Let’s see how each of these types of comments pan out with an example. Imagine that you published an article in which you compare Android devices and the iPhone on your gadget blog, and you praise Android for being surpris- ingly good.
Constructive Criticism
Here’s some constructive criticism:
I don’t think it’s fair to draw conclusions about how responsive the two operating systems are when you are using two devices with substantially different hardware specs. The iPhone is clearly disadvantaged here.
Reply to these types of comments and address the issue without getting emotional. Admit when you are wrong and argue back when you are not. Sometimes this type of justifiable criticism escalates to other types of unac- ceptable criticism or overly long discussions, at which point it is no longer worth engaging.
Disagreement Criticism
Disagreement criticism looks like this:
I don’t agree that the Android Marketplace has lots of applications. I had to bring my Android device back because most of the apps I was used to on the iPhone were not available for it. I couldn’t even find an app to do online banking with my bank, for Pete’s sake!
Generally speaking, don’t reply unless you see a gaping hole in the logic or you think you can add more to what you already wrote by addressing the objection. People have a right to disagree with you, as long as they are not complete jackasses about it.
Nitpick Criticism
A nitpicker may say this:
Why would you need a smartphone for your bus commute? Can’t you read a book or something, like most people do?
Here the aim of the critic is not the same as the point of your article. If your blog is moderated, publish such comments, but generally ignore them. If it’s 166
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Chapter 9. Building a Community Around Your Blogbeen posted elsewhere, like Reddit, ignore it as well. Yes, you want com- menters, but quality trumps quantity every time.
Misguided Criticism
Misguided criticism may present itself as follows:
How can you say that Android has better battery life than the iPhone if you haven’t tried both?
Assume, for the sake of this example, that the article actually explains how battery life was tested for both over the course of a week in a fair manner. The commenter here would then have skimmed the post and posted a knee- jerk reaction to your claim about battery life without reading the details. Feel free to rectify commenter misunderstandings, but don’t let it escalate into a long argument. Reply once. If they take the hint, good. If they persevere, ignore it.
Personal Criticism
Personal criticism can be unpleasant and may look like this:
Color me shocked! A Google lackey finds an Android phone to be better than the iPhone. News at 11. Why don’t you just stop blogging, moron.
You are free not to even let a useless personal attack like this get past the moderation. Unfortunately, when a comment like this is posted on Reddit, you have no control over it. It’s extremely tempting to reply, but don’t. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone who attacks you (provided you disclose any affiliations you have in your post, of course).
I remember one time when I entered into a heated debate with a very young commenter on Reddit. The argument started about a trivial point and escalated all the way to questioning me as a programmer, my choice of programming languages, and even my motivation for blogging.
It got ugly fast, and I really should have known better. You rarely can convince someone who immediately thinks you are an idiot (because he or she disagrees with your post) that you are not one. There is no point in even trying. Even- tually that kid ended up deleting most of his responses, leaving a long list of my replies to [deleted] comments. What a waste of time for everyone involved. And he occasionally questioned me again. It’s simply not worth creating this kind of situation.
Meta Criticism
Stop submitting crap like this. This is just blogspam. This article was written to sell you on the affiliate links. You are too much of a coward to publish my comments.
If you have control of the channel (e.g., the comment was posted on your blog), you have a choice. You can either approve the comment or opt not to publish it, depending on your stance on moderation. Just know that if you approve such a comment, it rarely makes sense to engage in argument over it.
Trolling
Finally, here’s an example of trolling:
Nobody in their right mind would buy an Android phone. Stop being a bunch of commies, and get yourself an iPhone.
The comment doesn’t have a genuine counterpoint to the article. But the end result is that people who have an Android phone will feel personally attacked and will want to reply to this commenter. Do not let such comments through unless you are ideologically opposed to any form of moderation. Above all, ignore them when you see them on social media sites. No good can come from replying to them.
So-called trolls feed on replies. The good old Usenet mantra says, “Don’t feed the trolls.” Ignoring them is the best thing you can do. The most challenging part is figuring out if the person is trolling or is just misguided. The example above is obvious, but successful trolls are subtle and make you think you are dealing with a person who is “wrong on the Internet.”4 When in doubt, let them be wrong.
You’ll need a particularly thick skin to stomach the comments on Reddit. It’s a wonderful community, but criticism, sarcasm, and cynicism are highly rewarded. From time to time what you write—as well as you personally—will be shredded to pieces in the Reddit comments. Ignore the negativity as much as you can, and you’ll discover that it’s worth submitting there for the sheer number of new readers you’ll attract. (If you’ve never been likened to Hitler at least once on Reddit, you’re probably not submitting enough.5)
4. xkcd.com/386
9.4
Your Mantras When Dealing with Criticism
The way you handle comments and moderation is highly personal, so you may disagree with some of my suggestions. That’s okay. Try to stick to the following principles though, as they will serve you well:
• Welcome constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth. • Haters gonna hate. Accept it.
• Don’t feed the trolls.
• Consider all criticism, but reply only when strictly necessary. • Report serious abuses.
• Keep writing.
Remember that in most cases it’s not you, it’s them. You can’t be liked by everyone, and sometimes in life people will act like real jerks. This is particu- larly true when large audiences and anonymity are involved.
If you receive death threats or have serious concerns about your safety, report such abuse to the authorities. It’s rare that you’ll have to deal with drastic situations like this, but it does happen occasionally, depending on how controversial you are with your opinions. Also, if you are a woman, gay, transgender, a minority of any kind, or strongly unconventional in some sense, your chances of being harassed as a blogger are even greater. Take care of yourself, and consider using a pseudonym if you are concerned about being the target of hatred or abuse.
As a final word of advice on the topic, don’t become another victim of criticism. Criticism will ruin your day in the beginning, and it’s tempting to give up writing and promoting articles when you’re met with such hurtful words. You are not alone in this struggle.
Most readers will love the fact that you share your knowledge and thoughts with them. They’ll side with you. Don’t deprive 99.99 percent of your readers because 0.01 percent are made up of haters, lunatics, harassers, trolls, stalkers, fanatics, racists, homophobes, sexists, people jealous of your success, and other undesirable, sad people. With any large audience comes a small percentage of people who haven’t learned about the importance of the golden rule yet.
If you are truly struggling with some members of your personal anti-fan club, consider Googling resources for dealing with harassment, cyberbullying, and stalking. Plenty of help is out there.
Also, if you are at the point of giving up on blogging due to the nasty comments you receive, as a last resort you can consider turning comments off on your blog. It won’t make comments people leave elsewhere regarding your post disappear, but at least you won’t receive notification of such comments in your inbox.
We’ll talk further about preparing for success, including some more positive side effects, in Chapter 12, Taking Full Advantage of Your Blog, on page 215.
9.5
What’s Next
This section concludes the part of the book that’s dedicated to promoting your blog. Promotion is a never-ending process and something you’ll wind up experimenting with throughout your career as a blogger. These chapters, however, should give you the foundation that’s required to get your content out there in front of people and for you to be better equipped to deal with the occasional negativity that comes your way.
We’ll touch on promotional activities again in the final part of the book, which is dedicated to growing and scaling your blogging endeavors.
Back to the immediate future. Turning the page will lead you into the fourth part of the book, which is devoted to reaping the benefits of your work as a blogger. This is the fun part, where you’ll learn how to maximize your reward as well as experience the satisfaction of having your content be widely read and appreciated.