In the world of social media and blogging, trolls are always trolling. Whether someone doesn’t like an outfit, stops by to body shame or criticize anything else they feel the need to, there’s always at least one negative comment for every handful of positive one’s.
When I first started GWC over 6 years ago, comments like this used to sting HARD. I can remember the first few I received:
– beautiful but too fat.
– you say you’re mixed but what are you and why are you hiding it?
– You should lose some weight so you’d be “curvy” and not plus size…
After ignoring the first few hateful comments, I realized I couldn’t stay silent – it was my responsibility to respond.
I can’t help but feel a deep sadness for cyberbullies and internet trolls. If you really think about it, most negative comments (while some are simply a cry for attention), are often a cry for help. The person posting them is projecting their own insecurities onto others out of pure frustration in seeing someone living an unapologetically happy life, free of insecurities and self-loathing.
I constantly see fat shaming, thin shaming and tons of other types of shaming happening all over the digital world on a daily basis and I can’t help but give any bully a serious dose of reality, explaining how they’re wasting their time worrying about someone else when they should be focusing on healing the inner issues that led them to post the comment in the first place.
I also can’t help but respond because I feel a sense of responsibility to spread positivity in a world where we could all use a little more love and understanding. Most importantly, I want to show all of you, my dearest GWC community of all ages from all walks of life, that no one has the right to take away your happiness or make you feel bad about yourself. Anyone who feels the need to comment on your appearance or anything else they find not to their liking is simply projecting their negative thoughts onto you because you’re free of the very insecurities they possess.
So to anyone who’s ever gotten a negative comment from a cyberbully, tell them to keep the comments to themselves because they’re only fueling their own unhappiness! And the next time they have the urge to spew hate through their keyboards, ask them to stop and think about where those feelings are really coming from, refrain from commenting and let peace and love prevail.
Read more from the Real Talk column here.
TAGS: cyber bullies, real talk