Fame has a price, and for "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, that price is constant criticisms and sometimes even verbal abuse from strangers, particularly on her very active Twitter account.
The author likes to correspond with fans and share more tidbits about the ever-expanding world of Harry Potter. While many people shower her with praises and support, there are also an equal number who bash her particularly because of her support for same-sex marriage in Ireland.
Despite this fact, Rowling chooses not to block out all the negativity on her social media account, and during a recent interview with The Guardian, Rowling explained why.
"Twitter for me has been an unmixed blessing, trolls included," she said. "Because there came a point where Harry became so enormous that, at a reading, there were 2,000 people. You can't answer everyone's question. Twitter gave that back to me. No one has to buy a ticket. It's very democratic."
"My block and mute lists aren't long because I have quite a high tolerance for people I wouldn't necessarily want to be friends with - I'm interested in what they're saying," she continued. "You wouldn't want to sanitise your timeline to the point that you weren't seeing some of these characters. Let's call them characters."
Rowling is fearless when it comes to responding to her critics. When Twitter user WBC Signs sarcastically wrote to her, "So @jk_rowling wants Dumbledore & Gandalf to marry in Ireland; if it happens, WBC will picket," she had the perfect response.
"Alas, the sheer awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls," she tweeted back.
When a concerned fan named Helen asked Rowling if she ever felt like a victim of cyberbullying, the author answered no. "No, I don't feel bullied. In the looking-glass world of Twitter, vitriol is so often the tribute inadequacy pays to articulacy," she explained.
She then cheekily added: "The Internet doesn't just offer opportunities for misogynistic abuse, you know. Penis enlargers can also be bought discreetly."
At the same time, Rowling does not mind what other people think of her because she already has a strong personal support system. What matters to her is that she will always have people she is free to share her thoughts with.
"Well, it's very corny, but my husband is definitely my best friend. My sister. I'm a small-group person. My dream is a small group I know very well, then we have an intense conversation. I don't want an argument, but I want a conversation about things that really matter," she said.
