Phase 1: They hurt you. This is the phase where you want to quit, and many do.
Phase 2: They anger you. This is the phase where you react with rebuttals and get into endless flame wars.
Phase 3: They amuse you. This is the phase where you use their hate as fodder for comedy with your friends, but do not respond directly to them.
Phase 4: They fuel you. This is the phase (sometimes reversed with phase 3) where you are no longer offended or angry, but develop a dependency on haters. Your brand and content begin to orient around purposefully generating haters so that you have more fuel to work with and the cycle repeats. This is where most shock jocks and political commentators sit.
Phase 5: Who’s ‘They’?
Once you’ve reached a new phase, you can freely move between all previous phases, and it is often necessary and beneficial to do so. These stages are listed in the order you experience them, not in any kind of moral hierarchy. Any of the phases can be useful or harmful, depending on your goals and preferences.