Alli Adams
Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
We’ve all scrolled through social media and seen the same comments repeated over and over: “no one asked,” or “this should be a sign” or “it’s not that deep.” They are never left kindly and only ever serve as a critique.
These comments are a sign of anti-intellectualism, a trend on the rise as the distrust of experts increases. They shut down conversation in favor of getting the last laugh. Worst of all, they are just straight up mean.
Comments like “no one asked” or “put the fries in the bag” are snarky ways to tell someone to shut up without getting a comment deleted. It shuts down conversation, often ones involving some sort of social critique. “It’s not that deep” also falls under this category, though that particular comment is seen exclusively under content critiquing pop culture.
The copy-and-paste comments that people use to be mean are lazy, anti-intellectual and dumb. They effectively end what could be a meaningful or constructive conversation, and instead favor being hateful.
What angers me more than the genre of “be quiet” comments is the blatant fatphobia of the comment, “This should be a sign.” This comment means that — despite the content — the post should be a sign for the person to lose weight. It’s exclusively found on TikTok videos of fat people pointing out the hardships, systemic or otherwise, of being fat.
The first and most obvious gripe I have with this comment, similar to all of these comments, is that it is needlessly cruel. The second is that it ignores the systemic problems fat people face. Fat people should not have to change their body in a drastic way to get the same treatment as thin people. Everyone deserves good healthcare, good pay and kindness, regardless of their body size.
But my biggest issue with this comment is that it is just dumb. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that yes — the person in the video needs to lose weight. That issue will not be resolved immediately just by commenting that. You can’t lose weight overnight, and you can’t lose a lot of weight in a healthy manner in a short amount of time.
Most of these videos with this comment are videos of superfat people or bigger, meaning they would be a size 26 or above. To become a size eight — which is probably still not small enough for the commenters — the amount of weight loss needed would be in the triple digits. Weight loss of that scale is immensely difficult. It takes time, so the issue cannot be remedied now. Even if a person needed to lose weight to get clothes that fit them, do you want them to walk around naked?
The copy-and-paste comments that people use to be mean are lazy, anti-intellectual and dumb. They effectively end what could be a meaningful or constructive conversation, and instead favor being hateful. Think a little bit longer before you comment — or just be nice.
Reach Audrey Weishaar at letters@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.