The reality of going viral on social media

Yesterday morning I woke up to death threats, insults, angry emojis, threats of ‘cancellation’ (urg!) and arguments between commenters.

Why?

Because in one of my whipped soap piping ASMR videos, I didn’t put the lid on the jar.

This is the cost of going viral. The insanity of the internet and ease of giving anonymous hate to strangers.

Now, I’m 42 (at time of writing this) and this kind of behaviour garners nothing but a simple eye roll from me at this point, and all these comments come from blocked or private accounts, usually without a profile picture and funnily enough don’t allow @ mentions. Why? Because these hateful people always like to hide behind their phones/screens so that they can’t be held accountable for their comments.

My reaction to these is simple. If the comment is a genuine and constructive criticism or a genuine opinion then I leave the comment. Not everyone is going to like what you do and that’s fine. However, it is is hateful, rude, threatening, violent or instigating and argument I block and delete without a second thought.

My primary goal for instagram is to build a like minded community that helps those wanting to make their own cosmetics. To get eyes on the account I post silly ASMR overfilling videos with a bit of humour and some how to clips.  This shouldn’t insight such a dramatic reaction from people.

The thing you need to remember about these kind of comments if you go viral, is that as much as the haters don’t know your personal circumstances, neither do you there’s.

The key is being mindful. Treat others as you’d want to be treated. If you comment back, be genuine, not rude. But it’s best just to delete, block, move on. Don’t engage them. You don’t know who they are, how old they are, what they are going through that’s made them comment this way.

Yes they may be the type of person who enjoys being cruel to others, but they may also be very young and so emotions are heightened and they don’t yet fully understand how their comments could be perceived or affect people. They may be going through something terrible and be taking it out on the internet. You really can’t ever know.

If there is an issue that people bring up constantly that they’ve taken the wrong way or that frustrates you having to explain again and again, reply with a video, address the issue in genuine kind, or funny way. Don’t get riled up by it.

So don’t make assumptions, don’t take it personally, don’t let it get to you. It’s just words from someone (or even a bot in some cases) who doesn’t matter to you. Don’t rise to the bait.

Delete comment, block user, move on!

Then go be great at what you do :)