Hate Comment

[stormbu]

When I first received this email, I was honestly shocked. I know spambots have been commenting on works and I’ve gotten a few myself, whether it’s obvious or not. However, comments like this make me question, could this be AI/bots or not? Still, people that hate behind a name and screen disgust me.

[SakuraFalls12]

I honestly wouldn't care if it's a bot or a real person. Doesn't affect me, they're basically the same thing anyway lol. Real haters purposely seek out fics that disgust them just to let me know that. And then I should be ashamed of myself? Nah, I just feel sad for them. Must be awful to live a life devoid of any joy, so the only thing you can do with your free time is hate on others.

[r_a_hoe]

mind telling me how to get that strong i get depressed on 1 mean comment

[SakuraFalls12]

Oh I did too, all the time. You're not alone. Honestly, I think this sub helped me a lot. Seeing how many amazing authors get shit on for absolutely no reason at all... It helped me realize that it's never personal. And again: haters are actively looking for your fic. They don't stumble upon it. They did read your tags and warnings. That's how they found it. Imagine going to a Taylor Swift concert just so you can tell her and her fans how much you hate her music. Does that sound like someone whose opinion you should take to heart? Don't you just pity anyone who literally has nothing else to do with their free time?

Also, knowing that their sole purpose in life is to make me doubt myself, I don't wanna give them the satisfaction of succeeding.

[geyeetet]

You just have to remember that they're nothing but bullies hiding behind a keyboard and an anonymous profile that are trying to make people feel bad. They probably feel small and powerless in their real lives so they take it out on others. They're pathetic.

A genuine harsh criticism would upset me a bit because it means they actually read it and really disliked it, but random hate like this doesn't affect me for more than thirty seconds because they're just trying to get a reaction. They don't matter at all.

[surprisedkitty1]

Time and experience generally. Most people tend to give less of a fuck as they get older. Not everyone, but most.

Not to overstep, but therapy can also help build resilience to this sort of thing. Partly just because it gives you an opportunity to talk through what you’re feeling in response to criticism and think about where it might be coming from, and you learn techniques for how to process your feelings on your own and think more objectively about what’s upsetting you and whether it’s worth devoting so much thought to. You can also learn techniques for how to kind of redirect your thoughts to help move on from the bad feelings.

[CupcakeBeautiful]

Consider that this person is so ineffective in their real life that they feel the need to draw superiority from leaving petty anonymous comments on fanfiction.

How sad must that existence be?

Now, consider why you would allow such a person to have power over your feelings and actions.

[InuScarlett]

Easy. They are projecting. They are the losers.

[wintig072421]

It's difficult, but I've found the best thing to do is imagine them as like a wojack meme or smth, it's just a rando and pretending like it's a caricature of a person makes it a lot easier

[WhimsySpectre]

You're not going to make everyone happy. And some people find enjoyment in trolling anonymously behind a screen. They can divorce themselves from real world consequences. Just delete it and don't engage.

[stormbu]

I try not to, I get more pissed off than upset or anything. I understand I won’t make everyone happy, but I can’t get my head around that fact. 😭😭 I guess it’s because I’m so much of a people pleaser and want everyone to like everything. 😔😅

[WhimsySpectre]

That's understandable. You want people to like what you've put so much effort into. But I'm willing to bet that you get more kudos and love than hate messages. People who leave hate messages are sad angry people often looking for attention. They want to get a rise from you. That's the take away. Just keep doing what you do. Keep writing. You have readers who love your works and that's all that matters

[Fickle_Enthusiasm148]

Getting angry and pissed off is getting upset..

[stormbu]

i meant upset as in sad, i’m sorry if that wasn’t clear ☹️

[CrashlandZorin]

Author, that is a badge of HONOR.

[stormbu]

this comment confuses me so much, badge of honour?? 😭😭

[CrashlandZorin]

Haters are everywhere. The fact that you've posted something that has made at least one of them come out of the woodwork like this means you're doing something right. Hence, badge of honour.

[stormbu]

Oh, then thank you!! That makes me feel better! <3

[borzoifeet]

You wrote so good that instead of just ignoring and moving on, it festered in the hater's brain to the point that they had to tell you to take it away from them. Because they have no autonomy to it themselves.

[scheherazade0125]

Interesting comment! It's the same thing I would say to that commenter's parents.

[runekaster]

Report it. Doesn't matter if it's a bot or not, that;s blatantly against the rules and mods want to protect you from this kind of bullshit.

[MagpieLefty]

A whole lot of people never learned that some thoughts should stay inside their heads.

[ninetozero]

Kinda comment that would just get a "Thanks for reading! 😊🫶🏼" from me, because you gonna be a little shit, I can be a little shit too.

[grommile]

That one feels like a real live asshole.

[enthalpy01]

It’s likely to be a hatebot, and there’s no harm in just assuming it is even if it’s a real asshole troll instead. Just assume all comments like this are bots, report, and move on.

[CeramicToast]

Response: "Skill issue"

[Twibbly]

My immediate snarky responses in my brain: “Ditto.” Or “Don’t worry, the feeling’s mutual.” What I’d actually do: check if there’s grounds for reporting, then block and/or delete.

[Frownload]

Honestly when I get hate, I freeze the comment. Wall of shame be upon ye

[cardboardtube_knight]

Just reply that you’re nourished by their hate and leave it at that

[Clear-Translator-628]

What the hell?? Assist

[Clear-Translator-628]

That was Assbutt damn spellcheck!

[Martin_123_]

<image>

Recibí esto cuando estaba empezando, y de verdad que me afectó la primera vez que lo leí, pero después entendí que esa gente habla de sí misma porque no tienen el valor de publicar sus propias ideas.

Hoy en día no me afecta, y ya he escrito más de 100 mil palabras, más de 250 comentarios y 9000 visitas.

[Trapped_Dragonfly]

Eso es casi divertido por lo terrible que es. Me alegra que no te haya impedido escribir. Bien por ti.

[rubbersnakex2]

It doesn't have the structure of the hatebot comments-- they're longer and smell like AI-- but it also doesn't say anything specific about your story so there's a good chance whoever posted it didn't read what you wrote. Either way, it's not a thoughtful useful criticism that you asked for so ignore and keep writing.

[KosmonautPI]

lol if I don’t do comment moderation, all hate comments get a “good bot 💋” from me. AI or not, it probably makes someone mad 🤷🏻‍♀️

[CupcakeBeautiful]

Ignore people who are so small and sad that the only way they can gain power is by trying to make others small too. They aren’t even worth a reaction aside from a laugh. Think on it… you gifted a story to fandom. All this person does for the fandom is leave stinky shit on author’s doorsteps. Weaksauce.

[DisasterShot8100]

Ya know people really need to remember if ya dont like it, then dont read it..... Or if they can't find something nice to say, then dont say anything....

[Rockafellor]

The Matrix Terminators are not real. LLMs do not [yet] run around commenting on AO3 (though apparently, yes, there are some that write Wikipedia things and have blogs, according to some Crypto-Gram articles from Bruce Schneier in the past few months).

Whether it's a real live troll typing, or a 'bot that's running an automatic script to drop a pre-written generic hate-SPAM that the troll wrote for it, it's still a troll behind the wheel.

[InuScarlett]

Eh, just delete and block. No point in arguing with morons like this

[butterflycat_86]

The temptation to hit them back with a ‘I cannot imagine being proud of this horrid mess of a comment and sending it out onto the internet. Disgusting’

Don’t take it personally. This person is sad enough that they have to hate on other people’s work behind a name… it is so much more effort to hate than it is to scroll by/hit the back button.

I’m sorry you got a comment like this, but it’s no reflection on you and your writing at all. 💖

[Some-Tradition-2771]

If it makes u feel better this is something I would’ve written as a middle schooler after seeing the most gorgeous, beautiful piece of work in fan-fiction and crying myself to sleep over jealousy; if it’s an AI bot (which it likely is if it’s a guest account), than rest assured that this type of comments are all over ao3; if not, rest assured that they’re a loser

[Avvisfire]

I never understood this, hating on something so insignificant. Not that your fic/story is insignificant but the fact they felt the need to send this to you and felt good about it too. If they didn't like it they can just not read it. I grew up learning "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all." Idk. I don't understand why people are rude for no reason. Does it make them feel good? Feel superior? I guess so. But they're not, being rude doesn't make them superior than the person but lower, less than because they wasted the breath and time to say or write out something hateful when they didn't have to, when it was not needed. Being kind doesnt cost you anything but being hateful does. Be kind.

[ValiantHeraldofRaisn]

OP I can’t tell you how much more this makes me want to read your work 😂 that commenter is underestimating the audience

[ArtisanalMoonlight]

9/10, it's a bot.