The definition is split into two. There's western otakus and eastern otakus. Western otakus just really like anime. Eastern otakus however are where the negative connotations lie. Having said that I really like anime yet I wouldn't consider myself an otaku. In my opinion it is still a negative term.
Hope this helped.
English
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How is the definition split in two, though? It's a japanese word. That means the japanese definition is the right one.
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I know it's stupid. It was the west that created the second definition.