In this day and age when tons of fake news and keyboard warriors had rapidly sprung online, rising to social media fame also means getting a few—or even a lot—of haters on the side.

Take it from the YouTubers. Their advice? Love your haters.

American dancer and YouTube personality Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval said he actually loves those who take their time out from their day to say something about him.

“It means I’m popping out of their mind for some reason. If you’re gonna waste your time being negative on me, as long as you’re watching, then we are good,” he said at the press conference for the fourth run of YouTube FanFest (YTFF) Philippines, a gathering of the social media platform’s content creators.

On the other hand, local YouTube sensation Wil Dasovich said he looks at it in a positive way because haters build engagement.

“They start a lot of conversations which boost your channel, so you get to make content again like reading hate comments or responding to it. Those are always entertaining [and] they can help you even if they don’t realize that they are helping,” he said.

Sandoval and Dasovich graced YTFF 2018 last May 11 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City, together with international YouTube personalities Matt Steffanina, Veronica and Vanessa Merrell (Merrell Twins), and Sungha Jung, and homegrown talents Janina Vela, Mikey Bustos, Ranz Kyle and Niana Guerrero, Alodia Gosengfiao, Michelle Dy, Pamela Swing, AC Bonifacio and Renee Dominique.

Building a community

Veronica, one-half of the Merrell Twins, said getting hate comments on their channel can naturally just ruin their day.

“It gets challenging sometimes to remind yourself that there are people who love what you are doing,” she said.

Fortunately for the twins, they rarely get hate on their channel. Vanessa said they have built a community on YouTube with a positive and kind audience. Moreover, becoming YouTubers was a way for them to reach out and hear their fans’ stories.

“The most rewarding thing is that we meet fans who say we changed their lives and heard their stories, from dealing with depression, anxiety, to overcoming death… YouTube brings all these people together which is such an amazing thing,” she said.

When YTFF started in 2015, over 3,000 fans trooped to see their idols from screen to stage. This year, the venue was prepped for around 8,000 people, with tickets sold out five minutes after its release.

Chris Schremp, YouTube’s director of Global Creator and Artist Development, said there is a vibrant Filipino community that supports YouTube. Today, the Philippines has over 230 channels that reached 100,000 subscribers, and more than 15 channels with over a million subscribers—a huge jump from just 70 channels with 100,000 subscribers and eight channels with more than a million subscribers they announced last year.

“We’re delighted to host YTFF again in the Philippines for the fourth time to celebrate this new generation of YouTube stars. We love coming here because of Filipino fans’ energy and enthusiasm, and to see international creators and homegrown Filipino talents shine on stage,” he said.

Trends, challenges

Alongside these growing numbers, YouTube content creators also feel the demand to give their fans what they want, even if it entails dabbling in the latest trend or challenging themselves to eat Korean spicy noodles on camera.

Steffanina, who is a choreographer, said it is better to have something the viewers can identify with.

“If you are a nondancer and you are watching an intricate and complicated dance routine, you are kind of like, they are like not sure what they are watching. But if you dab, everybody in the world is like ‘Dab!,’” he said.

Makeup vlogger Dy meanwhile said it is best to keep tabs on what is happening to make sure her videos are fresh and up to date.

Dasovich added that when doing the trendy videos, you always have to have fun with it.

“It’s all about balance, like doing what makes you happy and enjoying what your viewers will make them happy because at the end of the day, you kind of do it for the viewers,” he said.