SI LifeStyle

Paige Spiranac Defies Online Hate, Refuses to Let Negativity Affect Her

The social media influencer did a Q&A session with fans on Instagram.

Cara O’Bleness

Paige Spiranac

Paige Spiranac.

Former pro golfer Paige Spiranac engaged with her fans in the form of an “Ask Me Anything” Q&A session on Instagram on Jan. 24.

Fans wanted to know whether Spiranac would be at this year’s PGA Show, how her  “OnlyPaige” subscription website is coming along and more.

One follower asked the 29-year-old about dealing with online trolls by posing the question, “Does it get exhausting with all the hate you get?”

“Not anymore,” the one-time SI Swimsuit model responded in her IG story. “I think that I’ve done this for such a long time that I can separate work from my personal life and people are commenting on this image that they see on social media, not me as a real person.”

Spiranac added that it would hurt if a friend or someone who knew her personally posted something rude, but said she’s generally not phased by online commentary.

“Most people just don’t really know me or they don’t take the time to get to know me or do research or they just don’t care,” she stated. “They just want to hate to hate and most of the time, they’re going through something in their personal life and I’m a scapegoat and they just want to lash out, and I feel bad that they’re going through that.”

Spiranac shared that her online persona is a bit of an exaggerated version of her everyday self. She said while she gets to be a “bad girl” online, she described herself as wholesome in real life.

“I would say 99% of the time, I’m unbothered by [online commentary] and there’s so much more good than bad so I always try to focus on all the good that you guys send me every single day,” Spiranac said.

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Cara O’Bleness
CARA O’BLENESS

Cara is a trending news writer/editor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. A passionate writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in print and online media, she loves storytelling and believes that words have the power to change the world. Prior to joining the team, Cara worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, Cara loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University's School of Journalism.

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