The level of hate directed at people we don’t actually know

[ThinkingOutLoudMN]

Watching the strength of feeling some people have about public figures they’ve never met - Meghan Markle being a recent example, sometimes makes me pause. It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing with her choices but about the intensity of the emotion involved.
It does make me wonder, if this is the level of anger people feel towards someone they don’t know personally, how much anger must be sitting underneath towards people in their real lives who have actually hurt or wronged them?

AIBU to find that slightly unsettling?

You can have opinions about people you’ve never met, because of the information they provide in whatever format that may be. I can imagine how people can feel anger towards someone whose actions or opinions cause harm.

The example you used was Meghan Markle. I feel no anger towards her, only indifference. There are other well known people for whom I do feel anger towards and that’s because their opinions or actions cause harm.

Is it hate? Personally I feel distate and it isn't directed at the person, it's directed at their behaviour or their perceived behaviour.

I've never met MM but I find her attitude irritating, graceless and embarrassing. I don't think it's ignorance because her mother behaved with perfect poise and good manners.

But that's as far as it goes. Nothing more intense.

Yes I agree. It unnerves me too.
Slightly on the same topic, it unnerves me that in days gone by, people would watch executions in public squares and cheer when they probably had no idea who they were or whether they were truly guilty