Don't be 'orrible

If you are here because you are looking for my comment on the ProBlogger to be expanded upon then worry not, the post is still in draft and won't be long. If you stick your email down on my blog, then I will let you know when I have posted it up ;-)


Back to the subject matter for today though - Why, when you see a reply to a post/tweet/comment which is a criticism or meant to contain negative feedback, is it that this criticism is more likely to be answered by the recipient than a positively charged one? Strictly on a percentage basis of course. Or have I completely missed something here?


Are there more subtle ways to be positive towards your intended audience which get your good message across, which I have not quite grasped? Is negative feedback just a cheap-shot at gaining some undeserved time from an audience? My thoughts are this, it is counter-intuitive to blast people for no reason apart from a personal gratification. So why would anyone do it then? How can we go from being what are essentially well wishing and helpful human beings to critics...







Social media is fast becoming a hecklers paradise - a place to voice your opinions with out fear of retribution. I could walk you through many examples of this, some more serious than others - but I won't. Do a search engine sweep if you really want to see how sick it has gotten, or watch the news from time to time. I will leave you with a personal experience that left me wondering wwwwhhhhhyyyyyy???.... and it goes a little something like this;


I was surfing Twitter one Saturday afternoon when I noticed that a conversation from one of our favourite Dragons twitter feed Duncan Bannatyne had gotten heated. A [follower] had simply asked [not in those words] Duncan to stop being quite to prolific with his tweets in reference to his charitable work and perhaps that Duncan should not be referred to as a 'hero' himself. Of course this got some attention. Lost in amongst the debate on how a hero could be physically defined were the tweets of well-wishers, wishing him good luck for the new series and thanking him for his generosity towards the charities that he champions. A rather nondescript example, and believe me it doesn't really deserve anymore airtime - other than only to illustrate my point. Which is this....


There is a saturation point I believe. If you find yourself having to respond to nice comment after nice comment... then heading off the odd bit of negative feedback can feel like you are making progress by responding or doing something more productive with your SM [social media] time. It's not that harsh comments deserve retaliation, no, it's just in this world where bad press can be spread so easily - there comes a time where enough is enough.

I know that if I was to write a critical tweet of somebody, that I probably would get heard by more people online than just sending it into null space... harsh tactics.


I do not recommend it, BUT if you think that you have a justified reason to criticise another fellow Tweeter or Facebooker.... then please remember this. The more response you receive from you negative post, then the more your comments will be scrutinised. So make sure that you are giving feedback for a VERY good reason, and your motives are indeed, pure.

Engine[er]

Location:The Peahen, St Albans, Hertfordshire