Blocking Celebrities

0:00 Welcome to the Women's Mental Health Podcast. I'm Randi. And I'm Jess. And we're two licensed psychotherapists. And this is a safe space where we talk about mental health, well being, and strategies for coping with life's up and downs. And And how all of this is normal and you are not alone. Today we're diving into the currently hot trending topic, why are people blocking celebrities? What are they calling it? Celebrity Blockout 2024. Yeah, they're calling it Blockout 2024. And I was like, what is going on? So find us and more resources on womensmentalhealthpodcast. com. So have you had these thoughts? And of course we're having those thoughts. So that's why we're bringing them to you.

0:40 So why are people blocking celebrities on social media and TikTok and how can blocking celebrities improve your mental health is blocking celebrities, a form of self care, are there any downsides to blocking celebrities on social media? How do we know which ones to block? I have a list for you, by the way. Can blocking celebrities affect your social media algorithm for those of us that are on social media for work? That can be a big thing. So what are some alternative ways to manage the impact of the celebrity culture? on mental health and what is going on right now in the world that's causing this. is blocking celebrities a common trend?

1:22 Well, yes, right now it is. Yeah, right now it really is. So what do we mean exactly about why we're blocking celebrities, What does that refer to? So just Recently, this is becoming very popular, especially on Tik Tok, because the Met Gala just happened, and people are choosing to block or unfollow celebrities on their social media platforms due to different feelings that they have about it. Mm hmm. And there is a complete list. Blockout 2024 is really out there. It's really driven by the desire to create a healthier online environment, but also because there's so many things going on in the world right now.

2:07 And people are tired of other people who especially are in a position of power with Their presence on social media and money sitting back and not helping or making commentary about it. And like one of the comments that you had we're looking at earlier had said this is the real life Hunger Games is what this feels like is that we're watching this thing while the rest of us are starving or people are out there and they they just can't make ends meet. Or there's war going on right now in other countries and people are fed up. And so we had asked, on my social media, I asked for people what are their feelings about this?

2:50 And why are they choosing to do it? What are their feelings about it? And people are saying this kind of all started because of the Met Gala. Tickets are 75, 000 a pop. plus all the dresses and whatever else goes into it. And it's just this elitist wealth being promoted while there are people being bombed. Starving women and children being raped, held as hostages and seeing that against this backdrop of what is happening in the world around us is just too startling to ignore.

3:30 Yeah, who was it? The one that said, let him eat cake. There was somebody on Tick Tock that said, let him eat cake. Oh, Haley Kalil Kalil. Is that who that is? She used the viral let them eat cake on Tick Tock sound from Marie Antoinette while interviewing celebrities outside of the event. And so they're saying that was like, that was the guillotine thing right there. Because it's that offhanded, flip it comment, let them eat cake, like it doesn't matter, right? Nobody cares. And people are like, no, we care. And we're tired of people that are being shown across the media showing that they don't care So some of the comments we got on social media, when we asked people this, they said, I said, why are you blocking celebrities?

4:15 They said, because they're useless or because people are staying quiet about genocide happening, or people are paying this ostentatious amount. to go to an event while women and children are dying and starving to death. one of my followers said, I'm not idolizing people with money anymore, unless they are. Humanitarians. I'm so sick to my stomach watching the elite get richer while this is happening. I can't take it anymore. It makes me almost want to cry because I feel that I feel what people are fed up. That gave me Goosebumps. That really gave me goosebumps because I'm so tired of the comparison in trying to keep up with everything going on when that stuff isn't even real.

5:03 They're not. It's not real. It's not real. they're saying that people were posting videos of the destruction in Gaza alongside clips with, celebrities arriving at the Met Gala. it's hard to see that everything going on in the world right now and we're supposed to watch all of this. I didn't even watch it. I didn't watch the Met Gala. I don't watch that stuff. I never have. And I stay out of the news for my own mental health. Yes. So that's why it's so jarring for me to hear my own followers talk about this and how it's impacting them so negatively and how it is affecting their mental health as a whole. another one of our followers said, why are they not following celebrities? Because they're just, they're greedy with no talent.

5:47 They're disgusting. I'm sad. That this is ruining TikTok right now because it's taking over but people really don't even want to go on social media anymore because they feel like they're just seeing this elitist feed and they don't want that it's not for them. It's not in reality. One of my followers said, I can't find sympathy or even similarities with someone that's on a completely different universe as me. I think that there is just such a huge. Wealth gap and people are lashing out at that and they should, because it's so obvious that there's that 1% that kind of overlords.

6:28 Other people and people are tired of it when they're seeing this happen. And it happens in our own streets, in our own backyard too with our homeless population and our addiction population. people are tired of turning a blind eye to it. I watching into my husband's office, and he was watching the news the other day. I think it was in Austin, Texas, that there was a guy who went through and he created these communities for homeless. And there are these little homes the tiny homes, 200 square foot buildings, and each person had their own home. They had shared bathrooms and showering facilities, shared kitchen, open kitchens. what he was saying is they don't just need homes, but they also need a sense of community.

7:10 I was going to say it's a community and it reminds me of how there used to be that like tribes of people that would come together and help each other I feel like more people are prone to needing that Support and that tribe around them to thrive Yeah, and it was so cool to watch this show because even him and his wife, they went and lived in this community because they enjoyed this community this community also had a section for artists and people were selling their art on Etsy and they had these community rooms where they were playing guitars and they got together and had community dinners together. They said it wasn't perfect, but that it was so much better than these people living on the streets because they had a sense of belonging.

7:56 it was just a really neat thing. And I don't think that a lot of people are having that. And. Celebrities were why are we watching them? Anyway, it just right. And that's the thing. I feel like it leads to feelings of Self worthlessness, when you feel like you don't have the money to live up to that, or you see this perfect image of this beauty, so you have low self esteem, you feel inadequate, that can increase your anxiety and harm your mental health. even if it's not specific to this trend, or you don't think this trend in blocking celebrities is important, It's important to just recognize and validate why someone might choose this for their own mental health.

8:38 Because for them, it's a form of self care and it's a form of expressing their opinions. Yeah. Maybe when the world feels so out of control that we can prioritize how we feel about something. And we do have maybe a small sliver of control over And power. and create an impact with that. So it's a form of protesting. Yeah. In a way. It is a form of protesting that we will not be putting up with this anymore. So I've got a list here. I was going to read it. So block of the day is Haley Bieber. If I say the name wrong, excuse me, because I said it right. so they have 170, 000 people who have now blocked her. Billy Eilish, 137, 000 Tyra Banks.

9:21 Jeffree Star, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Lizzo, Miley Cyrus, They're showing how much they've gone down. Wow. Demi Lovato, 70, 000. Debra Messing, 9. Beyonce is 186. Justin Bieber. Courtney Barker. I don't know who that is. she's one of the Kardashians. She's married to Travis Barker now. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Kardashian. Kardashian. Okay. Selena Gomez, Khloe Kardashian. They were, they're all over this list. Oprah. They're just sitting here saying, okay, and each day they're saying, this is who you should block. blockout 2024. org. Well, I feel that it's important to encourage open discussion about the impacts of social media.

10:04 Not that just this trend specifically, but overall, because we need to normalize the practice of reducing stress. Things that are stressing you out that don't create happiness in your life that don't. Help you, but are harming you and that's okay. when you share stories like this and how you can improve your mental health, it really just inspires other people to improve their mental health overall. Really this trend, we feel like it should be promoting your digital wellbeing and really encouraging using social media mindfully so that you can make positive impacts with it. So just how does blocking celebrities improve your mental health?

10:49 Blocking celebrities can improve your mental health by reducing feelings of inadequacy and it reduces anxiety, low self esteem these are often triggered by constant, constant exposure. To what the world or society or, I don't know, celebrities consider idealized images and lifestyles. It's trying to, so we're not keeping up with them anymore and trying to just be real. Keeping up with the Joneses, that term that people will use. I explained that to somebody who was a English as a second language the other day and I made the comment keeping up with the Joneses and they didn't know what that meant. So I had to kind of explain it and they were like, why would somebody keep up with the people down the street?

11:33 Well, when you say it like that, it doesn't make sense. But that's why this type of movement is important. And when Jess was talking about how can I decide who to block? Well, she, she had a list of them. She was reading off some of them. But really, consider, And it doesn't have to be a celebrity per se, but anybody that makes you feel inadequate, makes you feel anxious, makes you feel unhappy when you see just. Even your friends from high school, right? If they're posting stuff that you're like, Oh, I don't want to see that you can unfollow or you can block or you can just get rid of because you don't have to keep these people around if you don't like what you're seeing just follow things that make you happy, inspire you, educate you and uplift you.

12:20 so just can blocking celebrities affect your social media algorithm? Oh, I think you should be the one that answers this one. You're always talking about the algorithms. And I'm like, I don't even know what an algorithm is. I'm talking about the back end of it. But personally, for like your feed, on Facebook, whatever it is, once you block things like that, it will open up a new vein of people to follow that you might not have seen because you were following all these other accounts and it will change the weight. of what you watch on TikTok, if you start watching like more like funny dog videos, then it will show you more of those things more and more. So it does affect your algorithm.

13:01 Good. It affects it in a good way then and gets rid of some of that stuff. So then Jess, what are alternative ways that we can manage this cultural protest on our mental health? Really, we should be taking regular social media breaks engaging in mindfulness practices. We don't have to have our phone with us all the time. I know it feels really hard to say that out loud. It does. It's like, Oh, that doesn't make me feel good. Why? She did a little shimmy dance too. Go sit in the backyard on the hammock that I'm always talking about. Go get some vitamin D you know, be part of your kids. I was sitting at a restaurant the other day waiting for our food, and I looked around, and I was the only one there, so yes, I was on my phone because I was doing a pickup, I looked around and there's all these couples at the table playing on their phones.

13:51 Looking down. Looking down. I was like, why would you go to dinner? dinner together to look at your phone, not look at each other. There's no eye contact. There's no body communication. It's like you're totally dissociated. And they weren't even talking to each other. sometimes my spouse and I will go to lunch and we'll discuss business stuff and we'll have our phones out and we'll be looking at things. But we're talking to each other about what we're looking at. These couples were. Weren't even talking. They were just straight on their phone, staring. And because I work a lot from my phone, my partner will have to say, Randy, put down your phone. We are having brunch or whatever. Yeah, do this for Mother's Day. And I was like, okay, you're right.

14:32 Call out your partner, have that boundary, if that's important to you. Just remember that everyone has the right to create a space for them, even a digital space, that supports their emotional well being and their mental health. And if blocking celebrities is just one way of taking control of that environment, that's fine. Yeah. Honestly, I learned a lot about this trend and I hope we are able to share it with you guys because sometimes we don't know what's going on about why they're being blocked. And how it affects our culture as a whole. I had no idea and I totally support this. If this is something that people want to do, absolutely because taking charge of your social media experience is really a powerful form of self care.

15:16 So embrace it. Normalize it. Support it.