Getting a Lot of Hate for Posting Furry Ad on Facebook

Hi Papabear,

I'm a college student who's going to join the new environment and feel the experience of first year in college this October. I'm also a traditional artist who has a deep passion on Furry. I'm going to open a small commission on my FurAffinity account, starting with a small one I made for testing on Facebook. Turned out, I was wrong to advertise my commission offer on FB. Many haters who don't like Furry or my draws said lots of bad things to me and even report me because they think our furries are sick. 

I was so disappointed and sad because of being treated and thought like that, so I have closed it and blocked all those haters. The thing is, there are many more who have my account have been trying to say bad things to me and my girlfriends through messages, making us feel depressed. I just want to ask you this: Is there any way I can do to make them stop looking at me as some kind of sick beastiality bastard and make them leave us alone? I'm going to college next month, but these days me and my girlfriend can't talk privately on Facebook due to their harassment on our Walls. It's too late to wish to go back to the time I posted the advertisement now, so please, Papabear, please help me find a way to end this. I don't want to end up with her closing our accounts at all.

Love, 
James

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Aww, James,

Papabear shares your weariness over all the haters out there and gives you a big bear hug ... (((((HUUUGGG)))))

There are a couple things you can do, if you haven’t done so already. One being to report these people to the FB admins for harassing you. Another is to close your account and open a new one under a different name and start over. A third is to leave Facebook completely and do your commission work and socializing through other, preferably furry sites. I know that FB has become a huge force in social media, but they are not the only way to socialize and to get the word out about your art, not by any means. There are a plethora of furry social sites where you can hang out with your friends and sell your art, as you likely know.

The above, of course, are all avoidance strategies. Sadly, you cannot make haters stop hating. There is a large (exasperatingly large) segment of human society that hates all people who are not like them. They judge you for being different.  They accuse you of being evil or sinners or perverts or communists or fascists or whatever words come to mind that they feel will hurt you.

Why do they do this? Because they fear what is different. Because they don’t want their own beliefs challenged because it might force them to rethink their philosophy of life or their religion. Mostly, though, it is because they have a deep-seated lack of self-worth and tearing down other people makes them feel better about themselves. “Oh, I’m not so bad because I’m not a freak like those furverts.”

If you are really really really patient, sometimes you can reeducate people like this to not be haters. But it takes a LOT of time and effort just to convert one, let alone the slew of haters that fill this planet. Most people don’t have that much time or energy to spare.

So, the best response is no response at all. You can either completely ignore them, knowing that their opinions have no value because the source is corrupt and because you have a solid sense of your own self-worth, OR you can try to avoid them completely, as I outlined above.

Sorry you are learning this lesson about human beings, but you have to learn sometime. Buck up and be proud of who you are. Don’t get depressed about yourself for being hated on; instead, pity the haters. Their lives are the ones that are pathetic.

More hugs,

Papabear