Thank You - Essays to Ponder [ONGOING]

* To All Ya'll Haters - A Message of Consideration

I realize the phrase “Haters gonna hate” exists for a reason, but I would just like to give voice to a small concern of mine. Yesterday I read a conversation between Wattpadders who felt their stories didn't have enough views/votes/etc. There is nothing wrong in such complaining. The thing that concerned me was the vicious way they were talking about a certain fanbase known as Directioners. My thoughts went immediately to, “What if a Directioner entered this thread because they associated with the original topic and saw all this slander?”

I don't know if this was intentional, but I saw a very smooth way of diffusing the conversation. One of the posters put themselves in the Directioners' shoes by applying their own fandom. This person, and some others, realized what they were saying was wrong and tried to fix their mistake. Unfortunately, not everyone caught on.

It is okay to vent and rant and rage your feelings in private. I even encourage it from time to time. What you must remember is that the person(s) you are ranting about might read what you write. Even if you write it on your profile, it is still visible to the public. You may post these things as long as you are reasonable. For example, you might give suggestions on alternate ways to write, or maybe recognize the difference of hating an action versus hating a person. You might even phrase your rant in a more educating tone.

If a Directioner stumbles upon your comment stating your desire to burn all One Direction fanfics, bad things could follow. Put yourself in the situation, like the poster I mentioned. If you stumbled upon a comment stating a desire to burn all of your favorite genre's books, what bad things might follow? What if you came across a large number of people who felt this way? What if you were part of the outcast society? Admittedly, that may be taking it a bit far, but as long as it gets the point across, I don' mind.

Too often, people are harming themselves, even to the point of suicide, because of things said online. When posting online, it is easy to let your dislike rule your words. It is easy to forget people on the other end of your posts. Cyber bullying doesn't happen just between people who know each other offline; it also happens through flippant, off-handed comments written by complete strangers. Please, before you click the post button, look over your words a second time. Even if you don't see the object of your hurtful words it doesn't mean they aren't there. You never know if your comment will make or break a person.

Thank you. 2/23/14