March 19 through March 25
One week dedicated to reminding us all that the blogging
community is an awesome thing to be able to be a part of.
Ashley over at After Nine To Five had this fabulous idea to declare this week “Blog Positivity Week” to spread some positivity around the blogosphere and remind all of us that we’re part of a pretty amazing community. Today I want to talk about kindness and the conscious choice of eliminating negativity from your blog reading experience.
Obviously, when people blog, they share opinions. That the nature of blogging. Often we agree with what other people put out, have encouraging and supportive words for fellow bloggers and make incredible connections with people all around the world based on similar experiences, opinions and interests. Naturally, as in real life, we also come across bloggers and their blog posts that annoy us, that we disagree with and that we judge.
I guess, I have been very lucky to personally never have been the target of hateful comments or outright attacks online. This could be due to the fact that my blog has a relatively small readership compared to others and I am totally ok with that. (If that GFC widget would still be working for us WordPress bloggers, you would see a number of about 150 followers in the sidebar, but judging by the number of comments that are on average left on my blog, I would suspect the actual number of readers is even smaller). It might also be due to the fact that I haven’t posted content that was controversial enough to offend anybody or the fact that when I communicated my opinion, I did it in a mostly calm and respectful manner as to not lend myself to attack and harsh criticism. Either way, while not having been in the center of negativity myself, I have witnessed my fair share of meanness, disrespect and personal attack online and I am here to ask people to implement good manners and go by the rule
“if you don’t have anything nice to say,
don’t say anything at all”.
I always wonder about people who take the time and effort to bash other bloggers, write elaborate comments and/or emails only to spread negativity and lash out. After all, nobody makes you read someone else’s blog and if you find yourself repeatedly annoyed, I’d suggest you just stay away from this particular blog.
If you do feel the need to respond to a blog post that strikes a cord with you and if you have a legitimate point to make, do so with uttermost respect and tact. And for Peets’ sake, know your facts. There is nothing more frustrating than getting into a heated discussion with someone who argues on the basis of shaky knowledge.
The anonymity of the Internet makes a lot of people forget common courtesy and leads to them saying writing things that they would never say to another person’s face. If we all remind ourselves that words can hurt just as much as physical attacks and that there is really nothing gained from attacking people in the meanest possible way, I think there is a pretty good chance that we can all get along. We should never forget that the best way to resolve a difference of opinion is simply to
agree to disagree.
If you want to learn more about Blog Positivity Week, head over here. You can write your own posts this week and link up! We’d all love you to spread some positivity around the blogosphere!
Ms. Megan
March 20, 2012 at 7:01 amAmen!! I 100% agree with you!! I hate hearing about mean people that have left hurtful comments on some of my friends’ blogs. I agree, if you have nothing nice to say, then please don’t say anything at all!! You said it best, no one is forcing them to stay and read that post!!! Just leave. Keep it kind!! :) xoxo
Maribeth
March 20, 2012 at 7:53 amA reader once commented that I needed to burn my favorite sweater! Now this particular sweater I bought the first year Jack and I were married and it is very special. I could have let it go, but I wrote back and explained how much I loved it, and why I loved it.
I also had a person write me and tell me how awful it was that I trained the little dackels to hunt wounded game. I wrote my personal feelings. I do not hunt, but I see the need for hunting, and for finding the injured animal to be put down humanely.
I’ll defend my beliefs, but if my beliefs would injure those close to me, I’ll keep my feelings to myself.
Rebekah
March 20, 2012 at 8:40 amI ageee with you 100%. I always try to leave a nice and encouraging comment. I think it is great that we all have different views and opinions and it’s awesome we can share them with each other!
Tanja
March 20, 2012 at 9:56 amAmen!!!!!!!!
Maegan
March 20, 2012 at 2:35 pmI like this! I’ve always been of the mind set “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” … if I don’t agree with a bloggers thoughts/ideas/etc then I just don’t comment, and then I come back another day for more light-hearted stuff. We are all different, and wouldn’t that be awful if we all were the same?! To each their own.
maren
March 20, 2012 at 7:20 pmI like this! :)
Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks
March 21, 2012 at 7:08 amGreat post! From personal experience, I think there are two (among many) truths about bloggers. First, we tend to follow other bloggers whom we agree with … so, when we come across comments or readers who don’t agree with us, we’re often thrown off guard, because we’ve become so accustomed to people agreeing with us. And, second, I think most readers only comment when they do agree and tend to keep things to themselves when they don’t. While I appreciate the camaraderie of bloggers, I also feel like we could stand to be a little more honest with one another. I don’t (always) blog just to hear good things. I blog, because I think and have opinions and want to express them … and hope my readers will express theirs, even if they disagree with mine. Though, I do agree that they should do so with respect. =)
Chrissy
March 21, 2012 at 11:19 amLove this! So true! If you don’t have anything nice to say, stay away!
I have never had hateful comments either (knocking on wood), but I know some bloggers that have and it wasn’t nice!
Hugs xxx
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
March 22, 2012 at 4:39 amI do not understand hateful, rude comments. I really agree with Nilsa and think that we should be able to respectfully disagree with a person if we really do not agree with a point they are making. But it needs to be a respectful dialogue. I’ve never received a mean comment, but I have seen some rude ones and I am often turned off by exchanges on twitter..
Jen
March 22, 2012 at 1:31 pmNicely put!
Irene
March 24, 2012 at 1:55 pmTotally agree with this, personally I have never gotten any hate on my blog/tumblr/fb (I only have close friends on fb though and my blog is not frequently read by many people), but I have seen it especially on tumblr as you can leave anonymous comments on there if the user/blogowner allows it. And usually as soon as (some of) the people I follow on there, who sometimes have controversial opinions, enable that function they are swarmed with anon hate/disrespect. I personally would never lash out on anyone openly on their blog even if I disagree with them, I would either not say anything or send them a Direct Message, openly hating online is just asking for attention in my opinion and that’s just sad if anyone needs that.
terta
March 26, 2012 at 4:55 amAmen! I really think sitting behind a screen gives people the gall to write things on the internet they’d never say to someone’s face. I think it’s important to remember that blog writers are people too, no matter how popular, they’ve got feelings just like the rest of us.