I just experienced online Hate for the first time.... and God, it hurts!!!

My experience & lessons from it
(1/n)

I wrote a thread about a recent social media campaign... which to me had a lot of marketing & strategy lessons I could learn from.
There was a debate around it when the campaign ad was released. So I thought I will delve deeper into it to understand all aspects
(2/n)

I did not take a complicated topic.. rather a very simple one & broke it down. The thread got shared a lot & I was flooded with notifications very quickly
(3/n)

Got some good feedback initially.. but then suddenly I started getting a lot of hate. Hate for writing something that is apparently TOO OBVIOUS!
Imagine saying mean things just cos someone stated something you actually agree with.
(4/n)

Disagreement is already a problem, but being right is equally bad apparently.
Lots of people started calling me names, hurling insults. Some ventured into Abuse... which compelled me to block them.
Sharing opinion is okay, Abuse is definitely not
(5/n)

It started to affect me! I became negative & disturbed very quickly.. what did I do so wrong!! Stating the obvious in a different way is a crime?
I HAD TO MAKE IT STOP!

(6/n)

Not long after, I realised that there were many people who were actually appreciating what I wrote. Said they found it useful. Even started getting compliments in my DMs. Fact is there were many more people talking positive things..& I had been focusing on the wrong side
(7/n)

For all the creators who get Hate online, here is what I have to say to you & the lessons I learnt

(8/n)

a. FOCUS ON THE GOOD- Reminiscent of life, we are focused more on the bad than the good. I was looking the wrong way. When I decided to focus only on the positive comments, it changed everything.
If ur content adds value to even 2 people, u have nothing to feel bad about
(9/n)

b. DON’T ENGAGE WITH TROLLS: The more you engage with trolls/ haters, the more they will drag you down to their level. Learnt this the hard way
Best not to engage with any of them.

(10/n)

c. ENGAGEMENT IS YOUR FRIEND: Positive or negative, every comment & every RT contributes to your engagement. From a social media standpoint, engagement is a key metric. And the haters contribute to this too :)

(11/n)

d. BLOCK ABUSE: While ignoring trolls is one thing, any abuse should never be tolerated. Report them & block them. Period.

(12/n)

e. READ all comments & feedback. Try to understand the reason behind it. But do not let it consume you. You know why? Cos these haters have absolutely NO bearing on you / your life / your future. Why worry about noise that isn’t even relevant in the long run

(13/n)

For each one who abuses & hates, there are at least 20 who appreciate & support! I’d rather focus on them than the ones who chose hate as their language.
Heartfelt thanks to the guys who sent me messages of support & encouragement :)

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