People on the Internet are mean.
And yes, that was a stereotype.
The Internet was a dream world for any and every bully when it first came around. I remember being in middle school and people would make up fake screen names and emails and lash out on random people calling them names and giving them threats. This continued with people making fake MySpace pages and fake Facebook pages, so they could post horrible comments without showing their face. This type of bullying still goes on, but people don't care about being anonymous anymore. Actually, they don't care if they even know the person they're bullying or not.
Internet bullying nowadays goes far beyond a teen jock harrassing the "fat kid" or a "popular" it-girl sending threats to the person now dating her ex. In fact, there is a whole new form of Internet bullying taking place. And it lives in comment sections everywhere.
If you've read any comment section ANYWHERE then you know how mean people online really are.
Granted, most people who post articles on the Internet like myself do not get upset by this. Every comment is another interaction with an article. And the fact that someone commented means they took time to read the article. And, as every writer knows, any talk is good talk.
But what does confuse me is why such people take time out of their lives to read things they don't like and then take even more time to respond to it. When I don't like an article I close out of it immediately and move on to something else. I can't read poorly written things and posts that don't appeal to me. But these people who disagree with posts and deem them 'awful' actually read them and then share their feelings about them with the world on social media (from their personal accounts -- picture and all).
These commenters are so outrageous that not only do they take time out of their day to write "I disliked this article" or even worse "I hated this article," they take personal digs at the authors -- whom they do not even know -- in turn, stereotyping the authors themselves.
It's like each website these people come across needs to cater to them and ONLY them. God forbid a website posts an article that they do not agree with. An article that is not in any way written for them. An article that is supposed to be comedic. A satire.
For something to be satiric, it needs stereotypes. And a lot of the time, when I write, I use stereotypes.
With each article I write, some agree. Some don't. Some relate. Some don't. Some understand the humor. And clearly, others don't.
Without stereotypes there would no comedy. There would be no comedic television. There would be no comedic movies. There would probably be no high school either.
I'm sure if Mean Girls was written as an article in the first person of Cady Heron on the Internet, the commenters would rip it to shreds (yes, I just referenced that song in Mean Girls -- nbd). Same with Animal House, the classic college comedy of the '70s. And basically every other comedy that has ever existed (don't even get me started on romantic comedies).
An article I recently wrote titled "The 10 Most Annoying Things About Living With a Guy" received a lot of horrid comments online. Some people did not like the fact that there were things that annoyed me about my boyfriend. Well, Internet, I highly doubt you have never been annoyed by your significant other before. Of course my boyfriend does things that annoy me. And of course I do things that annoy him (and yes, I probably annoy him way more than he annoys me -- but that is neither here nor there). That doesn't mean I'm a horrible girlfriend. Or that I don't love him. Or that I'm bitter. And lonely. And miserable. And should die/never write again (seriously -- people actually comment these things).
It just means that I'm a real live human being who has feelings and is comfortable expressing them. It also means that I have a good enough relationship where I can write such a thing and have my boyfriend find it funny. It means I'm honest. It means I say what other people are thinking. Not what everyone is thinking. I know not everyone feels the same way as me. But believe it or not, there's a good chunk of people out there who laughed, liked, understood, and shared the article. Not to mention, the same stereotypical, funny shit is posted to Cosmo basically every day.
When I started blogging, I wrote a lot about myself and only myself. As time went on, the number of people who contacted me and commented on my posts saying things like "are we the same person?" and "did I just write this article?" grew. This led me to realize that were a lot of people out there feeling the same feelings as me. Not ALL the same feelings. No two people can be exactly alike. But there are people out there who agree with me. And it is them who I write articles for. NOT for the angry people who have nothing better to do than hide behind a computer screen bashing others all day.
To those people, I say why don't you find some articles you DO like and celebrate those instead. Or if you have so much to say, start your own blog. Put your own self out there for the world to see. Write whatever you want. Whatever you feel. Have a positive outlet, rather than a negative one which consists of bashing anyone who writes something that you do not personally agree with.
Life doesn't have to be so serious. Take a minute from your web-surfing comment-section-raid and LAUGH. Understand that there are types of people out there other than you. When I watch Girls, I do not get mad and claim the show is stereotyping all 20-somethings as entitled and lazy. I LAUGH because although some (okay, actually most) of the characters are nothing like me, I know that there are people out there just like them who exist. When I watch Sex and the City, I don't throw things at the TV yelling at Carrie Bradshaw to stop generalizing women as these sad little creatures who are all pathetically waiting for Prince Charming. I LAUGH because although I am no Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, or Charlotte, it's relatable -- whether it relates to me or my friend or my co-worker or my family member.
To those mean people spreading hate across the Internet, I beg you to read something that interests you. If that's not what I write, FINE. I would love more views and interactions on each of my posts, but I can deal without it if it will make the world a nicer place.
You don't have to click on everything that pops up on your newsfeed. No one is writing you personal articles for your viewing pleasure only. No one is asking you to read something that doesn't interest you. Remember that the next time you come across something you don't like.
There's really no need for the hate.