Hello and happy Monday! This is Susan Hyatt and it’s GO time. This is episode number 125.
In this episode we’re talking about the difference between being a creator and being a hater. Lately the internet is becoming nastier and meaner and I think all of us can be even more mindful and thoughtful about the words we post online!
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Wanna read the full transcript? Here ya go:
OK. Is it just me, or does it feel like the Internet is becoming meaner and nastier?
And I’m not talking about the good kind of nasty, like Prince nasty or Janet Jackson nasty or Hillary Clinton nasty.
I mean the vicious, cruel kind of nasty. Cruel comments. Cruel remarks. Cruel reviews for books and products. Name-calling. Trolling. Bullying. Big, long social media threads criticizing people’s bodies, people’s approach to doing business, or how they parent their kids, or how much money they make…
If you poke around Facebook, Yelp, Amazon, and the comment section of nearly every major website, it’s pretty intense down there.
It seems like there are certain people who take pleasure in posting vicious, cruel things about other people’s work. This is especially intense in the small business community. I see this happening DAILY.
Who knows why? Maybe certain people are desperately bored and they need a hobby. Maybe they want attention. Maybe their momma didn’t raise them right, as we say down in the South where I was born. Maybe they want a creative outlet, and rather than write their own book or start their own blog or launch their own business they’re more comfortable criticizing someone else’s work. Maybe it’s a power struggle—these people might feel ignored and powerless, so they lash out and post vicious things in an effort to feel more powerful. That’s how most bullies operate.
Here’s what I do know. If you are diving into Facebook threads that do nothing but bitch and whine and tear people down, your life will reflect that, and your bank account will reflect that.
Beyonce has a song called “Don’t Hurt Yourself.” The lyrics go: “When you hurt me, you hurt yourself. When you diss me, you diss yourself.”
Beyonce is right. That’s exactly how it works.
You can be a creator, or you can be a hater. You be the person making art, or you can be the critic lurking in the comments section, creating nothing, but very willing to pipe up and explain why this other person’s art sucks.
And if you’re putting your time and energy into hateful comments and threads, yikes. In the end, it’s your OWN time you’re wasting, and you’re only hurting YOURSELF.
Look. You listen to my podcast, so I am probably preaching to the choir. You’re probably thinking, “I agree, Susan, and I never post vicious things online or anything like that! I would never!”
And that’s great. But all of us can be even more mindful and thoughtful about the words we post online, and about the social circles we participate in. If your friends do this sort of thing, and you see it on Facebook, and you say nothing, then you’re complicit in that behavior. Speak up and let people know, “This isn’t OK.”
Lastly, if you’ve been attacked by online bullies, if you’ve had your name dragged through the mud by people on Facebook, or anything like that, the good news is… this means you’re walking a courageous path. You’re choosing to put your work out there, making yourself vulnerable to criticism, which 99% of people are WAY too afraid to do.
Stay focused on your work. Tune out the negative noise as much as you can. Surround yourself with people who are walking a similar path as yours. People who are out there in the world—working, writing, speaking, creating, launching businesses, programs, and movements, courageously making themselves seen and heard.
THOSE are your people. And believe me, those people are WAY too busy to write a nasty 1-star review about someone’s podcast or product. They don’t have time to participate in that sort of nonsense, because they’re busy DOING stuff that matters! Just like you.
Stay focused on what you’re building. Makers gonna make. Haters gonna hate. Too bad for them, because as Beyonce reminds us, those haters… they’re only gonna hurt themselves.
Have an amazing week. Be kind to yourself and others.
It’s GO time.
