4 Ways to deal with Hate and Negativity Online

4 Ways to Deal with Hate and Negativity Online

Photography by Tom Buck

What I’m Wearing

Jack and Jones Bomber Jacket – ASOS (click here)*

I Feel Like Pablo T-Shirt  (Similar Here)*

Ripped Knee Skinny Jeans – ASOS (click here)

Alexander McQueen Platform Sneakers – MatchesFashion (click here)

As a blogger I put a lot of myself out there for people to see, my outfits, my daily life, my friends, my family. I do try and keep some things private but with the nature of my job you guys are probably going to see everything at some point (especially on snapchat haha). With putting yourself out there you do open yourself up to judgement from others, I’m quite fortunate in that a lot of the comments on my Instagram, youtube and here on my blog are all quite positive and I’ve never really experienced harsh online hate (touch wood haha). Sure I’ve had nasty comments now and again and actually come to think of it I had some terrible things said to me on tumblr (anonymous asks) back in the day but that’s not even when I was publishing content weekly. I know that Cyber Bullying is a huge problem and it can affect everyone in different ways, It’s not nice and it’s not nessecary. I like to think that I deal with online hate quite effectively but then again I’m quite thick skinned. I was bullied a lot in high school for being different and I think this gave me a confidence to know that no matter what anyone said, I was happy with myself . In my opinion if you don’t like something online, why are you looking at it in the first place? Below I’ve outlined 4 ways to deal with hate online that I hope you might find useful.

Shop my outfit here

 

 

 

 

1.Delete and Block

The first thing I do when I see a negative comment is I decide how I’m going to let it effect me. You can judge to see whether the comment is criticism or just an abusive troll. Remember you’re in control, if it’s your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc you’re the one who controls what you see. So for example someone leaves a negative comment on your Instagram, I usually block them straight away and then delete their comment. If they’re leaving hate on your content, in your own space then they don’t even deserve to see your content any longer or even have the privilege to make a comment.

2. Think who would make that comment

I really don’t understand people who have the time to leave negative comments on the internet, I am far too busy trying to further and better my own career and life to even THINK about leaving negativity on someone else’s content. If I don’t like what I’m seeing online then I simply close the window, close the app or ‘unfollow’ that person. It goes hand in hand with real life principles, if you don’t have anything nice to say then you probably shouldn’t say anything at all. So if like me you were raised right and have decency and courtesy for other human beings then you won’t spread negativity in the first place. Which brings me to the type of person who WOULD make a negative or hurtful comment, think about where they’re at in their life. They have time to do things like this so they’re probably not very busy or have anything else better to do. They look at what you’re posting or doing and probably feel jealous so making a negative comment will make them feel better about themselves. They’re looking at things online that they don’t even want to look at – what does that make them? Let’s pity these people, delete/block and leave them in their own endless pit of negativity.

3. Don’t waste your time

Time is precious, time is the one thing that you can’t ever get back. Take a moment before replying, I barely ever reply to hateful comments, I sometimes respond to constructive criticism because that’s different. The main thing they want is some interaction with you, that’s why they’re doing this, why they’re acting out. So don’t give in to what they want, your time is far better spent doing positive things.

4. Keep being you

Don’t ever let anyones comments get to you. You know what you’re doing, you’re posting about what you like because you love it and it’s who you are and nobodies comments can change that. If anything the best thing you can do is to keep on succeeding because that’s the one thing that will annoy the haters even more. So remiand positive, ignore the hate and just keep being you.

I hope you’ve never had to deal with this kind of thing and I hope that if you have, you’re able to move past it and not let it get to you! However it does persist then report the culprits, tell people in real life and focus on the positive comments because lifes too short to worry about sad little trolls here on the internet.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Cyber Bullying in the comments below, I make sure I respond to everyone so if you have any questions or experiences don’t hesitate to leave a comment. Thank you so much for reading.