The latest “cut for Bieber” Twitter trend is just the latest social media induced campaign to highlight the naivety of young teens and the potential dangers of cult-like worship that is given to teenage sensations in today’s culture.
It all started when images emerged of pint-sized Canadian popstar Justin Bieber apparently smoking cannabis at a party. This was followed by Bieber’s response to the images which was so suspiciously ambiguous as to end up effectively confirming the implication of the images to be true.
And twisted, troubled pranksters capitalized on the images by starting a sick “cut for Bieber” campaign on Twitter that implored fans of the musical star to cut themselves in a bid to persuade Bieber to kick his alleged drug habit.
And horrifyingly, the prank went viral with dozens of images surfacing on Twitter explicitly showing evidence of self-mutilation. Whilst most speculate that many of these photos were planted by the pranksters to add authenticity to the campaign, it is very likely that many fans did take to self-harm in some kind of deluded attempt to persuade Justin to stop taking drugs.
This latest Twitter trend had highlighted once again how naïve certain Facebook users can be. The sad fact is that immoral pranksters typically target groups that are more likely to fall for their malicious ruses, and ”Beliebers” as a collective are not exactly known for their scepticism or critical thinking – something that was also highlighted as a similar prank that falsely claimed Bieber had cancer managed to persuade many fans to shave their heads to show their support.
And it is not just this naivety or gullibility that is worrying, but this disturbing almost cult-like idolisation that singers like Bieber receive from their fans. This willingness to totally revere a person to the point where they would be willing to self-harm in some delusional attempt of obtaining that persons acceptance, or no doubt in the case of Justin, his heart. Admiring a singer, actor or celebrity is one thing, but “Bieber Fever” has very much gotten out of hand.
You’ll probably never stop impressionable, naïve fans from screaming uncontrollably or frantically chasing cars down the street in order to catch a split second of their hero’s attention, but perhaps this latest total-worship-culture warrants a new addition to the many “talks” a parent will have with their child. A talk that involves tactically letting a child know that singers like Bieber are really not worth all of this hassle.
