In light of recent events, I want to talk about how we should treat people online. Not all of you will listen, and I can’t do anything about that. But if this changes one person’s perspective, it is worth posting.
Life is hard. Work is a pain. School is draining. People can get on our nerves. Families bicker. The point is, we all deal with crap. Lots of crap. Sometimes we turn to friends to cheer us up. Sometimes music. If you’re reading this, perhaps your remedy is the internet: Tumblr, YouTube, etc.
I make videos. I tweet, reblog, instagram, etc. I play games with friends. I watch videos. I read. We all have things we do that we enjoy, and things that we do to relax and get rid of the stresses of life. Some people cosplay, draw, write, and / or paint. Some people play D&D. Some people roleplay, which is NOT the same as impersonation. But we all, at the end of the day, just want to make it to tomorrow by making the best of today.
We all lose people. Friends come and go, people pass away, hearts are broken. We don’t know what one another is going through at any given time. Sometimes we selfishly think that another person can’t possibly imagine the pain we are suffering. But we all suffer. And we all want to stop suffering. We all want to find that thing that makes us happy. And when we do, sometimes we want to share it with the world.
It’s scary putting yourself out there. Standing up in front of a crowd hiding behind anonymous masks especially. I pour my heart out and get “Shut up Wade” or “You’ll never be as funny as X-person.” I deal with it. But honestly, I shouldn’t have to. And you all shouldn’t have to deal with hate either. Even when we poke fun in jest we sometimes pick a scab and cause pain. Sometimes jokes do sting a little. It happens. Drawing that line is sometimes hard. Mistakes are made.
But one thing that is never ok, and is nowhere close to that line, is pure hate. Messages like “Go Kill yourself” “Go Die” “You Are the Worst Person Ever” or “Stop trying to be something you’re not, loser” are never ok messages to send. If you joke with me about losing hair, it can be funny. I can laugh. I can also feel a bit of a sting. But I know it’s in good fun. But the pure hate messages are not ok. And I expect better of all of you.
We are a community that has raised tons of money for charity. We are a community welcoming to all new members from all new backgrounds: young and old, rich and poor, black and white, and everything in between. All sexual orientations are welcome in this fanbase. Anybody who wants a smile is welcome. All I ask, is that you all respect each other and me enough to spread love and not hate.
Those people who are different from you, you don’t know what they are going through. You don’t know what is happening in their life. If you don’t like that somebody drew fanart, is roleplaying, is different from you in some way, then bite your tongue and deal with it. We don’t have to agree with everyone all the time, but hating them for their differences is wrong. And attacking somebody online is not something I will ever advocate. I urge anyone who sent hate to somebody to go back and apologize. Think about what you are really doing. Are you 25 years old attacking a 10 year old who just lost a parent? Are you 12 attacking a 16 year old who’s heart was just broken? Are you berating somebody whose house just burned down? What good will come from that hate you are spreading? How about showing kindness instead? Try to understand those that are different.
Life is hard. Life throws punches. We all feel them. We don’t need to throw anymore. Love one another. Embrace one another for what we all have in common. We are all part of the Minion Army here. We are all people who want to laugh. We are all people who feel the daily pains of life. Don’t we suffer enough?
Please, love each other. Treat each other with kindness. Don’t attack people, regardless of what they are doing. If somebody does something wrong, try to kindly explain why it’s wrong. People steal fanart and repost it, people upload my videos as their own. But telling them to die is still not justified. And if I scold someone for doing something wrong, you don’t need to jump aboard and beat them down further. I do not want this community to attack anybody else. Let’s all learn from our mistakes and try to be a better person than we are today.
