Overplaying The Haters

Love them or hate them, the so-called Haters are here to stay no matter what we may think of them, no matter what we may do to prevent their trolling, their abundance. Practically any web site you care to mention has its own fair share of them, filling up the unmoderated comments wherever they can, spreading their own form of sadness throughout the Internet. But is the term over-used? Has it any real relevance today, or is it just a name we tend to fix on people, labeling them as being different from us, having a different opinion?

Photo Credit: ryanmotoNSB – Creative Commons

In Megan’s Musings we are told, and quite rightly too, that the term has lost much of its original meaning. It is used by anyone and everyone for those people who do not like what they do, from ordinary people writing their own blog right down to celebrities and public figures. Anyone who does not appreciate, who is not an ardent follower must be a Hater, jealous, small-minded, dissatisfied with their own lives. They are a small minority of people determined to ruin whatever they can by dissenting, by being rude, by calling names and being generally abusive. They are, if we are to understand Internet terms correctly, just a small step above Trolls, those sad people who inspire online fights and discontent with an obnoxious comment designed to rile up others.

The term Haters is, as we see with changes in the way people handle such nonentities, has changed the way many react to comments, to conversation and discussion, to reviews on the Internet. This is especially true when we take a look at businesses, whose very livelihood relies on creating and maintaining a positive image. One such business is in Cap-Ferret: II Giardino, a restaurant. The French blogger discovered, to her cost, that writing an honest review which criticized can have legal consequences: Caroline Doudet was taken to court by the restaurant owners who claimed a loss of revenue as the result of a bad review she had written on her blog. The court decided that her August 2013 review had harmed the company, and fined her a total of two thousand five hundred Euro. But does that make her a Hater?

Photo Credit: The Infatuated – Creative Commons

In the United States things are going in much the same direction, as far as dealing with Haters is concerned. There are some businesses which take a negative review very much to heart, such as the Union Street Guest House which demands a hefty deposit from those using their facilities, and keeps five hundred dollars of that money for each negative review posted by anyone on the guest list. But are those who evaluate the service they have received there Haters?

For the French restaurant, with the publicity surrounding their successful court case, things have taken a turn for the worse. They are now being subjected to a stream of negative reviews from customers, often with a reference to the judgement. For the small hotel in Hudson, NY – and if you read through their Terms and Conditions you might have second thoughts about booking with them anyway – the chances are things will go in much the same direction, or that they may face legal difficulties for attempting, in a so-called Free Land, to restrict their guests’ Rights.

But does that make those who write negative reviews Haters, or is the term being overused here too? Isn’t it right that people who have a negative experience should be allowed to voice their opinion, without being abused or labeled, in the same fashion as those who enjoy a positive experience? Is there really such a thing as a Hater? That there are Internet Trolls is clear, we have all come across them, and we have undoubtedly all come across those who write in a hateful manner. Is it even possible to physically hate something you have no personal knowledge of, which applies in many of the claimed cases of Haters?

Certainly if you look through the comments on such sites as Yahoo there are a wealth of people, using assumed or derogatory names, who exhibit all the signs of hate, but generally they are just under-educated Trolls blowing off steam. Take any religious or political subject, and they will come out from under their stones or, where the subject isn’t to their liking and doesn’t fit their mindset, they will turn the conversation towards politics and religion, with derogatory comments and the leveling of blame towards an opposing political party or religious faith. But real hate?

Megan is probably right with her assessment: the term is vastly over-used and has lost all true meaning. It is leveled against anyone who doesn’t like something, used to play up a subject, to show that someone is subjected to the meanest of people despite their being one of the best. There are far better ways to respond to all the forms of hate, sexism, racism which are part of our daily lives, without turning even more people against us.

• Viktoria Michaelis.

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