Collective Emotion Narratives Behind Cancel Culture (The Social Media Boycott of Jule and Users’ Communication Practices)

Abstract

The very fast growth of social media has change the way people talk, react, and judge problems in public area, especially when an issue suddenly go viral and end up in cancel culture. This study try to see how shared emotions are formed, shaped, and shown by social media users when they involve themselves in cancel culture actions. One illustrative example is the viral infidelity case involving a public figure known as Jule, where a private relationship issue transformed into a public moral controversy and triggered widespread online condemnation. Using a qualitative interpretative approach, this research involve six informants selected through purposive sampling. All informants are active users of social media aged 18–35 who have experience joining cancel culture discussion. Data were collected from interviews and also direct observation of public interactions online. Narrative analysis was used to track patterns of meaning, emotional expression, and how stories are built in user experiences. The results show that cancel culture mostly grow from shared emotions such as anger, disappointment, and moral judgement, which become stronger because of digital interaction and viral circulation. This study help explain cancel culture as collective emotional expression that is shaped by communication habits in digital spaces.