As a creator, over the years I've had a really difficult time communicating with fans because the message volume was so high. I still have 10+ binders in my closet packed with every fan letter I've ever received because it means so much to me, but as one person I will never be able to reciprocate the kindness and attentiveness that my fans gave to me. When I actually had a platform to talk to some fans or general community members, it made me feel happy because it made them feel happy. It was really great to be able to give back. It was always my top priority to make everyone in the server feel comfortable and safe no matter what. But what I failed to realize is that making yourself that vulnerable just gives people an excuse to overanalyze all of your actions. I don't mean this to sound conceited, but people can have a tendency to form parasocial relationships where your interactions with them carry far more weight for them than you. I HATE that this happens. I personally see everyone as an equal to me and try to treat everyone with the utmost respect. But like you mentioned Kijji, if I have an off day, an unresponsive moment, or an oversight, it's a way bigger deal to some people than it would be to me if they were to have an off day or moment. Then, as a creator you end up finding yourself in situations where someone you thought was a friend or on your side turns against you. Suddenly, after one unsatisfying interaction, they start to see you in a new lens - as a user, or a soulless, privileged creator, not as a friend or an idol. That inspires them to paint a new narrative and find every imperfection in your interactions to fit it. If I'm being honest, I could EASILY refute every single "cancellation" post or video that's been made about me in recent times. So many of them are bewilderingly lacking in context. The people behind them often fail to mention the days, weeks, or months of harassment leading up to the situation in question, or they take an action that is objectively harmless and spin it in a way that fits their narrative. The sad part is that people fall for it because they are too lazy to analyze the situation more critically, and at the end of the day a lot of people love to have an excuse to hate on someone anyway because they have a lot of negativity within their own lives and they don't know how else to cope with it. Ultimately, "cancelling" someone is the easiest thing you can do because none of us are perfect. Something that's a lot harder is facilitating joy, positivity, and happiness within a community, and making people feel that life is worthwhile. I turned to Animal Jam 14 years ago because I didn't have many friends or positive things happening in my life. There was a lot of negativity on the game and in the community, but I persevered every time because the positive people I met and experiences I made were worth it. I so desperately wish that this community could make an attempt to see the good in situations rather than the bad. With 14 years of experience in all aspects of the game, I could cancel SO MANY PEOPLE, or call out SO MANY THINGS. But what would be the POINT? I don't want to put content out in the world that makes people feel dismal or hopeless. If people are going to spend their time watching me or interacting with me, I want them to feel lighter and uplifted. That's my only goal at this point. The fact that this community even uses terms like "toxic positivity" is sad. I just hope that those struggling between the two sides will come to the realization that a spiral towards negativity is never productive - positivity, optimism, and goodness will always prevail, because they provide us hope and a willingness to continue on. Sorry to get existential with it LOL - like I said, I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I'll just leave it there. I just hope it helps people to understand why it's so important to focus on things beyond drama and negativity sometimes. It's not a lack of care or preservation of image, it's preservation of mental health.
Your whole discord collapse earlier this year was one of the main drives on my decision to make this video actually! Four major things in particular came together to push me over the fence into the “okay I’m finally gonna put my foot down” territory. 1) Everything that went down with your discord server- and the fallout post closure on Instagram. I wasn’t very active in your server but I lurked plenty. I absolutely loved the little community you built there and despite what people had to say about it and it’s moderation team for the size it was I think it was handled very well. I have run a few Discord servers of my own in the past. Co-owned a server of 12,000 members, and then made my own server for this channel. As much as I loved it I dropped both because it was just SO stressful. You can never moderate it in a way that makes everyone happy, ban anyone and they take it super personally and just it’s really tough. (Had someone accuse me of being the reason they S/H’d because I banned them from my old server…) I think it says alot that you are one of if not THE Animal Jam Icon, and one of the most incredible and genuine people on the platform, but STILL have people biting your heals… 2) Smileyk88’s repeated issues on Instagram. While she’s not a jambassador, I am pretty close with her. She’s helped me through a-lot and vice versa and the way people absolutely DEVOURED her for the vocational misuse of ONE WORD absolutely floored me. Between that and some drama with the journal I saw how badly it hit her and her IRL FAMILY personally. I was furious. 3) L30RA. Just…L30RA. She’s a godsend. Has helped me with so much. Art related, Animal Jam related, personal issues. The only thing is she got a bit of a sarcastic and dry sense of humor. I love it, gets a laugh out of me in dms sometimes. But my GOD do some people just take it and run. She isn’t a sugar coating kind of person either, she will tell you how it is and people don’t like that. People also just genuinely don’t seem to understand how rough commission work is sometimes? Expectation to meet standards, disappointment with failing to meet. They treat her like a printer sometimes and it just grinds my gears. 4) Recent allegations brought up against ME. It’s been contained entirely in private but it’s genuinely the most ridiculous garbage I’ve ever heard. People saying that one- I am faking my personal issues for views and rares. (I have never asked for anything from anyone except for friend soup, and wholly VOLUNTARY donation shops, and the Internet frankly has NO business as to where my trauma comes from and what I’ve been through this year…) and two- I am allegedly stalking peoples Instagram stories for my own personal gain because I use Instagram as a resource to keep up on drama without commenting myself and don’t always like and follow 🫠 But uh yeah-! I actually wasn’t THRILLED with how this video came out but I am very happy that it was perceived as I intended. I didn’t want to really go into any SPECIFIC instances and just sort of ya know, wink at the audience and let them fill it in, but I’m glad it went over well. I hope you’re doing okay btw!!!
@@kijjikon Aww tysm Kijji, I hope you're doing okay too! Everything you said in your comment is so based. I agree with all of it, and I also thought you handled the video perfectly. There's definitely no point in naming names, it just adds fuel to the fire. Anyone involved in the Animal Jam Instagram community has had a first-hand look at these situations or situations like them. When you really think about it, even if you genuinely can't stand someone or how they've interacted with you, going through the effort of putting them down publicly is something I just can't get behind (again, unless it's something that perpetuates hate or danger towards a vulnerable or marginalized group). You're not always going to like everyone in life (I know I don't!), but it doesn't warrant mischaracterizing them as a harmful person. I respect you for continuing to provide nuanced angles with your content. You are always thoughtful with your approach - you validate both sides, and either meet somewhere in the middle or lean towards one side when necessary. This is the way critique content should be done - not just blindly antagonizing or uplifting.
Thank you!! I seriously appreciate it. I do my best to see both sides because I genuinely can see where a lot of people are coming from with their reactions to certain things. Especially when you have unfortunate encounters with your idols. Absolutely devastating. I can understand that leaving a lasting impact if your opinion on them, and I wouldn’t blame them for no longer liking the creator. But it’s when you go out of your way to convince everyone that said creator is inherently a rude jerk because of one encounter that crosses a line.
@@kijjikonWith the discord server I can’t say how much I relate to that. When you replied to my comment on your other video that said it wasn’t up anymore I had a quick grasp of why. I used to co-own, before owning a warrior cats roleplay server and at the end I was done. So much had happened, and I realized who my true friends were. I feel almost more heard to see someone out here as well that shares this experience. It’s not a good one and I don’t wish it on anyone. But those who share it just makes things feel better in a way. Keep it up Kijji, the video was amazing and I truly hope to see more(BUT DON’T OVERWORKS YOURSELF!!!). ❤
While I agree with everything you said in this video, I find it hard to take the term “cancelled” seriously. While it has a new name, this kind of behavior is nothing new. People have acted like this since the beginning of time. Calling this “modern” is inaccurate. Other than that, this is another insightful take. Great vid.
Yeah, for sure! I was more so referring to the internets ability to actually seriously damage someone’s image via “cancellation” as modern. Also totally agree on the inability to take the word seriously. It’s been used as a buzzword to the point of nauseam.
this is amazing kijji!! cancel culture should ONLY be for jammers who have done something horribly inexcusable and no longer accepted. 💚 unnecessary things that CAN be improved should absolutely NOT bring down a jammer and their career as one. If it’s continuously happening, that may be a different story down the road depending on the situation. i will also admit, i’ve made mistakes in my very early tiktok and instajammer days (when i was about 14-15) and i LEARNED to improve of that in the right ways!!
YOOO, THE EDITING IS MAKING ME HAPPY MY DUDE! (did I partially inspire the editing-jk jk XDD) And the amount of respect for you has exceeded the bar. It is effortless to push the blame on specific fixtures and players, and I respect the way you approached this phenomenon. Thank you for spreading this crucial message. 💕🦦
I definitely appreciate this video! As always with your commentary videos you elaborate both sides of the argument and most importantly, you are respectful, showing you genuinely care about the topic and the community. I've had personal experience with cancel cultures (not naming names) in which people started spreading rumors about my being racist, antisemitic (I'm Jewish), ableist (I'm autistic :/), and queerphobic (I'm also queer...) when really they had no evidence whatsoever but continued to bother me for a MONTH despite the fact I had never said or done anything discriminatory. It seriously stressed me out to the point where anytime I saw these people online I would leave, as when I attempted to retaliate they would get their friends to bother me even more. Additionally, a friend of mine was randomly accused of being a scammer and severely threatened (again with no evidence). Many people blindly stumbled into the spreading of this accusation despite not having the proof to back it up. This incredibly kind friend of mine was being constantly harassed and left their account entirely and quit Animal Jam for nearly a year. It hurt them significantly and it's definitely a concern that people will so quickly jump into this and try so hard to bring others down for in most cases a terrible or even no reason at all. Sorry for the super long comment, but I just wanted to express my gratitude for the creation of this video. Cancel culture in Animal Jam is often overlooked, because "Oh, everyone's saying abc is horrible because they did xyz so they deserve it" or "welll it's not me who's being cancelled'' or simply just a complete lack of knowledge/understanding. I'm relieved that someone has finally made a video about this topic. Thank you so much for your involvement and well-elaborated perspective.
thanks so much for making this, i feel i know of some dramas you referenced there (not naming names but i remember a situation a few months ago) and something similar happened today, this definitely needed to be made as some people just clearly can’t ignore something about what someone wants to be and just choose to be an outright (no nice word for it but you get what id put here), it saddens me people can’t just even move on with their day if they see something they don’t like
I agree with everything you said in this video! Instagram is honestly a toxic place for the AJ community. I have said and done things in the community as well that I’m not proud of, but I have changed because of the whole cancel culture. I can say that my life is a complete 360° turn outside of Animal Jam and nothing in my content relates to my real life. People don’t always understand that we all have huge differences in our lives and just jump down each other’s throats. Sometimes it’s very understandable why a person may quickly become upset and say things, but other times it’s very uncalled for. But another thing I see a lot in the community is the drama relating AJ artist. “You’re rushing me.” “I heard X and X say these things about you, so I refuse to do art for you.” Or just plain out scamming someone out of sapphires/items. But then also the other side of this is the client not getting their art in pitch perfect time or they see a slight thing off in the art piece and instantly jump down the artist throat about it. I understand if you asked for a commission and didn’t hear anything from the artist for a VERY long time. Reaching out to them kindly is NOT rushing them, and sometimes artists don’t always see that. I wish we could all take a step back, breathe, and come down to the conclusion that behind all these screens we’re simples just humans trying to live our lives. Animal Jam is literally just a bunch of pixels, I’m sorry for some of you to hear that. As for some, including myself, have a very close attachment to the game. But absolutely going crazy over some pixels is mind boggling. I’ve had freak outs when I was younger about being scammed and others have said the same exact thing to me about what I just stated. We all in some way some how have dealt with these AJ problems. If that means a certain individual or just a little laugh around Jamaa. Just remember to play safe and most definitely be safe on social media. We’re all in this together!❤️
I Can't Thank you Enough for Making this Video I must Confess I Live with a Constant Fear that if I ever Snap or say something Rude Towards Someone I might get Canceled and Loose Friends because of it (Because I lost a few in the past, so... It generates me so much anxiety...) But Just Because Someone is "Famous" it doesn't Automatically Makes them Perfect, Behind the Screen... We still Humans, Yes, We Snap, Yes, we get Angry, Yes, we MAKE MISTAKES, but that's just part of who we are as Humans, and It makes me Terribly sad to see that Just for a Little Thing such as Telling someone You are fed up and need time alone is Ridiculous, and (Unless They are doing something Genuinely Disgusting or Bad) People Should Understand That... But anyway, Thank you so Much Kiji for Making this Video and Spreading such a Important Message to the community!
I'm literally quitting Insta, and am so thankful I am. I'm tired of seeing these call-out posts of people's old actions. Like, we're all human; no one is perfect! I've had times where I've gotten mad at people for incredibly stupid reasons that I definitely regret. I understand that, like you said, a lot of players are kids, but I still get annoyed of the constant hate on my feed. Yes, there are definitely some people who have done horrible things and need to get called out, but a lot of these people don't need it. I feel like it's becoming a trend at this point tbh. I can definitely consider myself a strong-willed person, and am definitely not afraid to share my opinions, which has definitely proved to be a mixed thing as I often get involved in situations that are ridiculous, like I mentioned earlier, like a time when I got mad at someone for stealing my art and claiming it as theirs, by that's literally besides the point- All in all, a very important video that I'm glad was made! (Which is why I and to comment on it, even though I'm literally quitting this account.)
Man, it’s been a while since I’ve watched your content. After the shutdown of Cool Kid Central (Wisteriamoon’s old server), I turned away from watching AJ content and haven’t commented under a single AJ video since. This one however is so well put together, and for once it feels like someone understands the struggles that come with holding an influencer position in this community. I will say this much that I am the FIRST person to agree that an influencer should be publicly called out if their behavior is reprehensible. I’m 100% guilty of the “self-righteousness” you mentioned. I witness behavior I don’t like and I’m often super quick to call it out. However, I know when enough is enough and if the person has taken accountability and doesn’t repeat their mistake, I’m all for forgiving them (unless they did something absolutely unforgivable, of course). I must say though that while I agree influencers have their bad days, I strongly believe that’s when it is best to step away and wait until they cool down like you said. When I made AJ content, I had many moments where I was frustrated and wanted to lash out, but I simply stepped back if I ever felt that way. It is very mature of you to understand that behind the scenes they’re likely going through some stuff, even if the behavior may be inexcusable. I can tell you’ve matured so much since you’ve started your channel and for that, I applaud you. I hope you know that even though I no longer play Animal Jam or watch Animal Jam content, know that you’ve restored a bit of my faith in this community with a video like this. You did good! 👏 I’m trying to keep this comment brief since I do recall writing novels under your Jambassador videos from last year. 😅
OMG I LOVE THIS COMMENT SM!!!! I really wish I spent more time on this video to give the topic a bit more nuance than I did. I was a bit heavy handed and leaned towards one side more than I would like. But YESSS please sometimes you need to just step back
@@kijjikon You could always make a Part 2 if you’d like! This kind of topic is something that could keep me going on for hours, so it’s impressive that you manage to keep it under 20 minutes! 😅
One thing that’s really annoying is cancel culture doesn’t just apply to people who’ve done wrong things… as some people just attempt to cancel people because they don’t like that person… so what theyll do is try and find all the bad things they’ve done to get rid of them… even if it’s just the minorest of bad acts they still use that as a reason to get them canceled… You have done absolutely nothing wrong to this community! And yet people still tried to hate on you… Actually, I’m glad you have the COURAGE and BRAVERY to make the Animal Jam community a safer and better place… The fact that you even somehow withstanded the absolute Hateful comments and horrible people… is just something I couldn’t have done otherwise… If I were you I wouldve gave up making content back in September… KijjiKon I would absolutely LOVE to be an Animal Jam influencer but it’s the hateful people holding me back… I have done many, MANY wrong things in life and in AJ… like online dating in this game when I was 12 which wasn’t even my fault as a lot of the animal jam community is weirdly into that stuff… I’m just scared… really, really scared of getting hate… This community… its so balanced… it’s really healthy or either really unhealthy… I’m just worried of getting that unhealthy side of the community… I want to make the content that you make as I have so many things I want to talk about… its just a bunch of things holding me back from making content…
Y'all know bepper right? (One of the first jammers to reach over 200k subs) they used to scam people, long ago btw( and yes they have mentioned it publicly so don't begin to yell at me) but they are an amazing jammer! I resent it when people look back at people's past and immediately just judges them! People can change, but not a lot of people believe that😢
Really well made video, i agree with all your points, the internet is a great thing but when people arent talking to a human face they forget that they're actually talking to a person
This is a very informative vid Kijji you have opened my eyes to another side of AJ insta. While I don’t post often I am aware of some things. I have spoken to L30ra about her commissions and honestly feel back for her. The Jambassdors getting hate is something that bothers me too. They are jammers like all of us and it makes me angry that they are tossed around like things that people can abuse (I’m planning to make a video about this later). As for me, I might just stick to RU-vid as I don’t risk anything getting out of hand. On the other hand, I have recently been faced with a content creator who is kind in public eye but is cruel and disrespectful on Discord. She was a friend but now I am trying to cut my ties with her as she has hurt me and my other friends. Even resulting to blackmail. People have no idea how many times I have almost quit. I may be upbeat but I’m a fragile girl behind that purple coyote dealing with stuff in my life and the drama I am faced with doesn’t help.
This is a great video. Oh and. I finished ur free commission! This video is so great for people to watch! Since tons of people might get canceled or called out for minor things. And usally the more bigger issues usally aren’t very known about! I don’t have IG but The other side of The Animal jam IG seems a little Toxic for me and young jammers.
i am so, SO happy i quit the animal jam instagram community. the toxicity there is SUFFOCATING. im gonna call myself out here and say that i HAVE called out people in the past, but i was under the influence of an adult. thats how toxic it is. i witnessed it first hand, as a 14 year old being manipulated by someone over the age of 18. she never disclosed her age but i knew she was an adult. it is a huge problem. im so glad i left the community and the adult quit instagram in september last year. and aaaa i have ranted about this once again 😭i will stop now. thank you for making this video. it is VERY needed in this community.
thank you so much for opening my eyes about this Kijji, I am active on Instagram (I'm not popular by any means) but I have pretty much stopped interacting with the AJ community on Instagram. I never realized how toxic it was. Jammers on there are so rude and constantly talk about drama that isn't even worth talking about. I am going to delete my AJ instagram account, it is so hard to keep up with people there.
I feel like half the time people don't know what is considered "cancelable". I've had a minor argument and all it took was me to miss one word in a sentence because I was typing fast and they ran with it and made me out to be some "bad person". I haven't been in the Animal Jam community for too long but it's upsetting to be in this community because it was your childhood but now having to be scared to get harassed just because of poor wording or not knowing something.
Hey kijji, some people on an animal jam discord server kept telling me to kill myself, asking me for nudes and other sexual photos and videos (I’m 13), and making me really really uncomfortable. I want someone to talk about this publicly online about because it made me feel horrible. I was wondering if you would be available to talk to me on discord because I really want something to be said about this and I don’t have the same reach that you do. If you aren’t able to post about this do you think you’d be able to point me in the direction of someone who can help me with this? I don’t know what to do rn.
No worries man. Thanks for reaching out, that’s absolutely horrifying!? Which server was this? I would definitely report the users and server involved to discord’s moderation team, and leave the server ASAP!! ☹️
@@kijjikon it was error scams’s server (I know scamming is bad, I’m trying to stop just a lot is happening in my life rn) the moderators were joining in on it. I have some screen recordings but they banned me before I could get it all. They did it in the verified chat and the unverified chat and since I wasn’t verified I only saw some of it but if I made a alt and went back to take screenshots I could get it all.
I’m unfortunately not too surprised, as that server is known for that kind of stuff…and worse. I think you should reach out to LeamonPuppy on Instagram. She has a lot more insight and history with those people than I do, and have made many of her own videos on them
I don’t have insta but I wouldn’t want to expose someone for something because if someone scammed me I honestly wouldn’t care nothing would really bother me unless someone scammed my beloved pets (in AJ XD ) but nothing really offends me so I really wouldn’t care if someone said bad stuff to me the only thing i could get worried about is my personal info only if they have proof that I didn’t make or post.
15:28 YOU.. YOU SAID YOU WERE A RED OTTER ON THAT ONE STREAM THAT ON TIME WITH A GREEN ARCHER HAT, DOUBLE TAIL AND DRAGON SCARF!!! BLOCKED AND CANCLED!!!!!! In all seriousness, again, nice video!! this video is the reason and my entire explanation why i stay away from instagram, soon i may get it, but for now it will be a no.
I dont like these people they blame other players but sadly there is nothing i can do tysm for making a video about cancel culture i hope ur doing well🤍
7wd here, people recently 'canceled' me on instagram for minnowing and generating clothing betas.. I really feel like the attempt was feeble and honestly, just don't get why people turn on people blindly and while I an not innocent, but honestly AJ instagram can be good. I think it is a net positive. With that being said, maybe cancelation should be a tool for more serious things, but it's up to you to decide. I am 7wd btw, but I don't mind if this is up. Cancelation should only be used for in serious things, not pettiness.
I didnt consider the possibility of her just having a bad day, but a youtuber was doing a giveaway so i comment my user and enter with this exact comment (About 4 months ago): "*username* sorry if its already over! Im always late 😭" and she replied with "Proof you didnt watch the video 🙃 it ends at 1.1k" i found this kind of rude as i did watch the video and when you are close enough to 1.1k youtube rounds up your sub count so i couldn't have known exactly how many subs she had 🙄 so i apologized "O sorry-" " I didnt keep track of the subs, my bad :/" and she never apologized 😒 it really makes me sad that another youtuber i watches supports her because that interaction was unnecessarily aggressive. Edit: And if she sees this, I am not extremely hurt or upset, but I just hope you are nicer to your fans. and another thing is i love how she has the audacity to have a bible phrase in her channel description 💀
tho people that do bad things deserve to be called out. Witch hunting is pretty toxic overall. No screenshots is 100% reasonable in this type of video.
Ok How do I like this video 3,569,000,000 times! Thank you so much! I said exactly what you said. It’s just not right to make a public post about a hammer that got “snarky” at most. Bringing public shame to someone should be because you need to warn people they are in danger! This was a wonderfully spoken video! Totally sharing this… on Insta 🤣
