It goes a bit in seasons, but very occasionally, when I go on Twitter, I am tempted to start criticizing everyone. And when I say criticizing everyone, obviously, I don't mean expressing my disagreements with other Twitter users in a calm and polite way, but rather attacking, falling into hurtful insults and personal disqualification. Any reason is good to feed the beast.
It happens to me, for example, when I read comments from those opinion-makers who have their ass rented and it shows a mile away. Also when I string together several sappy tweets from parents who feel the need to share with the rest of Humanity that they have witty and very smart children for their age. And even the umpteenth time that well-read internet user, who apparently doesn't know how to use Google, sends out a desperate cry for help to her followers: Can someone advise me on how to get a plum jam stain out of a shirt?
I call it the hater temptation. Because, certainly, after reading certain tweets there are days when what my body asks for is mambo. And, then, how is it that I am not part of the large group of haters who every day stir up Twitter and poison its conversations?
What works for me to not fall into temptationhateris to put myself in the shoes of the other.Empathy.To think that the sycophantic pundit also has to pay the mortgage and fill the fridge. That the parents who rush to tell on Twitter the funny occurrences of their children are no worse than those parents who, in the 90s, recorded their children's silly falls with a camcorder and sent the tape toFirst Videosto earn a few bucks. Or imagine that the internet user who has stained her shirt with plum jam must be as lonely as can be and that, although it seems she is asking for advice on how to clean that garment, deep down, what she is really asking for is just a little attention.I call it the hater temptation. Because, certainly, after reading certain tweets there are days when what my body asks for is mambo.
When I approach it this way, the temptationhaterit dissolves like a sugar cube in a cup of coffee andI become a mix of Mr. Wonderful and Amma, that Indian guru who goes around the world hugging everyone. So I start givinglikescompulsively.Liketo the tweets of the opinion-maker, however much they may be a sad exercise in vassalage.Liketo all the cute things that the children of Twitter users do.Liketo the internet user who is now asking for advice on how to hang the shirt she had stained with plum jam!Parents who rush to tell on Twitter the funny occurrences of their children are no worse than those parents who, in the 90s, recorded with the camcorder the silly falls of their children and sent the tape to Vídeos de Primera to earn a few bucks
And you know what? Well, distributing likes across the net and around the world in general, one lives very well. Life is already quite hater, sometimes. Happy summer, Barcelonians!