> Boycotting is an economic mechanism, "cancelling" is a social one. It's not just not buying things associated with a person, it's completely shunning them. Y

> Boycotting is an economic mechanism, "cancelling" is a social one. It's not just not buying things associated with a person, it's completely shunning them. You could characterize the Industrial Age by saying that it was the time where the primary way people interacted was by making and buying physical goods. Boycotting severs that connection. In the Information Age, the primary way people interact is by making, sharing and consuming information. Cancel culture—deplatforming people and organizations on social media—severs that connection. In some ways, it's the same act, just translated to the currency of the time.