Don’t #cut4bieber just #cuthimsomeslack

There’s a new hashtag trending on Twitter. Justine Bieber fans are cutting themselves — that is, self-mutilation by slitting their wrists — and posting pictures of it on Twitter with the hashtag #cuttingforbieber or #cut4bieber. The hashtag is a protest against a photograph of Justin Bieber allegedly smoking weed, and has trended in America. Some Twitter users made parodies of the hashtag, while many simply expressed bafflement and concern.

The thing is, #cut4bieber started out mainly as a joke. But when you find out that some fans might actually have participated, who’s laughing?

Some news websites discovered that the hashtag is the work of Internet trollers, and was uncovered to be a plan devised by users of 4chan.org (a website community that has become popular for jumpstarting various Internet memes and pranks). A thread in the website reveals how #cut4bieber was conceived by an anonymous user suggesting to start a Twitter campaign that would try to encourage actual Justin Bieber fans to cut themselves in response to him smoking marijuana.

“Tweet a bunch of pics of people cutting themselves and claim we did it because Bieber was smoking weed. See if we can get some little girls to cut themselves,” reads a message on the thread.

What followed were images of self-mutilation from fake accounts, posing as teenagers. Eventually, this joke was transferred onto the Twitter platform with the attached hashtag #cut4bieber, and as Twitter hashtags go, this one picked up. At which point 4chan users gave themselves a pat on the back for their successful hoax.


Cutting is a real problem. It is a serious problem that afflicts teenagers and is a sickness that is definitely no laughing matter. The #cut4bieber hoax is a product of immature and irresponsible thinking. Leave it to a bunch of kids who spend an incredible amount of time on the Internet to come up with something like this. 

Apparently, it isn’t the first time either that Internet trollers tried to play a joke on hardcore Justin Bieber fans or “Beliebers.” Late last year, Internet pranksters tried to get Beliebers to believe that Justin Bieber was diagnosed with cancer, and that he had requested fans to shave their heads in support. 


People do a lot of peculiar things sometimes, things we don’t understand, and Internet trolling is definitely way up there, especially when the jokes are incredibly sensitive in nature. However, another thing that should not be overlooked is that we have a bunch of Justin Bieber fans who are willing to go above and beyond to prove their love for him, which is equally as unhealthy, I think.

In many ways, we cannot point blame. Justin Bieber was created mainly to serve this purpose anyway, and the trick has always been on the consumer. Bigwigs or the people who made The Justin Bieber have always been in the business of trolling, “Haha you will spend all your allowance to watch this Justin Bieber concert because I have convinced you that it is worth it!” They’ve successfully converted little girls into overly zealous fanatics who will, apparently, fall for anything just to prove their fanatic beliefs.

Maybe a more important truth here (besides that 4chan users need to seriously get a life) is that we need to reevaluate this fanaticism and identify the line between fans, fanaticism, and obsession. It’s not that the fans themselves are just helplessly uncontrollable in their admiration, but that pop star devotion is promoted to encourage exactly this kind of behavior.

Consumers like us are constantly led to believe that without certain things, or products, life will not go on. It’s sort of like the way Apple has successfully infiltrated our way of thinking to believe we cannot live without 24/7 Internet, Siri, or certain apps. Just like the idea of the worth of Justin Bieber being equated to the Holy Grail.

In the end, Internet trollers should just really stop toying with the Beliebers. They are a young demographic, fragile and naïve. They are sensitive to external influences, especially if dictated by the Internet (because the internet seems to be so credible nowadays).

These are young people they’re dealing with. This is an issue that shouldn’t be a joke. And this is a joke that is just not funny.