My First Twitter Hater

When I checked Twitter on Sunday morning, I was greeted with a surprise: my first Twitter Hater.  

Nobody likes haters. More often than not, they are usually anonymous and distant people marked by bitterness. They hide behind a keyboard and a computer screen to spew their nonsense. They love to rain on parades, pop balloons at birthday parties and snicker in the dark corners of their basements (or their mom’s).

Their line of attack goes something like this:

1. Ridicule your work

2. Insult you

3. Tell you to shut up

All in 140 characters or less.  

This Twitter Hater probably lives 1,723 miles away from me. He could be a disgruntled potato farmer living in Idaho for all I know. If a complete stranger is willing to take the time to look at your work and then take even more time to craft a laughable negative rebuke of it, that’s a compliment!

But for a brief moment, I got a little defensive as I read this Twitter Hater’s comment. Naturally, we all want to be universally liked and admired. But any time spent in the real world will tell you that simply is not possible.

Cheap shots come from the cheap seats. Don’t give someone in the nosebleed sections the power to call the plays in your life.  

The only way to never get a negative comment is to never speak up. The only way to never get a 1-star review on Amazon is to never write a book or create a product. The only way to never get a Twitter Hater is to never tweet.

If you have the audacity to chase a dream or something you are passionate about, expect to have haters. When people start throwing rocks in your direction, that usually means you’re doing something right.

Haters like to tear down things they were too lazy to help build. Haters love to rip apart dreams because they are too afraid to dream themselves. Haters want to rip people apart because it makes them feel better about themselves.

Don’t get dragged down to their level. When the haters start coming out of the woodwork, don’t give them the satisfaction of shutting up. Instead, speak louder, work harder, keep hustling.

When the Twitter Haters enter your life, just smile. It means you are on the right track.