I want to start by saying that I, in no capacity, support the way Logan Paul decided to talk about suicide; however, I do believe we didn’t give him a chance to succeed at it either. In our world today, we keep our social media pages stocked with heavily edited photos of us with the perfect caption and set of emojis to accompany them. We would not dare post a picture that would knowingly make us look bad; yet, sometimes we do. When we post that picture that makes Hannah send it to her group message and John subtweet about how horrible and unacceptable your post was, we know it was a mistake.
Logan Paul and us have a lot in common: we all make mistakes.
It is clear that our society has not taught us how to talk about sensitive issues or sympathize with others’ mistakes. We sit and wait for someone else to post a picture that makes their overall “feed aesthetic” less than ours.
Logan Paul is human just like you. Logan Paul makes mistakes.
For Logan, his success has put him on a pedestal that society has created to see him fall off of. If we had the platform that he did, imagine all of your mistakes that would be made just as public. I sympathize with the hurt, pain and disappointment that everyone is feeling in response to his video; yet, chances are we have said or done something in our past that warranted just as much criticism as his video did. We need to treat each other as we want to be treated and provide a solution for society, instead of a hate-fueled movement aimed at bringing one person down.
This leads me to my next point: constructive criticism. I have yet to see an article, tweet, or post in response to Logan Paul’s video that offered helpful criticism. Telling Logan that he doesn’t deserve anything he has worked for because of one mistake does none of us any good. We should definitely point out that what he did was disrespectful and offensive; however, instead of insulting him, offer him advice as you’d want to receive it.
To Logan Paul:
I hope you have learned a valuable lesson about lack of respect for the dead and how you should use your platform. I hope that you can grow as a person because of your mistake. You see how you can rally the world to give so much to one person (a.k.a. yourself). I hope that the next time you use your platform it will be to rally the world to spread love, compassion and understanding to all people. As I do when my friends and family make mistakes, I forgive you and look forward to seeing how you learned from this experience.
To Society:
I hope we have learned that social media is not meant to be perfect. People commit suicide as a result of the same exact feelings we have made Logan Paul feel. As a result of his video, I hope we start talking about suicide in a tender, caring manner. Humans make mistakes! I hope you can learn to forgive him, just as your family and friends have done for you in the past.
I hope we learn to build each other up and help each other recover from our mistakes, rather than tear each other down for making the same mistakes we make daily. Remember: we are all human.