You guys problems that you are to be concerned with, you don't know how you're supposed to earn it or what to do with it or how to keep it.

You're a freak with a dark shame, both secret but you're not the only one.

Teach your inner financial fears to the blessed sun. Now your healing has begun. It's bad with money with Gabby.

Done. Hi, I'm Gabby Dunn and this is Bad with Money. Welcome.

I'm about to say something unpopular, which is ironic considering the topic of this episode.

Cancel culture exists.

Denying its existence and denying where it takes place is to oversimplify an issue that is complex and spans many different behaviors and consequences and to ignore the real effect it has on people's lives and livelihoods, for both sides of the cancellation.

What actually means nothing is the word canceled. One of this week's guests framed it like this. If you don't want to use the word cancel, you have to use harsher words. And that is uncomfortable.

Canceled is made up. It's appropriated from black slang. We already had words for what happened to people like Monica Lewinsky or Vanessa Williams or Lance Armstrong or Gary Hart, all of whom were canceled, quote unquote, before Twitter existed.

What I've both experienced and contributed to is bullying threats of violence or acts of violence, ostracation, accountability, pylons, punitive justice, good faith and bad faith discourse, or even just an internet game.

When aimed at the right people with direct intent, this criticism is a powerful tool. When aimed at systemic issues, it can be extremely useful.

When aimed at individuals, I find it less appealing. When aimed laterally or punching down, I find it appalling, especially on Twitter where the days move so fast and the targets are constantly changing.

One day, it feels like everyone is mad at someone with actual power, and the next in account with 13 followers is being piled on for a thoughtless misstep or even sure for actual racist or sexist views.

It's all handled with the same level of gravitas and intensity. Twitter wants it that way. If the product is free, you are the product. I'll explain.

In 2020, Twitter made 86% of its revenue as a company from placing ads on your timeline. Advertisements generated $3.2 billion using promoted tweets, trending topics and promoted accounts.

Advertisers are paying big bucks to get in front of Twitter's $192 million active users. In North America, different sources say different exact numbers, but on average, a user is on Twitter for two hours every day, and for some of you I know it's way more.

No wonder companies are paying top dollar to advertise on your uninterrupted eyeballs for hours at a time, especially when TV commercials have become obsolete.

Twitter makes most of its money off of keeping you there.

Parker Moloi wrote a piece for medium.com about the ways the media and Twitter piggyback onto each other. A tweet gained steam because quote unquote journalists are under pressure to get clicks and payment and scoop each other, especially if it includes buzzwords and social issues that already exist.

The clicks send more users to spend more time on Twitter, less they miss out on the fun or the quote unquote news, because more people on Twitter are talking about it, it trends, and it trending leads to more people talking about it and more articles.

The person at the center of the controversy either decides to apologize or not apologize, spawning another round of media and tweets responding.

Next come the articles about how outrage culture is out of control, a new group of people pile onto the first person who made the accusation harassing them for creating the controversy in the first place.

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