You still have us
Blogging is a two-way business. By committing our words to a blog we open ourselves up for others to agree or disagree as they see fit. Comments are an important part of a blog for without them our thoughts may just as well be written on paper and filed in a drawer. What do you do though when comments turn nasty? Do you give up or do you just shrug and move on? I guess it depends on how sensitive you are or how vulnerable you feel.
One of the blogs I follow is by David duChemin, an American photographer and about a year ago he wrote a post on why you should or shouldn’t blog. One of the reasons he gave not to blog related to adverse comments where he said
You can’t handle the trolls. If you can’t handle the odd jerk showing up uninvited, then blogging may be less appealing to you. Once in a while someone logs on and starts a fight. It’s a little like someone arriving at your home, walking in, and lighting the sofa on fire. You can either ban them, delete them, put up with it, or stop blogging. I don’t think this is a good reason not to blog - but it’s a reality. Fortunately photographers tend to be a civil lot and if you fill your blog with big words, the jerks tend to stay away.
One of the keys to dealing with the morons is that mention of ‘big words’. Someone wrote to me recently and said that The Croft had the best way of dealing with bad comments and that was to simply publish them and then destroy them with a superior intellect. That really is the answer but not everyone has that ability. We do all, however, have the ability to publish comments and let our friends draw their own conclusions. It does require a certain amount of courage but you should know that your enemies will never prosper in the company of your friends. In the bad times simply turn to your friends, even those you have never met. Above all, don’t give up.
David duChemin’s posts on blogging, although aimed at photographers are well worth reading
Interesting thoughts on how to deal with "trolls." I usually go the sarcasm route, but only up to a certain point. I'm happy to highlight ridiculous and hateful comments, but will give them a forum for only so long. They usually seem to crawl away pretty quickly after they are brought kicking and screaming into the light of day. Some advocate ignoring them or deleting them through comment moderation.
ReplyDeleteI have readers who disagree with my views, but keep their comments civil and friendly. I appreciate that, and have no problem with it. Others are simply out to start a flame war, and I deal with them accordingly.
Best,
Beth
I like how this starts out so will check it out when I have more time. Gerry
ReplyDeleteThat was a very interesting post, and I'm glad you got permission to re-publish it here. Thankfully I have never really had to deal with trolls, but hope that I'd be able to do it with grace and good sense.
ReplyDelete