It really does. We really don’t know how to deal with this. We didn’t even learn how to behave decently with those we know in person before being allowed access to reach millions at once.
I keep seeing people talk about how this hellsite perpetuated this behavior or that fandom is toxic or the kind of people on xchan, or reddit and MRAs, heck, Facebook and conservatives, but the problem is the same in all cases, people being just terrible.
And it’s just so natural to be affected by it. I’m sure there were so many positive comments from Korean fans too, but we see the worst and it gets to us. And many people deliberately seek out not just those most visibly affected but also those they think are just brushing it off. If you’re popular and seem like you’re above the hate, that seems an invitation for people to be even extra vile to you, as if you can “handle” it and it’s fine. I don’t really know how we can fix this, to teach people how to be on the receiving end but also to stop the haters.