I once made a video about people who talk too much. It ended up becoming one of my most-viewed videos — and with that came a flood of comments. But instead of thoughtful conversation, most of the comments were negative. Some were even harsh or unnecessarily personal.
What surprised me most was that the advice in the video was gentle and intended to help. No one paid for it. No one was forced to watch it. Yet people reacted as if I had personally offended them.
But here’s the truth: the louder the criticism, the more likely it is that the message struck a nerve. Sometimes, when people hear something that challenges them, they react defensively.
And online, negativity is far more common than praise. For every one person who says, “Thank you, this helped me,” there are usually ten who say something negative — even if they actually needed to hear the message. That’s just the way people express emotion when there’s a screen between them and the world.
So instead of reacting, I held my response. I realized: