Haters

In the blogging world, it seems you haven't arrived until you have a handful of haters. I, of course, don't have haters. It's not that I don't have any readers. No, it's because I'm delightful, damnit.

I read several blogs, more or less on a regular. Generally, I avoid political blogs and go more for the personal experience ones. I read some of the seriously popular blogs. I enjoy the writing skill and the humor and the sense of peeking into some one's life. But, I've always respected that, even when I don't agree, that they are writing about their own experiences. And, since I don't actually know any of the writers of any of the blogs I read on a regular, I can only take their word for the fact what they write about is true, on some level.

What I don't understand are the folks who seem to troll blogs for the soul purpose of hating on the writer. One of the less popular blogs I read is written by a missionary. Although her lifestyle choices are wholly different than mine, I appreciate her humor, her writing skill, and the thoughtfulness with which she approaches her work. And, she has haters, apparently. Some of her haters claim to share her religious belief system. Not to say everyone has to agree with everyone else who knows the secret handshake, but it seems weird and hateful and undignified that people feel the need to convey, often publicly, their disagreement.

Yes, we have freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean you ought to use that freedom to harsh someone else's buzz or personal life experience.