There’s something interesting about people who share their lives online.
It appears as though the more transparent someone is, the more the haters come out of the woodworks to critique them. You’d think the more transparent and honest you are, the less people would have to critique, but it seems to be quite the opposite. People will find anything to latch on to.
I’m afraid of the negativity of the internet. It’s all my brain can think about when I think about sharing my life. It’s quite the limiting belief. I try to think about all the positive comments I’ve read online, but the negativity of the internet is often a lot louder than the positivity.
I heard a quote recently that I found interesting:
“The price of love is hate.”
The more people love you, the more people there will be that hate you. It’s as if the more “successful” you grow, the standard deviation of your love/hate perception increases.
I haven’t decided yet if I’d rather put my life out in the internet, or live a life of quiet success. They’re both appealing.
I don’t think there’s a right answer here. Put yourself out there and you may have a broader impact and get more people to show up to your funeral, as they say, but deal with more hatred and criticism. Or, focus on creating lots of value behind the scenes, live your own life in peace, and not deal with the critiques of the masses, but have a more narrow scope of impact.
Would you be willing to pay the price of more hate for more love?
The truth often hurts. I’d guess that some of the negativity in comments comes from the difference in lives or in truth of the transparent poster vs. the insecure or unconfident commenter.
Your core question is an interesting one and I wouldn’t be able to choose yet. Given the whole Thinking Fast and Slow ideas, we’re more likely to overweigh the hate over the love. The answer is: it’s a balance!