“Look ma, I made it! I have a hater!” I sarcastically shouted as I danced around my husband on the calm Wednesday night, cheering like a buffoon.
He looked at me and made what sounded like a ‘hmmm?’, but I was too excited to really give into his inquisition. You see, just twenty minutes earlier, I had shared my ‘hater’ qualms with my friends and they jumped at the opportunity to show the offender just how strong the army that surrounds me is. An army sprawled across the globe, in this globalised century.
“Michelle, what on earth are you on about?”
I bet that was the conundrum that crossed your mind just now. 99% of me says some variation of this was thought, while the other 1% is attributed to the nonchalant few who just read my ramblings without curiosity. But don’t worry, there is a bit of sense to my madness.
Yesterday, January 20th, was the very first time that I considered my blogging endeavours a true success. About 18 months after I started my little blog, I finally received some backlash from a hater. And we all know what that means!
“Look friends, I made it!”
“That hater doesn’t deserve an entire post!”
I know, I know… I shouldn’t pay much heed to haters, but this one was quite important. For context, I was very excited to have reached 72 followers on my Youtube channel that has not even been around for two weeks. I was so excited that 72 humans took the time to watch my content and subscribe to my channel. Like, real humans! Of course, they had no obligation to do so, and yet out of consideration for me, they did. Even when the content I posted was not nearly perfect in sound, quality or delivery.
But they supported me.
So in my excitement, I decided to announce that I would be giving away a $50 Amazon gift card once I hit 100 followers. No catch, no strings attached, no prerequisites. Just that – I decided that I would spin the wheel on the people that supported me and give one person a token of appreciation.
Related: My biggest fears of starting a YouTube channel
“So where does the hater come in?”
Hang on, hang on, we’re getting to the good part.
Of course, once you say anything online, it gets taken out of context fairly quickly. Unfortunately, I was not immune to this rule. And just like clockwork, my excitement and anticipation for a big achievement was reduced to an act of desperation. I, the 30-year-old mother and associate director in a niche, well-paying job, was accused of desperately paying for people to find me subscribers.
*Calmly sips tea and clears throat.
“Okay, we’re listening… spill the beans already!”
You are such a nosy bunch if you’ve made it this far… I love it!
What comes next is something I debated not sharing at all, because I don’t want to promote my ‘hater’. However, as we are in 2022, I figured that any curious soul with extra pandemic time on their hands would be savvy enough to dig the dirt. So to save myself the tedious task of blurring out names, I’ve done the lazy thing and shared the bare bullets.
…
Errrm change of plans.
Let’s promote the superheroes and block out the hater. I don’t quite feel like getting a lawsuit on my hands for defamation!
“But Shelly, he has a point…”
Oh, you’re one of those.
Here’s the thing, I truly appreciate feedback and suggestions, but sometimes how someone says something is more important than what they say. Many content creators do giveaways at certain milestones. Some do so with prerequisites, while others just do so for fun.
Is that a crime?
I agree that if the giveaway is meant to incentivise growth, it needs to be planned accordingly. But what if it’s reactive as opposed to proactive?
“Will you be taking this to your therapist?”
Oh ye of little faith! Even though I share the broken parts of me on this blog, this virtual rendezvous did nothing to my ego. It simply got me wondering about the little devils out there. I mean devil’s advocates* – sorry, I no speak no English!
So now I turn to you, my fellow brainiacs.
If you’ve had similar encounters with an online hater, let me know in the comments below. In short, have you made it?
Pssst! Check out the YouTube Channel that sparked the commotion, or have civil conversations with me on Twitter.
Congratulations on your first hater Shelly! If you’re doing what you love, you’ve already made it. I rek we should all get into the habit of giving away free things. It is a beautiful gesture. I love the way it inspired you to write this positive post too. Way to stick it. 🙂🙏
Hahaha thank you very much! *bows
there is always a hater and I see it as a compliment of sorts, that they took the time and energy to complain to me, about me. something in them feels they are falling short
I don’t have a problem with giveaway’s as long as you do it with love (i hope you understand what I mean), I don’t see the issue though..
Of course! And see, that’s expressing in a non-aggressive or offensive way!
There’s nothing wrong with doing giveaways. Honestly some people just like to start things on twitter. Just keep doing you & keep blogging & vlogging. I love your videos so far!
Thanks Helen 😊 I appreciate how supportive you always are. I wish I could meet you in person so I could hug you!
Honestly, some people have too much time on their hands and will complain about anything. I’ve always said you could give some people a million dollars and they’d complain that it wasn’t delivered on a silver platter. On the upside, at least you got their attention!
Hahaha that’s the funniest saying but it’s sooooo true. Logic being, if you can afford to give a million bucks, just go the extra mile 😂
But I hear you, I appreciate you and I will celebrate the win 💖
It’s easy to say just ignore them, but none of us like to be judged. I know the standard advice is to not even pay haters the time of day. Authors are told the same thing. When people trash your book for the stupidest of reasons, (e.g. something like, “I don’t like books in this genre.” Um, well, how come you chose mine? Do people who hate sushi go to a sushi restaurant expecting to suddenly love it? Offering a gift card is hardly some crime—businesses do this all the time. Our financial advisors send us a gift certificate to a local restaurant each year.
Lol I don’t like books in this genre 😂😂😂 I get your point, and you’re absolutely right. The thing that got me excited was that I’ve never been relevant enough for an online troll to even bother about my existence. Then to see how my friends had my back… that was golden! There is no way I wasn’t going to write about it 😂
You handled it beautifully, Shelly. One of the things I despise about social media is the false courage people seem to grow behind a keyboard… I don’t see that hater’s point nor do I see why they were so up and arms in your business about how you wanted to conduct your own channel….. *am I missing something or are they a bit nuts??? lol
Haha 😄 🤣 now that’s is “growth” 😆 🤣
Seriously i love watching your videos… and the way you speak is just phenomenal. .
You just own that video ❤ 💙
And next time you face encounters like this….put simba to work ❤
Aww thanks hun! I’ll tell him to sharpen his teeth in the meantime~ who knows how long it’ll take for the next one to come!