Online Harassment

Roughly 4 in 10 adults have experienced online harassment. Even here on a professional network.

And I'm one of them.

I've experienced everything from inappropriate comments about my appearance to hateful statements about stories I share to flat out attacks on my character.

I know I'm not alone. It seems there is a severe uptick in this behavior lately. And if you've been targeted, I want to send you my virtual support. 💙

But the bottom line is this: there is no time or place for hate in my life.

I respond to this nonsense the same way I would advise my school-age daughter to respond to the bully on the playground who calls sweet children by mean names.

Ignore and move forward with love.

The more energy you give them, the more they will take.

Friends: know that when you put yourself out there this will inevitably happen, especially if you are a generous and kind-hearted person.

That's because insecure people are threatened by what they don't have.

And there is always a deeper reason why people behave like they do, but it doesn't mean we need to internalize their pain.

We can’t change other people, but we can certainly control how we react.

My best advice is to develop your own "ignore and block" strategy for dealing with these adult bullies, and have someone you can talk to if it gets bad.

Be strong out there. 💫