An Arizona social worker shared on her personal TikTok of online harassment she received after posting a before-and-after photo of herself. And this was despite the lack of any political or inflammatory nature to her post.
“Apparently people do not like me for simply existing,” Kelsey (TikTok/Disneywithkels) wrote in the caption of her video. She then shared the post on her TikTok that sparked the sudden wave of hatred and cruelty.
It was an innocuous photo of her 17-year-old self and the latter of her now, 10 after graduating high school. She’s now five years into her tenure as a school social worker. In her caption, she sweetly wrote, “Oh, how things have changed!” What she wasn’t expecting is for her post to be viewed “1.4 million times” on her Facebook page of 182,000 Followers.
But worse still were the comments.
“Moisturize. Holy [expletive] you look old,” wrote a particularly cruel commenter.
“It’s not the lighting, it’s the pale skin,” said another Facebook user. She fires back, wondering why someone would be bothered by her skin color. “I’m 99.3% Northern European—I’m gonna be pale,” Kelsey says.
Many others picked apart Kelsey’s looks, calling her “Ozempic face” and even urging her to delete the post because they thought it was embarrassing. Someone even went as far as to tell Kelsey to “drink bleach.”
Kelsey said that maybe she should feel hurt by all of this, but she doesn’t. “Because my self-worth is not defined by what anybody else thinks of me,” Kelsey says.
Viewers offer support and sympathy to Kelsey online
Given how people responded, it’s not at all surprising Kelsey’s audience was so understanding. The biggest takeaway was people discussing just how open people are with their hatred online.
“Girl people are WAY too comfortable behind the keyboard,” wrote one commenter, and told Kelsey she was “gorgeous.” They argued it was an “unrealistic expectations of what people should look like” created by social media, photo editing software, and AI.
Others insisted it was just part of Facebook’s makeup, arguing that it harbors the worst kind of people. “Facebook is the MEANEST crowd.” Another wrote, “It’s Facebook everyone is negative there…”
In the end, Kelsey got the last laugh. The engagement online actually lined her pockets. She reveals the engagement details on Facebook, showing that she made over $300 in the first 24-hours of the post. “Thanks for paying for my groceries this month,” she says sweetly.
