Empathy Is Not Endorsement | Dylan Marron | TED

Digital creator Dylan Marron has racked up millions of views for projects like "Every Single Word" and "Sitting in Bathrooms With Trans People" -- but he's found that the flip side of success online is internet hate. Over time, he's developed an unexpected coping mechanism: calling the people who leave him insensitive comments and asking a simple question: "Why did you write that?" In a thoughtful talk about how we interact online, Marron explains how sometimes the most subversive thing you can do is actually speak with people you disagree with, not simply at them.

Dylan hosts the TED Audio Collective podcast Conversations with People Who Hate Me --a podcast that explores what happens when online feuders step out from behind the keyboard and get to know the human on the other side of the screen. Listen to Conversations with People Who Hate Me wherever you get your podcasts.

“We’re living in divided times. Conversation may be the simplest way I know to bridge the divide -- whatever the divide may be,” says writer and podcaster Dylan Marron, who has had scores of one-on-one conversations with combative critics. Discover how to create the conditions for successful conversations online and offline, humanizing your “haters” and understanding them in different and sometimes surprising ways.