No user of You Tube can claim they have never encountered hostility or some sort of abuse in You Tube community. There are plenty of advantages and possibilities to promote ones talents, create friendships, groups, collaborations, exchange opinions, help each other, open up constructive discussions on various topics but there is also the other side which is at least just as strong: the belittling and ridiculing, the threats on ones life, the inexplainable hatred and perhaps the biggest problem of them all: lack of understanding or will to understand or agree to disagree which leads to openly hostile and abusive atmosphere. And that kind of atmosphere leads to nothing - but it will go on just as long as you are willing to take part in it.
Some people feed off of the chaos they manage to create. They are in it just for that.
So what to do in such a situation? Perhaps ignoring would be the course of action, forgetting you ever got a reply to a comment you made or to a video you posted. But sometimes it's too overwhelming to keep your "mouth shut". Sometimes you feel compelled to reason a little - mostly to def ears I'm afraid. But that what's you do when you feel misunderstood. In the end, people see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. Sometimes I read comments around You Tube and I can't help but think: what is the point of all the hatred? Such hostility - it oozes from the screen a mile away. And where does it get anyone? What do these bullies get out of being mean to other people?
I must say I have had my share of negativity as well. In terms of being a starting songwriter, posting things online as I have created them even if the songs have not been very skillfully produced due to not knowing better, YouTube has been both a blessing and a curse. I have certainly grown myself a thicker skin.
You can't please everyone and everyone can't please you. So why bother taking it too personally, when most of the bullying comments come from faceless nameless uncreative people - if you are so keen on sharing your distasteful opinions on someones creativity, then a) do it better yourself and b) if you are going to shoot someone down, have the dignity of doing it without hiding behind anonymity. But that is the easy thing about cyber bullying isn't it? You can unload your own frustrations on strangers without the fear of being exposed for the ugly unhappy person you really are.
One other huge thing in You Tube is the ongoing
rivalry between fans of different artists. Their perspectives are twisted because they can only see things through the eyes of their idol (sometimes not even through their idol's eyes). Fans seem to abandon critical thinking due to treating their heroes/heroines as gods and goddesses, something unearthly. Still, showbusiness is mostly illusion and publicists are there to make it all okay in desperate situations: meaning that what comes out of a publicists mouth isn't nearly always true, it's mostly damage control. But many fans do not think about it, they want to keep the illusion going and therefore they keep on repeating the "truths" they've heard rather than considering what the truth really is.
What worries me the most is how You Tube can actually work as a tool to bad things. People lying about their identity, lurking in and creating relationships, sending suggestions which may lead to inproper behavior, death threats - or just getting kicks from a simple verbal abuse on a daily basis. It's enough dreadful when it happens between two adults but I find it especially troubling if I hear or see such things being targeted on children/youngsters and the gay community.
Is it really great to beat someone up verbally? Sometimes, when they truly deserve it, perhaps. But how many times do people really deserve it? How many times the one you are reacting to even cares or recognizes any of the things you try to explain to them. Most people are blind and want to remain that way because it allows them to keep doing what they are doing and prevents them from facing themselves and their own issues - the reasons behind their behavior. A person who is happy with themself and their life and respects other people, does not beat people up on a daily basis and go wishing people to hell - or shower them with more explicit, personal and insulting outbursts like "I wish you had died at child birth".
As lashing out in web communities such as You Tube, this blog entry too is a release of sorts.
I want people to think before they act. You Tube should be about enjoying videos, not about attacking other people for a reason or without a reason. I also want to encourage parents (and grown ups in general) to pay attention to what their kids do in the web and with whom they interact - not because I think kids are the ones acting in abusing ways (the majority of bad behavior comes from adults) but simply to avoid them getting into trouble or getting sucked into the games of someone who may want to abuse them one way or another. It's a wicked world in the web. Don't get burned by it - keep your eyes open and do your part in toning down the unnecessary hostility.
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