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Gwyneth Paltrow was a surprise speaker at yesterday's Code Conference in California—a major surprise, really, since the lineup included tech heavyweights such as Google's Sergey Brin; the CEOs of Twitter, Blackberry, Intel and Microsoft; and the founders of Netflix and Nest. During her remarks, she addressed the positives and negatives of today's social media-saturated life. Specifically, she talked about her internet haters and how she deals with all the criticism.
It's taken me a long time to get to the point where I can see these things and not take it as a personal affront and a hurt," she said. "I see myself as a chalkboard or a whiteboard or a screen, and someone is just putting up their own projection on it. It has nothing to do with me. They have an internal object, and they're putting it on me. I kind of look at it as, "Wow this is an interesting social experiment." You're talking about a blind stranger having feelings about you. It can only be projection.Paltrow says that although the dialogue can feel "dehumanizing," she does see the upside—especially where her online business GOOP is concerned. She shares that the GOOP newsletter boasts open rates that are double the industry average, and that the site is profitable. "I finally have been able to find the self-confidence that I really can do this, and I'm doing it," she said.
· Gwyneth Paltrow on Internet Trolls: "I See Myself as a Screen" [Re/Code]
· Inside Gwyneth's Glorious New GOOP Pop-Up Shop [Racked]
· Gwyneth Paltrow Announces Chris Martin Split on Goop [Racked]