Tug of War: Social Media, Cancel Culture, and Diversity for Girls and The 100

Abstract

Hate the most recent season of a television show? Create a viral petition! Better yet, find an old tweet of a cast member to publicly shame them. These are examples of audience participation and expectations when it comes to television. Audiences react to several types of fiction, but this article mostly focuses on the impacts of television shows and audience reception. Analyzing audience and critical reception of certain TV shows may reveal motivations for subsequent creative decisions by the creators. On shows like Roseanne, audience reception has influenced decisions concerning creative control. Audience demands help sway the market and have opened up diversity initiatives in speculative media. The theoretical base for this article is formed from reception theoryand primary research of Twitter posts. To further explore the phenomenon of audience sway over artistic ownership, two television shows, Girlsand The 100, will be examined in context with audience and critical reception, cancelculture, and diversity initiatives across media.