How to deal with anonymous haters.

A few weeks ago, a friend texted me, “I’m so sorry about what that guy said about you online. Don’t let it get you down.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I looked up the comment he was referring to. Someone had written a long diatribe against me, my writing, my choice of life decisions, places I vacation, my preference of tangelos instead of tangerines, etc. At one point, they compared me to Kim Kardashian. (Obviously, the similarities between she and I are endless, and it would be insulting to your intelligence for me to point them out.)

The comment was pretty stunning and concluded with a promise from this person to actively campaign against the future sale of my books. I’m not sure if he’d make up stickers and buttons, but he’d definitely tell his friend group, “Don’t buy that Jon Acuff’s books, he’s a lot like Kim Kardashian.”

Just when I was thinking about getting upset about the vitriol, I remembered a rule someone once told me about hate mail:

“Hate mail signed by no one is from nobody.”

And this particular hate was anonymous. Therefore, it was from nobody and you should never let a nobody make you feel like less of a somebody.

You might never get compared to Kim Kardashian. But, at some point, someone in your online adventures might anonymously throw a rock at you.

Don’t let it land.

Hate mail signed by no one is from nobody.

And nobodies don’t really matter.

Question:
Have you ever run into criticism online?