Liam Payne.

Liam Payne was here. And now he’s not. In a cruel twist of fate, the hotel rooms he sang about, and often was locked in, was to be his final stage, as he tragically fell to his death in Argentina last week. News spread quickly on social media, so quickly in fact his own sister had to find out about her baby brother’s demise through a news alert, and within seconds photos of his body and hotel room had been sold and posted online. White powder on tables, smashed televisions, a body lying on the ground with nothing left to give. 

His death marks something strange in our culture, an undercurrent of uncomfortable feeling that has been rippling since Caroline Flack’s death in 2020. An air of ‘someone should do something about all this’ - but who is that person? And what is this? 

This. This is the torture of celebrities under the social media lens. This is the building up and tearing down of public figures just because you can turn your phone off at the other end and never think about it again. This is the dopamine hit people get when a sordid joke they make about a situation goes viral, and their tweets are shared on Buzzfeed lists. This is a society who can log on to TikTok and see bodies lying lifeless in Gaza, followed quickly by a cute kitten drinking from a teacup. This is a world who have become completely detached from reality and immune to the horrors of real life.

I am not innocent in this. I am a social media manager, and a self-confessed pop culture addict. I roamed Top of the Pops newsboards when I was 10 years old, and now work in a world full of pop fun and wonderment. I love it. I also can’t say I wasn’t privy to cringing at some of Payne’s behaviour over the last few years, however in recent weeks monitoring the social media pile on of his actions, I could feel something coming that wasn’t going to be pretty. But with his actions came an opportunity for the online world to benefit, and now those people have the privilege of deleting their comments and editing their online perspective - but the same cannot be same for Liam Payne. A real person whose life had real consequences. 

There’s been think piece after think piece about what can be done, how can this tragedy be turned into something positive. Calls for more help on talent shows, blame pointed at the industry who let him down, the disgusting journalists who publicised his body. And yes, there is room for all of this, but in truth - the change needs to come from us. The general public. We need to show these conglomerates that we won’t stand for this anymore, we won’t buy their papers and we won’t reshare their content. We won’t be active bystanders in curating tragedy anymore. 

One Direction was a band built on social media, and it was used cleverly and in some respects, perfectly. Taking a group of five normal boys and changing their lives forever. Building a community of fans who bonded together, created best friends, and are now sticking together through this grief. But social media clearly also played a part in the downfall of Payne, and it’s uncomfortable to have been there for the rise and fall.  

Liam Payne lived his dream. But, truthfully, his death was a nightmare waiting to happen, and it saddens me to see the tributes all saying the same thing. He was a nice man, with demons, and everyone hoped he’d win the battle. But who was there with him to help? Who was there two weeks ago, protecting him and trying to stop the online onslaught of hate? 

I don’t have the answers (just a lot of feelings), but I truly hope we can see how the irony of social media has created a poisonous world to be in, and one that has now ruined the lives of so many. I hope we can all try to be more caring, kind, and conscientious of how we use our online platforms, and care for people like Liam more in the future. 

*Note: These feelings also go beyond this story, into all the horrific stories we see daily.