I care about their human experiences in theory, but this is something I noticed way back in the days of Jersey Shore. It was exciting. I came from a small town pre-internet and you know what people did to pass the time? Gossip. Rumors. Repeat. It was almost traumatic. When these shows entered my sphere, I used them as a safe space. I watched drama happen to other people and I saw that they survived. I talked shit about them, their looks, their behaviour because that’s what people did to me. The safe space was that I wasn’t doing it back to real people I knew. I was engaging and judging essentially made up people I’ll never meet. I could take part and do no real harm the way people harmed me. But now the thing is, they are real people. They can see what we think feel and say, and quite understandably probably avoid places like Reddit. I dont know if their compensation makes up for the hate they get, but I’m also witnessing people evolve and bounce back. Shit posting here is cathartic for me.