1. Reception
    Proposed alternatives 

2. Examples

3. See also

4. References

Kitty Stryker defines call-out culture as the "practice of using social media to hold individuals and groups accountable for their words and behavior".^[4] Asam Ahmad defines call-out culture as the "tendency among progressives, radicals, activists, and community organizers to publicly name instances or patterns of oppressive behaviour and language use by others".^[5]

Oscar Schwartz calls actress Alyssa Milano's Twitter post calling for "all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted" to use the hashtag "Me Too", created by Tarana Burke and tell their stories the largest example of calling-out; this campaign went viral, causing many women to share their stories, and leading to "firing and public humiliation" for a number of well-known men.^[1]

Extreme versions of call-out culture have been called safe-baiting.^[4][5] A proposed alternative to calling-out has been termed calling-in someone instead of calling them out by reaching out privately to discus their problematic behavior.^[9][10]

Reception

Pamela Paresky says callout culture is a pernicious influence in both the academic and business worlds, citing the controversy at Google over a memorandum concerning the respective vocational interests of men and women, authored by former Google engineer James Damore.^[6] Other commentators{{who|date=March 2019}} have argued that callout culture can harm progressive politics by attacking people perceived to have exhibited prejudiced behavior, rather than using dialogue with such people to change such behavior.^[5][7] A 2013 essay, "Exiting the Vampire Castle", by Mark Fisher,^[8] is often cited as an early critique of call-out culture.{{cn|date=March 2019}} Fisher argued that "call-out culture" created a space "where solidarity is impossible, but guilt and fear are omnipresent". Fisher also argues that call-out culture reduces every political issue to criticizing the behaviour of individuals, instead of dealing with such political issues through collective action.^[9][10]

Call-out culture found a vehicle in social media. Both as consumers and as political activists, individuals found a means to communicate to a larger crowd in an expedient and pervasive manner. While call-out culture often publicly denounces perceived acts of bigotry, as stated above, it also refers to the act of publicly calling out a larger entity (such as an organization, business, or vendor) usually by means of social media. In an effort to hold these businesses or organizations accountable, individuals will take to the online forums to "call them out". Whether the individual is addressed by a representative from within the organization or not, some of these posts or tweets (depending on the medium) can go viral and cause a public relations issue for the business.{{original research?|date=March 2019}}

The effects of call-out culture are also noted{{by whom|date=March 2019}} as more prevalent today on college campuses, where most students are aware of the social justice culture that exists and is expressed online. This has included the rise of safe spaces.^[12] In 2016, British actor and writer Stephen Fry criticized safe spaces and trigger warnings as infantilizing students and possibly eroding free speech.^[13][12] There are some that are careful to avoid missteps (e.g. cultural appropriation by way of a Halloween costume) in order to avoid public online call-outs and others that are exploring ways to deal with past aggressors by way of calling-out online.^[2]

Some people{{who|date=March 2019}} argue in defense of call-out culture and contend that it is a form of social activism.^[14] Florence Ashley defends call out and outrage culture, saying that they are a "performative practice through which people signal their care for one another" and turn harmful statements into "solidarity and love", that builds the bonding in a community.^[15]

In Kitty Stryker's article "The Problem With Callout Culture", while she defends the principle of calling out injustice, she states that call-out culture may be "encouraging marginalized people to fight each other".^[4] She encourages "teach[ing] rather than punish[ing]", and considering that people are all "wounded animals" who make mistakes in life.^[4] She suggests that during a call-out episode, that people who are observing the exchange consider the "power dynamic[s]" among the people involved, the response of the person being called out (e.g., whether they are "apologizing, offering to educate themselves" or trying to "save face" and be deemed correct), and the behavior of the person calling out the person.^[16]

Asam Ahmad says callout culture can become "toxic", because when it is done on social media, it can become a "public performance where people can demonstrate their wit or how pure their politics are".^[18] As well, he says that in a call-out, critics tend to forget that the subject of their denunciation is a human being. He expresses concern that the goal of callout culture seems to be "to banish and dispose of individuals rather than to engage with them as people" and he says that there is a "mild totalitarian undercurrent" in progressive callout culture's policing of which people are "in" and "out", due to people's language use.^[18]

In Julian Vigo's article "Call-Out Culture: Technological-Made Intolerance", he says that in online activist communities, call-out culture can lead to communication becoming more about "whining about others than actively exchanging ideas or constructing political actions".^[31] He says that in call-out culture, the anti-harassment tools end up being used to "block, mute, and even report" people whose views are not liked. In some online spaces, people show groupthink, as one is "only allowed to agree" with prevailing ideas, or face epithets, zealotry, and bullying; the result is a scene of "boring, pompous adults who are as incapable of having a constructive discussion" and who always want to be right.^[19]

Oscar Schwartz says call-out culture's social justice has been called contrary to the "institutional justice" used in trials, because calling out lacks "systematic regulation and procedure", making it a type of direct “mob justice”.^[1]

Frances Lee says she sees "parallel between the authoritarian dogmas of orthodox religion and social justice activism" in call-out culture's "quest for purity", which makes even activists "self-police" their statements for fear of being called out for statements that are deemed "wrong, oppressive, or inappropriate".^[20] Lee says that this self-policing is a "reproduction of colonialist logics", in which people are "preaching" and "tell[ing] each other what to do" by using "shaming, calling out, isolating, or eviscerating someone's social standing", which she calls "controlling and destructive behaviour".^[20]

Proposed alternatives

As an alternative to calling-out someone publicly, the person can "call in", which is to speak to them or message them privately about their conduct or behavior.^[21] Kyli Rodriguez-Cayro says it can be a less toxic and "less reactionary route to work through conflict" for people who feel that calling out is "counteractive to social justice".^[21] Ngọc Loan Trần says calling in can help to "pul[l] folks back in who have strayed" and given them an opportunity to return, in a loving approach which accepts that people make mistakes.^[22]

Examples

• "Hated in the Nation", a 2016 episode of the anthology series Black Mirror partly inspired by So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson.^[23]
• The March 2019 confrontation of Chelsea Clinton by two New York University students, who accused her of stoking the Islamophobia that led to the Christchurch mosque shootings by making comments critical of Ilhan Omar's comments about Israel, has been characterized as a manifestation of call-out culture.^[24]

See also

• Cancel culture
• Concern troll
• Hashtag activism
• Inclusive language
• Milkshake Duck
• Outrage porn
• Political correctness
• Social criticism
• Social justice warrior
• Victim playing

References

• Reikō
• Rei-Lan: Orchid Emblem
• Reil Cervantes
• Reiley
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• Reilly (band)
• Reilly Brothers and Raub Building
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• Reilly, Charles
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• Reilly, James
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• Reily (disambiguation)
• Reimagined (EP)
• Reimagined (Jamie's Elsewhere EP)
• Re-Imagining
• Re-Imagining: Christian feminist conference
• Reima Karppinen