Historically, public humiliation rituals were almost always accompanied by moral explanations of why the victim deserved what was happening. People locked in stocks or paraded through town squares were accused of adultery, blasphemy, abuse—individuals whose public shaming supposedly served the greater good. The humiliation of the offender reassured everybody else that justice had been served, and warned the rest of the community to stay in line. Online ridicule operates through a similar framework, although the line between criminal behavior and cringe often blurs. Some internet figures targeted as lolcows have committed actual crimes or expressed reprehensible views, while others have done little more than exaggerate their talents or fail to realize they’re being made fun of. In both cases, the same dynamic emerges.
And yet the targets almost always hold no power. For lack of a better word, lolcows are “nobodies.” They are highly visible online precisely because they lack the kind of protection afforded to other members of society. What does it mean to demand accountability from a homeless man with schizophrenia? What punishment could you inflict that life hasn’t already? Surely, there is an abusive CEO—or politician, or priest, or soccer coach—out there equally “deserving” of harassment. But in those cases, the lolcow dynamic would be impossible to replicate. Most powerful people aren’t isolated, sourcing their only human connection from the internet. If their cringeworthy video went viral, friends or family members would tell them to delete it, to stop replying to comments, to walk away. If the harassment escalated, they’d hire a lawyer. So while a scandal involving a powerful institution might briefly dominate the news cycle, it rarely manifests the kind of long-term participatory obsession that surrounds a lolcow. A politician who lies may be criticized for a week, but a mentally ill livestreamer who behaves erratically may be taunted for years. The crowd returns, day after day, to the person least capable of defending themselves.
The Insidious World of Lolcows
