If there’s one Internet star who’s unapologetically herself, it’s JoJo Siwa. Unfortunately, people who are that comfortable and confident in their own skin often find themselves at the center of a lot of hate, and considering she has 8.2 million followers on Instagram, 426K followers on Twitter and 9.5 million subscribers on YouTube, there’s a lot of room for criticism. Luckily, the “D.R.E.A.M.” singer has become an expert at shaking it off.

“I don’t mind the hate I get,” JoJo revealed to J-14.

While she might not pay attention to the hate on a regular basis, there have to be some instances where it really gets to her, right? Well, luckily, she’s figured out a way to deal with it, and it’s by shifting her focus towards all the positive comments instead.

“I focus on the nice ones,” the YouTuber said. “I’ll get one comment that’s like, ‘You’re mean’ or ‘You’re ugly,’ but then I’ll get 5,000 comments that are, ‘You’re nice!’ So I don’t give mean people the attention because there are so many nice people that should be getting the attention.” So true!

Even though she’s found a way to deal with all of the negative comments she receives on her videos and on social media, that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult. For JoJo, it’s all about taking a step back and realizing the real reason why people dish out such hateful comments, and most of the time it’s because they want her attention.

“It’s hard,” she said. “They’re mean! I’m just like, ‘Where did you guys come up with this stuff?!’ But all they want is reaction and you just can’t give it to them, as hard as it is.” 

We know what you’re thinking: Can’t she just stop reading her comments so she doesn’t have to subject herself to such negativity? Well, she can, but a big part of her career involves interacting with her fans, so she did reveal that she does, in fact, read the comments — especially on YouTube.

“I definitely read them,” the internet star said. “I read a lot on YouTube.” 

“You can’t let the comments get to you,” she added. “You can’t focus on that because then it’s going to mess with who you are and you can’t let that happen.”

And while she’s become a total expert at ignoring the mean comments, she said it’s a whole different story when online trolls start to mess with the people (and pets) closest to her.

“You can hate on me, you can do whatever you want, but when you hate on my family, my friends or my dog, it’s game over,” JoJo warned. “Mama Bear JoJo comes out!”

Fortunately, the YouTube star is well aware that she has more fans on the internet than she does critics, and much of the reason why she doesn’t respond to hate is that she tries her best to keep things positive and upbeat for both herself and her fans.

“It’s really important to me because I want this generation to be the best, the biggest, the strongest, the happiest generation that has ever lived,” she revealed.

We don’t know about you, but we think the social media superstar is doing a stellar job at brushing off all the trolls who are hiding behind their computer screens and sending rude messages her way. Once again, she’s setting an amazing example for all of us, and we can all learn a lot from her — especially when it comes to dealing with bullies on the internet. Thanks, JoJo!

Reporting credit: Maria Fischer

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