Alabama Barker, 16, addresses negative comments, 'hurtful DMs' on social media: 'It's not fair to hate on somebody you don't know'
Alabama Barker is addressing online hate in a video posted to TikTok, sharing that the negativity has been "mentally exhausting."
The 16-year-old daughter of Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler took to the video platform to share her perspective on the trolling that she's received across her social media channels.
"First thing I'm gonna say is, I'm a human being. I have feelings, no matter how many times you guys think that I just scroll past comments and I don't read the hurtful DMs, I completely do," she said.
The teenager, who has a combined social media following of over 2.9 million people, went on to say, "Yes, I am young. I'm not out here lying about my age," in response to various comments about her age.
"She's beautiful but trying to grow up too damn fast," one comment on a recent TikTok video reads. Another says, "Girl please have a childhood."
Barker, however, clarified that she's "not a normal teenager," as a result of her father's rockstar status and his upcoming nuptials to Kourtney Kardashian. "I can't do normal things, so when I do do stuff, it's always going to be something bigger than what it really is," she said. "All the mothers that comment hateful stuff on my page, please worry about your children and not me."
As for the other comments she receives making judgement about her character, Barker called it unfair.
"It's not fair to hate on somebody you don't know or judge them off a 15-second video or 60-second video. And the craziest thing about it to me is I just feel like I'm one of the most unproblematic influencers on this app and I really do not get into drama unless somebody says something really crazy. I try my hardest to just keep it calm and mature," she continued. "It's not reality to not get hated on and I know that, but I just don't understand why I get it so badly compared to multiple other people in this industry doing things that are completely disrespectful in multiple different ways when all I do is lip sync to songs."
She encouraged people to consider the person on the receiving end of a negative social media comment. "They are not a robot just because they have followers. If you disagree with what somebody is doing and it doesn't affect you at all, keep your opinion to yourself. Because at the end of the day, saying very very disrespectful things on social media will never benefit you. Honestly, it will probably give you karma because this person hasn't done anything to you and you’re just sitting there giving your hateful opinion for no reason," she said.
While Barker has quickly grown her TikTok and Instagram accounts, she explained that the level of hate has forced her to consider deleting them altogether. "It's getting me to the point where I don't even wanna do social media anymore," she said. "This video is just to cover that I'm a human and I have feelings and I hope that you guys will take that into consideration."
Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.