Online spaces are known for the communities they attract. One unfortunate element in the modern digital era is the rise of the hater. "Hatedom" in the common parlance is the community of haters a creator attracts.
This perversion of the fandom space into a space of toxic hatred has contributed to numerous creators abandoning their respective fields online as it becomes more trouble than it's worth for them.
Some examples for the writer are Vivziepop, creator of "Helluva Boss" and "Hazbin Hotel" Hasan Piker, political analyst and streamer, and DarkSydephil, video game let's player. All of these people have large communities of people who hate them. This aspect of para-sociality has led to a culture of harassment of these creators. What can be done to address the problems this trend creates?
Interesting topic! I'm sure there have always been people complaining about media as long as there has been media, but the internet has definitely allowed people to spread their opinions further more easily, and establish groups of haters. I'm not entirely sure that what can be done to address these problems is quite in the scope of a single article (or at least, that's not where I'd take this topic personally), but there's definitely plenty of stuff to make this an interesting discussion. – AnnieEM6 months ago