“Why does he look like a bunch of Shrek villains combined into one person?” 

An angsty teenager is hunched over their phone, viciously typing out yet another Tweet to contribute to the vast array of hate surrounding popular Twitch streamer Dream’s face reveal. 

They comment on his facial structure and jutting chin, disregarding the very real possibility that Dream himself may be reading their comments.

Criticizing celebrities for their physical appearance is no novelty in the entertainment business, but in a world that calls for body positivity, posting about how ugly someone is in comparison to your expectations seems a little hypocritical. 

In today’s world, there shouldn’t be any room for posting about other people’s bodies.

Many of the internet trolls that stalk TikTok and Twitter seem to believe that they have some sort of “right” to comment on their idols’ looks, that their bodies are the fans’ to control. 

Dream is not the only victim of this toxic online environment; other streamers such as Corpse Husband, thrust into fame for his deep voice and juxtaposingly sweet personality, have expressed fear of being forced into face reveals. 

When Corpse Husband’s face reveal was leaked, his fan base was in conflict, some judging him for not living up to their standards and others calling out the fake fans who had formed some twisted fantasy of what he looked like in their heads and proceeded to get angry when he wasn’t an immensely attractive young man.

The most worrying part about this horrible online culture that has developed is the fact that it’s all anonymous. You can talk smack about anyone from the safety of your throwaway account on Twitter, safe from anyone you know in real life finding out about your cruel tendencies. 

Hordes of teenagers needing to vent their pent up anger end up taking it out on online communities, often creating an echo chamber of hate that just exponentiates into a giant ball of misguided fury.

At the end of the day, people would do well to remember that even if their favorite streamer maintains a happy face on camera, they’re human too. 

If you wouldn’t say it to their face, why would you post it online? The Internet has bred a generation of insensitive jerks that just say whatever they want without regard for others’ feelings. Perhaps they would do well to remember that if they did a face reveal, they would probably also be the target of online hate. Empathy seems to be something netizens lack.