Those of us who were alive during the Clinton Presidency can acutely recall the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Then President Bill Clinton was impeached as a result of his inappropriate conduct with Lewinsky, a White House intern who became embroiled in a scandal that dragged her name through the mud on every major television and radio station.
Lewinsky has since become an activist against cyber-bullying and public shaming, and has even discussed what the scandal would have been like had social media existed in the late 1990s.
And then came along a Twitter trend that perfectly intersected with that conversation.
If Twitter were around in the 90s, name a famous event/moment that definitely would’ve had the TL in shambles.— Idris Elbow 💪🏾 (@Idris Elbow 💪🏾) 1615778374.0
While most people's answers were other major pop-culture moments...
@YallLuvCris https://t.co/3ufIy0A3Wv— mr_no3l🇭🇹 (@mr_no3l🇭🇹) 1615778770.0
@YallLuvCris - Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan - all the celebrity appearances in the Remember The Time video - OJ… https://t.co/7m4m07POgM— “were you 👌🏾 siLENT or 🤏🏾siLENCED” stan acct. (@“were you 👌🏾 siLENT or 🤏🏾siLENCED” stan acct.) 1615861487.0
@YallLuvCris Oj chase and trial, Michael Jordan father murder, retirement and comeback, R Kelly and Aaliyah marriag… https://t.co/vMBoebYXEx— Bernard Childers (@Bernard Childers) 1615819193.0
@YallLuvCris George HW Bush vomiting on the Prime Minister of Japan https://t.co/6l0FcbRO5k— Raul (@Raul) 1615859812.0
@YallLuvCris The Source Awards in 95 😭😭 https://t.co/Q92mmk0fRb— 💗💗 Sagiterrorist (@💗💗 Sagiterrorist) 1615831135.0
...Lewinsky took the opportunity to joke about her past.
not playing. https://t.co/5ONapMpd1Q— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@Monica Lewinsky (she/her)) 1615859014.0
Lewinsky's ability to poke fun at her situation from the 90s has endeared her to people across the internet.
Monica Lewinsky is a national treasure https://t.co/65HzId1Hgx— The Volatile Mermaid (@The Volatile Mermaid) 1615919342.0
@MonicaLewinsky Nothing comes close. For you I'm sure that's a different story. But this was the biggest news story… https://t.co/CYy9qCvxzk— sampson3121 (@sampson3121) 1615903645.0
@MonicaLewinsky I hope you know how many people think you are brave and smart and remember that you were a kid. As… https://t.co/0oaumTffrB— Grumpynomore248 (@Grumpynomore248) 1615863172.0
@MonicaLewinsky You're so damn good at Twitter.— Miranda Yaver, PhD (@Miranda Yaver, PhD) 1615864170.0
tfw @MonicaLewinsky makes you snort your drink! https://t.co/fLxxl0b1eo— I ain't always thirsty when I drink (@I ain't always thirsty when I drink) 1615931190.0
Lewinsky has been critical of the pace at which social media has updated their policies to deal with cyber-bullying and public shaming.
Lewinsky said in a 2019 statement to PRWEEK:
"Research has shown that calling out bullying behavior before people post, as Instagram's AI promises to do, reduces negative interactions."
"Because so much of social life, especially for young people, plays out online, it's incumbent on those driving the digital experience to make spaces as safe as possible."
@MonicaLewinsky Monica for the win! https://t.co/O9PZBxNioH— Hamish Mitchell (@Hamish Mitchell) 1615860067.0
@MonicaLewinsky You're not playing and yet you just won the game.— Nell Scovell (@Nell Scovell) 1615859193.0
@MonicaLewinsky Monica in all realness your ability to joke about something that at one point the world bullied you… https://t.co/RZGliPDizh— green new deal stan (@green new deal stan) 1615861585.0
@MonicaLewinsky I bow to you. 🙏— kristen johnston (@kristen johnston) 1615859403.0
@MonicaLewinsky Just perfect. Thanks for this tweet.— Joe Walsh (@Joe Walsh) 1615859446.0
Lewinsky has been tongue-in-cheek about the Clinton scandal several times on her Twitter platform, despite having gone through a difficult ordeal when she was just in her early 20s.
Not all women do as well with such targeted bullying. For that, Ms. Lewinsky, we tip our hats to you.