Teach Soap

*WARNING this is a massive rant in the heat of the moment like most rants*

Ugh my life! I'm only 20 and I'm already at that point in life where I question if my day is already ruined when I wake up. For anyone that doesn't know I make video game playthroughs on YouTube full time. The pay isn't great but I get by fine. I'm not a huge spender anyway. But I'm so sick of my harassment on a daily basis. I'm mostly harassed because my boyfriend does the same thing and he is famous or infamous depending on who you ask. Plus the fact that he's 31 and I'm 20 and he's clearly the breadwinner and I didn't start doing videos until after I dated him etc. etc.


So the last almost 2 years has resulted in harassment, death threats, and other equally disgusting comments on my YouTube account, my email, a forums account I had to abandon, and most popular of all my twitter account.

Every single day the same people threaten and harass me and say I have all these mental illnesses and that I'm a gold digging this and that. The slurs are so bad I'm not gonna repeat them. I want to scream or cry at the end of the day. I tried reporting these people to the site but they are so slow and most of the time do nothing. I'm so sick of it! I don't even know what to do. It's gotten to the point where they are now harassing my fans and the people that frequently tweet me. All because of who I date and the fact that I make YouTube videos! I'm not a racist or a sexist or a war criminal but I'm treated like one!

ALL I MAKE IS YOUTUBE VIDEOS! NOBODY DESERVES THIS KIND OF HARASSMENT!

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

I'm sorry. I'll send you a virtual hug.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks. I just can't believe these are actually people behind those screens. I wish there was some way to show what they say to employers and family, friends and partners. If they were held accountable this kind of stuff would never happen.

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

That's the problem with online. People hide behind their screen and feel anonymous, so they feel they can say anything that they want.
One of these days I'll figure out this YouTube thing.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

YouTube commenters are some of the biggest scumbags on the internet. It's because of the anonymity it provides, that they feel comfortable spewing hatred for no reason whatsoever.

If you're going to make your living on YouTube, you need to have a very thick skin. Everyone who makes videos for YouTube receives tons of abuse. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. I wish it weren't, but it's not going to change anytime soon.

However, if people are threatening you over the internet, they are committing a crime, and there are actions you can take:



Stay strong.

Wow. My 12 yr old son has recently started trying to do the same thing you do (not for pay, just for fun). Now I think I may discourage him from it. He is only 12 and very very sensitive so I don't think he would know how to handle abuse like that. I am sorry that you have to deal with that. People are mean, that's why I don't like very many of them.

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Haven

I used to teach self-defense, and part of my instruction was about online safety and cyberbullying. My advice is to let him go ahead and do his YouTube videos, as long as he's not publishing any personally identifiable information.

The abuse will come, but you can talk it over with him, and help him understand that there are awful, hate-filled people out there, and their opinions don't really matter.

In this way, it will help him learn how to handle negativity, both online and in the real world. It will help him grow into a confident, stable adult.

Just my two cents.

It's so enraging because people I've become friends with that do the same thing on YouTube don't even know what I'm talking about. Or the hate they get is a "u suk" tweet. Youtubers are like toddlers and they sway from one area to the other.

As for a 12 year old making videos he might be fine. It depends on what he does. Most of the hostility is directed at video games and people that do any form of commentary. You can disable ratings and comments and set it that only friends can send messages. It's not impossible to prepare. It's just not fair having to take these steps though when plenty of good people exist.

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

He does handle negativity pretty well but he also really really likes people and when someone is mean to another, he gets so mad. It's kinda funny sometimes. I don't know much about you tube (I do well to watch videos on it sometimes and even then I get confused) but I will see if he has the protected thingy set. I do agree that it can help teach him more than we already do (we are not the overprotective, all kids are winners in a game, etc... type of parents) and he knows that people are mean and negativity and loosing are part of life but I don't want him having to experience people being excessively rude and saying some of the things that have been mentioned being that he is only 12. I have already stressed about not posting any identifiable information online in any capacity. They have Ipads and phones and know not to post that stuff for the world to see. I got on him about posting his phone number on Instagram the day after he got his cell phone. Maybe I will let him continue but if I see anything like the op posted about, it's done. The occasional "u suck" is whatever in my mind....

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Haven

Haven, if he is solely on youtube you can disable commenting on his videos! If he is off in Twitter land also then it becomes a bit trickier, but you can (or used to be able to) mod comments there too. Not sure if they still do that now that Twitter is so big.

I've learned, through MANY years on forums, my space, twitter, FB etc to just let the bad comments slide off. Honestly most of those people are TRYING to give you a bad day. There are an awful lot of professional trolls out there, and they get their jollies from harassing people. The way I look at it is if they're harassing you it is because they are completely jealous of you! Please just ignore them! We need all of the quest walkthroughs we can get! (Especially Warcraft achievement ones! *hint hint*)

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Haters are always gonna hate. Ignore them, and they will one day find someone else to attack. No, they won't stop, they can't stop. But when you show any form of reaction towards them, you're fueling their attacks against you. So, just apologize to your fans about your haters' rowdy and aggressive behaviour and continue doing what you do. Ignore the haters, that's the only logical thing to do.

Need a like button for Pandaboy's post hehe
EXACTLY what I meant!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Aww man virtual hug! I know exactly how you feel! I had to disable all youtube comments and ratings on my channel. The responses were so offensive and dirty that I couldn't stand leaving them up so I disabled all of them. The same thing happens on my flickr account, which is why I haven't posted any new gymnastics photos there in 2 years. These nasty comments are of my friends and little sister and it made me want to throw up! The worse part is you can see in the analytics on both sites where people find your page from and about 1/2 the visitors are from porn sites. A lot of it calmed down though when I added watermarks to my photos. Can't do it for video though...
It is really hard and I know there is only so much you can do about it. People do suck. However, if you really love it then I wouldn't give it up. I love taking photos and doing video for TWU gymnastics and I was very close to stopping. Although I decided not to. I didn't want to disappoint all my followers, family and friends of the girls and it is one of my favorite things to do in life.

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**ERIN**

**I've taken up photography because it's the only hobby I can shoot people and cut their heads off without going to jail**