It’s a fact of life: you won’t like everyone and everyone won’t like you.
Personal dislike triggers reactions from people. In my opinion, the best form of response is just to keep it to yourself. You can talk about it with someone when the object of your dislike is already affecting you personally.
Then there are others who take it to the next level — by bullying them.
In the age of the Internet and technology, bullies no longer just taunt their victims in school yards or in their face. Hiding behind their phones and gadgets, they leave distasteful and harmful words in the comments section, post not-so-subtle statuses, and tweeting emojis of snakes, skulls, or poop.
I get it: you have opinions — everyone does.
But this New Year, let’s all add the following to our New Year’s Resolution: stop bashing people this 2018.
Prime Examples of Bashing
Social media is no stranger to all the bashing. Whenever I scroll down my feed, I’d see a post about this person getting a lot of flak for something they did. 2017, in particular, saw a lot of that. Let’s name some honourable mentions:
Jake Zyrus (aka Charice Pempengco)
Oprah’s favourite girl shocked the PH when she decided that she’ll no longer be a she and be a he instead. The idea of switching sexes may be an open concept in the 21st century, but in a Catholic nation such as the Philippines, there was bound to be comments here and there. So when Charice Pempengco returned as Jake Zyrus, social media went wild.
The Filipino transgender singer encountered bashers on Twitter; these people picked on his appearance, the sudden change of his voice’s pitch, and his performances. He was no longer the darling of the media with an angel voice—nope, hating netizens consider him as that transguy who can’t even hit the high notes anymore.
Marlou Arizala (aka Xander Ford)
He started out as just a member of this little boy group called Hasht5, which became popular on Facebook. Even during his Hasht5 days, Arizala has already been receiving hate for being that ‘trying hard jejemon’ who loves attention.
Things didn’t get better when Arizala decided to break away from Hasht5 and start his own career. People kept picking on him for being that ‘panget na feeling pogi,’ which drove the latter to pursue plastic surgery. They even went after his dark knees, for Pete’s sake.
He had the surgery, he had a career—and still, people hated on him. The comments section on his posts is hilarious yet awful. Netizens said a lot of things, but the thought is the same: he’s still that trying-hard jejeboy who’ll do no good for the country.
Arci Muñoz
The actress went viral in September after claims that her nose looked different based on a set of unflattering photos of her. The speculations resulted in netizens gushing and commenting about it, a majority of them not hiding their disappointment.
Maganda na siya, ba’t pa siya nagparetoke? Sayang sa pera. (“She’s already pretty; why go under the knife still? What a waste of money.”)
Finally, Arci broke her silence and shut everyone off with her stand: “It’s my life, my rules.”
Bash No More
Celebrities aren’t the only ones who receive hate online. No one is safe from rude comments on their IG posts, tweets about them but don’t tag them on the mentions, or a simple Facebook share that’s obviously directed at them. With the convenience of social media, some people think they have the right to post their thoughts anytime, anywhere.
Let’s get one thing straight: YOU DON’T.
Sure, your Facebook wall is yours; you have the liberty to post all you want. But you don’t have the right to hurt people with your words.
Sticks and stones will break people’s bones, but what you say about them will cut them to a deeper level. Just because you think their nose is off-center or disagree with their religious points-of-view, it doesn’t mean you can leave a hateful comment.
I’ve had my two cents about these celebrities and some people; I’ve also made the mistake of letting them know about my opinions through a simple tweet or post. Believe me when I say I regretted it because 1.) nothing changed for them, 2.) people thought I knew it all, and 3.) it didn’t help anybody—not even me.
Bashing never helped anyone. It might have made you feel good about yourself, but the truth remains the same: everyone’s got their own life. If you’re too busy bashing others, you need a life — seriously.
Love Yourself, Love Others
2017 has had enough of the hate. Too many people have fought over their differences, causing pain everywhere. Yours might be something as ‘simple’ as a hateful comment, but it’s not doing anyone any good. Don’t embarrass yourself by being that person who seems to have it all; instead, love yourself, love others, and vote for peace.
So let’s do the world a favour this 2018: stop the hating. Instead of continuously disagreeing online, we should just agree to disagree and keep our thoughts from hurting others. Please.
In the almighty words of the Supremes, stop in the name of love.
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