Internet rule No. 1: Do not read the comments. But if you do, it's acceptable to make a stellar Taylor Swift parody mocking their absurdity.
Lisa Schwartz did just that on her LisBug channel, lampooning the absurd and hateful comments she gets. Schwartz, a vlogger with 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, offers life advice and comedy videos, and also dates prominent YouTuber Shane Dawson, who recently released his first film, Not Cool, featuring Schwartz. As a YouTube powerhouse, they catch their fair share of haters, and Schwartz turned to YouTube to cut them down.
She parodies Swift's most recent single, "Shake It Off," which features the Grammy winner displaying her fail-level dance skills across different genres. Schwartz adopts that spirit, performing ballet, hip-hop, cheer, and even ribbon twirling as she cycles through the crass comments she and her friends and family get on YouTube. Those friends and family, including Dawson, star in the video too.
The video goes through a great bleeped-out section of the mean stuff that Schwartz can't bring herself to repeat, then transitions to the positive support her fans give her on the platform.
The overall negative tone of YouTube comments has been a sore spot for the community, and even led some prominent users like PewDiePie to turn them off completely for his 30 million subscribers. Women especially have it rough on the site, as Schwartz illuminates with a number of body-shaming and sexist comments. We're glad she turns the negative into a positive here.
Screengrab via LisBug/YouTube