Thursday, September 26, 2013

Mean People

Why are people so hateful to each other? I guess I can understand people who know each other and have a reason to hate each other hating each other. Maybe something happened between them that they just can't get over. What I don't get is total strangers screaming their hate at someone they do not even know.

The woman who does http://housewifedownunder.wordpress.com just announced her retirement from blogging. I'm not exactly her biggest fan. I don't even know her name, but I've been reading her blog occasionally for over a year. She has great stories to tell about being an expat in Australia. If you are thinking about moving to Australia, check it out.

She is done with blogging because she got tired of all the hate people send her online. When you have a blog, or any kind of website where people can comment, you will get negative comments. Sometimes it is constructive criticism, but only rarely. Usually it is simply people who want to make everyone else as miserable as they are.

In her announcement post, she defends her decision to not post the ugliest comments. I don't think she has to explain that at all. It is her blog. She does not have to post any comments at all if she does not want to. We have gotten so used to being able to say anything to anyone at anytime that we have forgotten the fact that not everything in the world is an open forum for any and all opinions.

I used to keep comments on my blog open to everyone no matter what crazy thing they wanted to say. The only comments I ever deleted were blatant spam. If you want to increase your manhood, you don't need to read about it here. Just check your e-mail.

Then I started moderating comments. Someone got really angry about something I said. I don't even remember what it was about. I just remember thinking that I should probably do something about it as soon as the death threats started. I never took any of it seriously. Most of the angry people online are all talk anyway, but there was just too much negativity to ignore. I don't need all comments on my blog to be sunshine and rainbows, but I think there is already enough hate in the world. There is no reason to post more here.

Blogs are easy enough to deal with. You can moderate comments, block certain people or turn off comments entirely. What is harder are other social media sites where you have no control. If you interact with people online, you will be subject to hate. It is inevitable. They say movie stars should never read their own press. Reading too many negative reviews can get to you eventually. Online, we are all movie stars, in a distorted way. People can and will feel free to say to us whatever pops into their heads. For whatever reason, a lot of people are more free with their negative comments than they are with saying something positive.

I wrote a couple of books. I will probably write more in the future. I know having a few books available in a few places is not anything like having a New York Times bestseller, but I enjoyed writing them and I don't see any reason why I should not continue doing it. When you write a book, whether it sells or not, you have to expect a few bad reviews. Nothing in the history of the world has ever been written that everybody likes. I realize that the things I write about are not going to excite everyone. I realize that my writing style is not everyone's cup of tea. The funny thing is that when you look at the reader reviews of anything by Shakespeare, people complain about his content and style. I read a review about Romeo and Juliet complaining that the two families should not have been fighting. That's pretty much the point of the story. Someone is going to complain no matter what.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining about negative reviews. I'm not. I do not have enough to complain about. What I'm really complaining about is how the negative people share their opinions more than the positive people. I think most people in this world are generally positive, but they are a silent majority. They are more likely to keep their opinions to themselves. The angry people are the minority, but they share their opinions far more often.

It has reached the point where you have to have very thick skin to be online. No matter where you are online, people are going to share their hate with you. Some people will join in the hate just to fit in. Hopefully, most people just ignore the hate. Too many people hate everything and everyone. If you are sensitive to what total strangers say about you, you will just have to stay offline. If you are a sullen teenager just looking for any excuse to kill yourself, you should really throw your computer away. The internet is like a loaded gun in your mother's dresser.

There used to be a time when unhinged people were confined to their basements. Only the walls and their imaginary friends heard their ranting and raving. Now the internet lets everyone connect with the rest of the world. You don't have to have all your marbles to talk to people or give your tirade online. You can harass a blog writer until she gives up and quits. You can even write a book review with absolutely no ability to form a coherent sentence. That is like a blind person writing a movie review, but that is how the internet of citizen critics work.

1 comment:

  1. Haters gonna hate! For what its worth, I like reading your blog and your updates, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete

No hate, please. There's enough of that in the world already.