I am not the most qualified person in the world to talk about this, seeing as how I don't have much of a following anywhere online and my social anxiety limits the number of people I come into contact with. However, as someone who in my humble opinion of myself - which writing down sounds like the most arrogant thing in the world - understands people at their core, I think I can offer a different perspective on this topic.
To me, I don't interpret haters as something you should just stick your middle finger up to and move on, or just to completely ignore. Now this doesn't mean to take what stupid fucks online say to heart and tear yourself up about whatever someone says. I think haters are people to pity and try to understand. And I don't mean that in a condescending sort of way, like, look at this loser who's commenting here. I feel genuinely sorry for people who spend significant portions of their time trying to make themselves feel better by tearing complete strangers apart on the internet.
And I'm not above these people either. I regularly make fun of my brother and sisters and even my mom, and not all of it is in good spirit and fun. But I always do it with people who understand me and know that I'm not trying to tear them down. So to me it's really sad to see people so desperate for something, whether it's attention or self-esteem that they have to go take it out on people they don't even know.
And that's why I don't think you shouldn't just ignore these people. I think a lot of people are just looking to connect in their own fucked up - well very fucked up - kind of way. And I think sometimes if you can make that connection, not only are you getting rid of their (haterness? hateness? hate? haterification? I can't think of the word) but you are also helping someone out. But then again, I've never had to deal with thousands of people coming at me at once. So take that with a grain of salt, some rice, a little bit of soy sauce and voila!
All of this is to say that I have no real experience or evidence in this matter, just a bunch of random jumbled thoughts. I hope you weren't hoping for some actual helpful advice like the title indicates. Sorry!
@rambo @missy