During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with comedian Bert Kreischer, host Joe Rogan offered candid perspectives on dealing with online negativity, the nature of criticism, and why he’s chosen to distance himself from social media engagement.
Rogan was direct about his philosophy regarding online feedback. “You just don’t read it,” he stated plainly when Kreischer discussed being devastated by negative press. The podcaster explained his approach: “If you don’t read, it’s fine.”
Kreischer shared how he’d search his own name on Google News and find negative articles, to which Rogan responded firmly: “You can’t do that.”
The conversation took a personal turn when Kreischer mentioned an article claiming he “ruined” a previous Rogan podcast appearance.
Kreischer’s daughter Georgia offered wisdom beyond her years, asking her father why he would allow someone else to dictate his memory of an event. “Your experience is the one that matters the most,” she told him.
Rogan didn’t mince words when describing the typical online critic. “The vast majority of people lived miserable lives,” he said, referencing Thoreau’s quote about quiet desperation. “There’s a lot of people out there that are very, very sad, very unhappy, and looking to make something negative.”
He elaborated on this theme later in the conversation: “All these slobs that are on Twitter and that are talking s**t about comedians and are angry about comedians, they have one thing in common. They’re almost all failures. They’re either failures or they’re extremely mediocre.”
According to Rogan, these critics share specific characteristics: “It’s because they’re not healthy. They’re not mentally healthy, physically healthy. And so they’re completely obsessed with other things, external things. ”
Rogan revealed he began distancing himself from social media several months ago and noticed immediate benefits. “I feel way better. I started doing it a few months ago…Let me just not look at it today. And then I did it another day and another day. I’m like, God, I feel better. I feel better.”
He described the experience as “like I’m getting over a cold or something like that,” and now maintains strict boundaries: “Definitely don’t read anything. Like definitely don’t like read when people say things about you. Definitely don’t read when you post something. Read the comments. Don’t do any of that.”
His Instagram strategy is similarly restrained. “On Instagram, if I post it, it’s from me. Always,” he confirmed, adding that he only posts content he finds genuinely interesting or would want to see himself.
Throughout the conversation, Rogan repeatedly connected online toxicity to poor physical and mental health.
He explained that without physical struggle, people create problems: “Without struggle, you will create struggle. And when you have struggle all the time, like physical struggle, people seem to be satisfied and happy.”
Regarding online critics specifically, he stated: “You can’t live in a world of cowards and mental ill people. You can’t. It’s not good for you.”
He described social media interaction as surrounding yourself with unhealthy thoughts: “You’re absorb the atmosphere of the people that you surround yourself with…when you’re interacting with people on social media, you are surrounding yourself with their thoughts.”
