‘Don’t mind them haters’
In the modern informal dictionary, a hater is someone who is not happy with other peoples’ success and makes it a point to bring those people down. A hater is also described as someone who has an unjust negative attitude towards something or something.
The word was primarily used in hip-hop/rap music but social media have manifested their influence. The youth— and others not so youthful— are being misled by this word, especially with the upsurge of social media culture. The word has turned into a compliment and a lee-way for individuals to make themselves feel important and relevant while covering up for the instinctive human need to be genuinely accepted—or the fact that they are not actually progressive.
The assumption is that, as long as one has haters or claims to have haters, it follows that they are successful or doing something commendable or have something worth admiring and other people are trying to bring them down or have unjustified negativity towards them. This is how having haters has become a self-acclaimed compliment.
On the other hand, let’s say someone is really successful and holds something worth admiration, the other assumption that follows is that this makes them universally acceptable and likeable and any criticism or differing opinion makes the critiquing parties haters.
But is this truly the case? The haters paradigm should not be used as an escape route to avoid confronting some realities. Next time s o m e o n e says they have haters, they should consider the following things:
What have you done to attract haters?
Let’s just take the haters word as a self-acclaimed compliment and then take a closer look at why you choose to say you have haters. What extraordinary thing you have done to attract haters?
For the most part, one may actually find that there is actually nothing special and commendable about them but they choose to go around calling other people haters to convince themselves and others that they are important and noticeable.
It is a mental malfunction, a gripping lack of self esteem and a weak attempt at exuding confidence. You ask them why they are hated and they don’t even know the reason. It would actually be better to stop being delusional, channel the misplaced energy and do something worth gloating and talking about.
Are you a likeable person, ceteris paribus?
Some people might be successful, talented, good-looking, and innovative and whatever else can render them the status of being a notable figure, but, when they put that particular factor aside, they are not the most likeable people.
S o , having a great company that generates a lot of income when you are a known social parasite does not make the people who are repulsed by your lack of social etiquette haters. They are simply unhappy with your behaviour.
Being good at one thing does not excuse you from working on other skills and does not give you a free pass to being a dislikeable person. True growth will come when one stops missing the point and looks at facts before making emotional declarations of being a victim of the hater pack.
Another point I would like to raise is we need to stop copying everything we see in music videos, social media and everything we learn through music lyrics. When Lil Wayne goes on and on about his haters, it is, for the most part, a marketing gimmick. A gimmick makes something stand out but the feature itself is, usually, not of much relevance; it’s just there for the heck of it. Gimmicks usually earn negative connotations at the end of the day.
Everything has a time and place. For instance, deciding to buy a costume Madonna wore at a live pop concert and going about in broad day light in it, and not on the stage, is a very ridiculous idea. You might stand out from the crowd but it will be for all the wrong reasons and, at most, there will be nothing productive and commendable about it
Having haters is not a given compliment or something to show off like a medal; in most cases it’s a warning signal. It means you need to get a reality check, self-evaluate, recheck your inner circle or work on one or two things. But if it all checks out, then don’t mind the haters.
I rest my case.
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