This is exemplified perfectly on the LetsRun.com message boards. If there's a thread even mentioning Galen Rupp, out come the Haters. These are the a-hole armchair athletes who have never done anything noteworthy in their lives, but insist on bringing down the incredible feats of others. Take these threads for example:
- "Dear Galen Rupp: Time to Move up to the Marathon" (after Rupp finished 7th in the world! at the World Champs 10km this summer, and went on to break the American 10km record)
- "Galen Rupp's 10000m is Not Superior To Chris Solinsky's" (after Rupp surpassed the previous American 10km record, formerly held by Solinsky, by 11 seconds)
- "Was Jenny (Barringer)Simpson's NB signing a bigger joke than LeBron's Decision?" (a thread started by "barringerh8r")
- "Chris Solinsky is Soft" (Solinsky recently held the American 10km record, was the first non-African born runner to break 27 minutes in the 10km, and has run sub-13 minutes in the 5km).
I can't help but take some slight offense myself when people senselessly slander the major accomplishments of other runners, because I sympathise with how hard these athletes have worked to attain their success; only to have worthless wieners trash talk on Letsrun.com.
A short time ago I had the idea that maybe the Hating could be quantified using Youtube. Most everyone should be aware by now that Youtube videos can be "liked" or "disliked" as suits the viewer's preference. My theory was that for every video there would always be a set ratio of dislikes:likes or dislikes:views. There has to be a constant, because how can normal people "dislike" a baby panda sneezing?!
Finally this fall, with an abundance of time on my hands, I began compiling a list of stats from popular Youtube videos that have a minimum of 1 million views. My list only consisted of forty videos (it's a small study...), but here's what I found: there are on average 7 dislikes for every 100 likes; and there are a little over 2 dislikes for every 10,000 views (not everyone is inclined to click "like" or "dislike"). What does this all mean? Well, if you have a group of 11 people, one of those people is probably a real dick. Statistics has now proven that.
Some videos, however, do not fit the trend. Justin Bieber's video for "Baby" has more views than any other Youtube video in existence at 671,801,357 views. Despite being the most viewed video ever (which would recommend it to be the most liked video ever), "Baby" has 2 dislikes for every 1 like, and 30 dislikes for every 10,000 views! Justin Bieber is undoubtedly the biggest male pop star in the world right now, but receives an exceptionally large amount of Hating. Bieber's music isn't for me, but the kid is damn good at what he does and I can respect his success; though it's apparent that others can't, as the comment section makes very clear. Pathetic pricks go out of their way to leave comments to the effect that "Justin Bieber is not good" (that's the nicest way to put it anyway...), but clearly he is good, given that the guy's video is the most viewed, and his videos all together have been viewed over 2 billion times (I actually did the math, and that equals his videos being watched approximately 4 times for every second that he's been alive).
So what is the source of Bieber and Rupp's Hater magnetism? I'm saying Success. There are some people out there who can't help but resent the success of others, perhaps because others' success makes Haters feel unsuccessful, or vulnerable, or worthless. Rather than making their own success, Haters try to bring down the successful to their level by belittling. And thanks to the internet, every loser Hater now has an outlet to hate on the winners. How can people hate on a runner setting impressive national records? How can so many people hate the best teen pop star on Earth? How are baby pandas so cute? and yet people still "dislike" them. In the universe's attempt at equilibrium, it would seem that for every great person made, another has been created as a huge douchebag. Looking at this from a "half full" perspective: at least I'll know that I've finally made it in running when I too have people telling me I suck on Letsrun.com.
