You Are Very Nasty

Why?

Today I logged onto Medium for the first time in two days; having been away with a viral infection, this is relevant to this story, one of which saddens me.

I am sure from your time on Medium that you, like me, have come across some nasty comments; I have brushed these off in various ways, but not sure I have the right solution to this inevitable problem that most of us will face.

In the past, I was attacked and, in my eyes, bullied by an established writer; I was forced to remove that article. Since then, I have been fortunate to be supported by some of my hardcore following, which I appreciate very much.

When I looked at my notifications today, I read some nasty and hateful comments on one of my articles; the frustrating thing was that these three people had clearly not read it.

They must have seen the title, skim-read a few lines, and then left nasty comments; their reaction to the article was unfounded, and the same comments they made were inaccurate if they had read the entire article.

Having nearly forty positive comments and then three nasty ones show the value of those readers. Still, what makes it more difficult is when I click on their profile, I can see they have all recently joined Medium and have written only a few articles.

Of course, it does not make their comments unworthy, and I don’t know this for sure, but I bet it is the first article they have ever read of mine, and then judge me on a title and a few lines, for me is wrong.

I welcome all comments and have found very intellectual conversation and debates from many good writers, but comments such as “you are a knob” add nothing of value, even if they are right 😉.

How I have dealt with these individuals is to block them, as I have no time to speak to them, but what goes through the head of such nasty people? What do they get out of it? Are they looking for a reaction?

I go into this further and see a few people clap; they don't even give me the courtesy of a comment; I wonder if they read the article? This is more of a rant than a question; I know many fellow writers have experienced the same thing.

Please, if you do not like my writing, don’t read my frigging articles, but then I think to myself, if you do read them, thank you for the dollars you have given me for that privilege!

I know that I write controversial articles from time to time and expect some criticism. That is just the way of the world, but would a little intelligence be too much to ask for when commenting? I was hoping you could do me a favour and at least read the article first.

Have you had a similar experience? Let me know in the comments section below, and thank you for your continued support.