Calling someone ugly just for fun is really trolly, you guys.
I don’t really follow celebrities on Instagram. I follow a bunch of indie bands, but when it comes to “celebrities” that list consists of Questlove, Lena Dunham and Tavi Gevinson. I have high standards of what I consider interesting, apparently. Oh, and Questlove is always posting photos of food, and food makes me happy.
While the majority of the time these people get really positive comments — Lena must get 500 a day being told how awesome she is — they also get hate comments, too. Although the hateful comments on the Instagram of Questlove and Tavi are very few and far between, I can’t say the same for Lena. Amongst all those sweet, darling comments are ones that are really evil.
Last night I was flipping through the comments on some ridiculous photo she posted of herself and people had actually taken the time to write “you’re ugly” or “you’re fat,” (although it should be noted that the people who did waste their time in doing so usually didn’t spell “you’re” correctly.) It didn’t make sense. Why on earth would you follow someone on any forum if you’re just going to insult them? Isn’t that pointless and exhausting? Do these people not have lives of their own, lives in which they can fulfill in more constructive ways other than following someone on Instagram just to tell them they’re “ugly?”
A few month ago someone started following me on Twitter, and it was the same sort of irrelevant bullshit. About once a day, until I blocked them, I’d get a tweet telling me I was “briandead” (yes, that’s how it was spelled), a “waste of space,” and my most favorite, “doggy face.” Although part of me was offended, another part of me, and actually most of me, felt incredibly sad for this person. If they were trying to hurt me, they were going about it the wrong way, because all I could really do was take pity on them for having such an obviously obscene amount of time on their hands.
I understand that some follow people on different social media for love/hate reasons. I get that and it does make sense. It’s fun to have a glimpse into certain train-wrecks, and it justifies my following of Cat Marnell. But would I ever tell her she’s ugly? Um, no; and not just because she’s not, but because it’s just shitty behavior in general.
Trolls will always exist in the world, and every new social media platform that’s created will ensure that these trolls have another place to voice their wonky-ass and bizarre opinions, but seriously? Can maybe even the trolls out there admit that it’s really pathetic to tell someone they’re ugly for no apparent reason? Why would anyone follow a person just to hate on them? We have TV to suck up that sort of time! Why aren’t people watching more TV?
Now who out there has had experience in this, or can at least explain to me what compels them to call someone “ugly” just for, well, whatever reason?
Photo: HBO
