Essay · About a 7 minute read

Haters

Paul Graham · paulgraham.com Free Beginner

When your post gets piled on, the instinct is to treat every angry reply as a real dispute you have to win. Paul Graham reframes that: a hater is closer to an obsessive fan with the sign flipped, someone who has made you part of their own identity, so arguing back mostly feeds them. It is a short, calming read that helps you stop mistaking a loud minority for the whole audience.

  • Haters are not a jury weighing your work, they are people acting out their own frustration, so their volume is not a signal about your quality.
  • Trying to reason with or convert them is wasted energy that could go into the people who actually care.
  • A wave of negativity is often a byproduct of reaching more people, not proof you did something wrong.
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The question it answers

  1. How do I handle it when a post gets a wave of negative comments or trolls?

Read with it

  1. Most advice tells you to just ignore the haters, which is useless in the moment a wave of comments is hitting. This piece is... Rachel Pedersen Article · About a 10 minute read How to Handle Haters, Trolls, and Internet Critics Like a Pro Rachel Pedersen
  2. The pile-ons women founders face online often turn personal in a way male founders rarely deal with, and that sharper edge is... Female Founder World Podcast · About a 30 minute listen What No One's Saying About This Viral Founder Takedown Jasmine Garnsworthy
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