Pokimane could be the next streamer to fall victim to 'Cancel Culture'

Imane 'Pokimane' Anys has amassed millions of subscribers over the course of her professional streaming career.

Her growth trajectory in the online world has been massive, with her content skyrocketing her into a world of fame, replete with followers.

Pokimane recently crossed 5 million followers on Twitch (Image Credits: Ginx Esports TV)

Despite all the fame backing her, Pokimane has been treading on thin ice of late as her popularity curve seems to be heading towards a steep decline.

Pokimane recently landed herself in hot water, with a large section of the online community calling her out for her hypocritical views, her inability to accept constructive criticism and her overall demeanour in general.

This leads us to the question: could Pokimane be the next streamer to fall victim to Cancel Culture?

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What is Cancel Culture?

Cancel Culture generally refers to the practice of withdrawing support for (or cancelling) public figures or companies after they may have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive.

Cancel Culture thrives in the realm of social media, where such figures are often called out for toxic and hypocritical behaviour or even boycotted completely.

Pokimane seems to have invoked the ire of the community of late as she finds herself on the wrong side of the spectrum.

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Pokimane's tweets on Cancel Culture and Gender Bias

Pokimane has been the subject of multiple trolls in the past: be it her no-makeup selfies, her lack of genuine content or her fans who are constantly labelled 'simps'.

She recently addressed the cancel-culture phenomenon and stressed on the need to be kind in a community that is witnessing a spurt in toxicity.

i do think cancel culture can do more harm than good sometimes, just wanted to remind people not to paint every situation with the same brush, and i do believe most people are decent (including yourself) 😊

— pokimane (@pokimanelol) June 24, 2020

be nice, bro.

— pokimane (@pokimanelol) June 29, 2020

She also took to Twitter to present her views on the apparent bias inflicted upon female streamers as compared to their male counterparts.

Popular streamer Keemstar addressed the issue in the following tweet:

This is absolutely not true! This woman is always painting gaming entertainment in a bad light. pic.twitter.com/2QZSTA5VvD

— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) July 21, 2020

Pokimane's tweet did not go unnoticed and it quickly incited strong reactions from the online community:

Women who rely on male money to continue their stream of income in an "industry" complaining about male bias is hilarious. The only male bias in the Twitch "industry" is having thousands of men defend you whenever you do anything remotely wrong."Simping is king sh*t." -Pokimane pic.twitter.com/qREtNcgsAC

— Mack (@_Kenziepuff) July 21, 2020

Right, pokimane is overrated, her streams are boring as fuck, what do people find entertaining in them

— GOLB (@GOLBISHERE) July 21, 2020

Pokimane literally got an army of simps ready to donate and defend her and if guys get support it’s suddenly double standards

— killerjack 12346 (@9d5cc543e4be4ca) July 21, 2020

People were even more irked when an offensive five-year-old tweet of hers resurfaced, leading many to label her a hypocrite.

Here is the aforementioned tweet:

okay but this you? pic.twitter.com/XSqtTGVKfa

— Jordan Ho (@jdawg315) July 25, 2020

You can read more about instances which point towards her being a hypocrite here

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Support for Pokimane

While a large section of the gaming community has resorted to the harsh criticism of Pokimane, there still remains a faithful section of fans who continue to present their own points in favour of the streamer.

Some of these tweets are as follows:

🤷🏻 all the people trying to bring up past stuff knowing full well they’ve done much worse 😂😂 Hypocrites. Y’all need to just enjoy your own lives and stop trying to get drama to make yourself feel good

— Cypheros (@CypherKerberos) July 25, 2020

Why does that tweet matter not like she hard R’d it. Plus it’s 5 years ago. All y’all people like to do is bring up the past on people when it doesn’t really matter.

— Sakuya (@SakuyaAnime4) July 25, 2020

Should she really have to explain herself for saying a word... five years ago? My god cancel culture is dumb. Focus on bigger issues if you care about black people, like police brutality. Her saying a word hasn't affected you or anyone else, focus your energy elsewhere.

— Levi Ramsey (@Humble_beast182) July 25, 2020

Cancel culture is fine as long as it doesn’t happen to people who have clearly made an effort to improve themselves and not say something offensive again. Cancelling someone like poke or Jenna marbles is dumb as fuck in that case

— chad 🖤 (@chaddowo) July 25, 2020

I can't tell if these comments hate pokimane because she's popular or because she's a woman.

— Amy Y. (@daYungAmy) July 18, 2020

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What next for Pokimane?

In light of the mounting online hate, Pokimane recently turned her personal Twitter account private. She continues to tweet regularly and appears to be focussing on emerging out of the mire. Having said that, it is imperative that social media influencers and streamers, like Pokimane, learn to take constructive criticism in their stride.

While there may be several individuals who are voicing their dissent against Pokimane, she continues to be backed by an army of fans, who consistently spur and motivate her to remain unfazed until the storm settles down.

A popular name who recently lent his support to her was popular DJ Zedd:

Keep crushing poki. we all love u with or without camera. :)

— Zedd (@Zedd) July 25, 2020

As the cancel-culture debate rages on, it remains to be seen if Pokimane eventually falls prey to a community scorned or manages to hold her own and emerge relatively unscathed in the long run.

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You can take a look at the video below which addresses Pokimane's recent controversial tweets: