How to deal with haters | Who are they and why are they so angry? (2024)

Let's face it: learning how to deal with haters is not the same for everyone. Some people tend to worry about the aggressions they receive from them and fear that this could affect their personal or corporate brand... 

That's why it's necessary to learn how to use haters to your advantage and not let their actions influence emotions and moods, as well as the image projected by a brand in the market.

Do you want to know how to deal with haters in case they want to damage the corporate image of your business, company or enterprise? 

In this post we will explain what a hater is and give you some tips to flip the coin and use these individuals to your advantage! 

What is a hater?

The term hater has been used in recent times to describe people who use irony, mockery and black humour when expressing themselves on any topic that directly affects the brand's digital community, which in this case could be you. 

Haters can act both personally and collectively to attack you online through social networks such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, as well as YouTube or LinkedIn. 

They may also have a presence in forums or chat rooms. They seek to provoke people and thus generate offensive responses from those they attack. This way they have an excuse to be able to continue acting in this aggressive manner and making derogatory and disqualifying comments. 

5 Types of haters you may encounter

There are different types of hater profiles, but all of them can damage the personal or corporate brands they attack if one doesn't act intelligently and appropriately when this happens. 

Among the types of haters you may encounter: 

1. The expert who shows kindness 

This is a type of hater who may be a competitor who wants to discredit your brand in order to make you lose credibility and steal your customers.

They will start by offering their support and knowledge, but in turn, they will start criticising all the possible flaws of your brand while highlighting the great attributes of your competitors' products or services, including their brand of course.

They tend to take advantage of the work you've done to position your brand. This way they take your customers away, who may feel doubts or disappointment towards your brand and consequently choose to order services or buy products from the hater's brand or the ones they recommend. 

2. The revengeful one

This is usually a user who feels that your brand has violated their integrity because it tried to establish some business contact that they never asked for.

They usually show the annoyance they experience through negative comments and reviews intended to discredit you.

This way, they do not accept your intrusion and therefore take it upon themselves to make you pay for your actions.

3. The well-founded critic

This is a kind of hater, who, unlike the one who shows that he or she wants to be close to you, has no intention of wanting to help, but questions the quality of the products, knowledge, efficiency or reliability of the brand or the firm in carrying out the logistical processes.

4. The disappointed one

This kind of hater is the one who criticises the brand in a negative way and exposes his or her experience as an example of what other users should not go through.

In this sense, the criticism is based on events that have actually happened. Moreover, they try to protect other people from suffering the same unpleasant experience.

For these reasons, it is important to address the situation presented and try to solve it before it can have a major negative impact on the audience.

5. The troll

This is a type of hater who acts in an ironic and mocking manner when criticising the brand, taking pleasure when they know they have got away with it. 

They often adopt a false identity and have fun getting personal or corporate brands they criticise into trouble, and causing them to experience frustration, anger and other unpleasant emotions.

9 Tips for dealing with haters 

When it comes to dealing with haters, the key is to avoid direct confrontation. 

Stop and think about the image of your brand and its visibility and credibility, so that you can be aware that each of your interventions can leave an imprint that might even be difficult to erase from your audience's memory.

So, here are some ways to deal with haters and get them to act in your favour:

1. Understand that it means you are doing things right.

Haters tend to appear when a personal or corporate brand has achieved a certain level of success. If you haven't achieved anything, chances are that no one would pay enough attention to you to make negative comments against you and want to discredit your image. 

One of the ways to deal with haters on social media is to try to be confident that you are on the road to success or that your brand is already on the top of its game and has a shine of its own. Believe that you are executing the right actions to project yourself in the marketplace and differentiate yourself with a unique brand personality.  

2. Use detractors' criticisms to evaluate yourself.

There are circumstances where your detractors may be making valid criticisms of certain actions that you have not consciously been aware of, so it's important to listen to what they are saying about you or your brand.

There are practices that may be harming people who work for you, your audience, or may even be harmful to the environment, preventing its preservation.

By being aware of your mistakes, you will be able to have a greater personal and professional growth, as you will have the opportunity to take action to improve the attitudes that you consider are not the most appropriate from a personal or professional point of view. 

3. Try to act with tolerance

When it comes to dealing with haters, tolerance is a value that you can even apply to people or groups that try to put your brand in a bad light. The best way to defeat your detractors is to analyse the reasons for their actions. Do this and apply empathy, avoiding falling into arguments or violent attitudes with these people. 

These practices will help you develop soft skills that will give you the ability to deal with annoying and stressful situations that may be caused by these aggressors. 

Remember that by setting an example, you will be able to help other partners or colleagues who are going through a similar situation, which in turn will allow you to develop closer ties with successful people.  

4. Use haters to learn how to deal with conflict.

Such uncomfortable practices can be a real opportunity to experience alternative ways of dealing with hate. 

Through these you can learn how to handle conflict in an assertive way without generating further tension or even violence if the actions of your detractors occur at an event or at your company or business. 

Effective conflict resolution is a soft skill that will allow you to perform well in different work or personal circumstances. In addition, you will be able to demonstrate leadership in front of your staff and audience.

5. Act with humility

One of the most effective ways to deal with haters is to act with humility when giving a response or making a comment when they want to discredit or criticise you on social media. 

Choose the right path and don't respond in the same way as your aggressors, i.e. with verbal violence or actions that you might later regret because they can negatively affect your personal or corporate brand. 

6. Use haters to learn to disregard negative influences.

It's very important to be aware of the fact that not everyone will always like you, no matter how hard you try to do things right. 

Taking control of situations and not giving power to the negative actions of haters is a smart way to stay focused on what really matters and continue to work towards helping your brand grow and become more positive and credible.

7. Learn how to manage anger

Apply emotional intelligence and manage anger appropriately. These actions will help you experience calmness when these detractors attack you, which is ideal to avoid conflicts that could affect the image of your brand in the digital or face-to-face environment. 

Respond in a calm manner rather than striking back abruptly and without having thought about what is really going on. Under no circumstances should you act impulsively.  

8. Let the haters motivate you

Instead of letting negative comments and insults from your haters affect your self-esteem or get you down, use this person or people as a motivation to continue to project your brand in the market and stand out by bringing value to your audience.

Show that you have authority in your niche and your brand is not only dedicated to promoting and marketing products and services, but also helps your audience with actions of value that will contribute to your credibility. 

Those who truly believe in and support the values of your brand will disregard the mockery and criticism if it is untrue. 

9. Use your haters to think independently

When you receive insults that may shake your beliefs or character, the best thing to do is to act with confidence and be aware that you are a human being with rights and wrongs like everyone else. Remember that no one else is like you and that makes you unique and special.   

Accepting and loving yourself as you are will allow you to transcend fears and barriers that you may have created and that prevent you from moving forward in some projects and ventures, as well as to act with greater confidence and efficiency in decision making, which is an essential aspect for your company or business to grow.

Bonus: learn to appreciate your victories

Don't let anyone overshadow your triumphs and the success you may be achieving, so celebrate your victories in a special way, because you have achieved them even though there are people out there making fun of you and wanting to discredit your company, business or enterprise.

What other tips do you have for dealing with haters? Share them with us!