Blogs, by nature, are opinionated. Right? Okay, not always, but they are full of opinions and comments more so than cold, hard news and facts.
So, if you blog, you’d better have a thick skin. Be able to take criticism and, like we should do in public relations, decide if criticsms are worth responding to.
IF you respond — whether via comments, your own blog or e-mail — don’t get into a cat fight. Really, what good ever comes from name-calling?
The need for bloggers to be thick skinned hit home (okay, I was at work) Friday after I tried to post a comment about Amanda Chapel/Brian Connolly’s strumpette for sale sign.
Now, AC/BC’s blog was pretty well-known for being critical of many if not most PR professionals and the industry as a whole. That’s fine. Many of the posts were good reads, and made for good discussion. Many posts, however, were personal and professional attacks. Especially, if you ask Edelman.
If you’re going to hurl attacks or even just an opposing point of view at some, you’d better be ready to receive criticisms back. And, how one replies reflects a lot on that person — good or bad.
AC/BC’s e-mailed reply lead me to believe my comment was not going to be posted:
“You, my knucklehead friend, are the bottom of the barrel. The very reason we are raising money is to get past your kind. You don’t know what you’re talking about and you are not capable of learning. The time to takes to set you (plural) straight is annoyance that rises to distraction. We don’t want a conversation with you. We made that clear some months ago. Go away now.”
Okay, for clarification and to get a reference or two to what AC/BC meant, here’s my comment that I just don’t think will be approved:
“Compelling and extendible brand with huge upside potential”
Funny. That could be read that the strumpette.com site is currently near the bottom of the heap or a risky bet. You often hear about high school basketball stars who might be drafted by the NBA as having “huge upside potential.”
So, is strumpette.com high school-ish? Or, just too fresh?
But, seriously, any site is only as good as its contents. Are the current authors — Web master as well — included in that offer? Even the best of succession plans fall apart if the new owners don’t have the — dare I say — talent and vision as those who lead it to success?
Yes, AC/BC and I had a bit of back-and-forth, with my pointing out their thin-skinned approach, and pointing out that I did pay them a compliment (even if it was a bit back-handed). (If you are interested in seeing the e-mail exchange, let me know.)
Earlier this summer, I was critical of, or at least disagreed with a point made by Josh Hallett about branding and who controls it. (See my comment in Josh’s post.) Did he blast me? No, he explained and clarified his point.
Look at another example early in my blogging life. I criticized some points made about and by Dave Taylor in a “Rocky Mountain News” article. (The article has since been removed or archived as my original link to the article isn’t valid.)
Dave replied to my post and explained his points in the comments. He didn’t YELL AT ME, or hurl insults.
If you blog and if you are going to stick your neck out to make positive and/or negative comments about others, don’t respond with nasty, name-calling e-mails when someone calls you out on it. Be constructive in replies, and for heaven’s sake, get a thick skin.
– Mike
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