No one wants negative comments on their blog posts. Most of us put time and effort (and sometimes sweat and tears) into our writing, and when someone gives us negative feedback it can be very upsetting, to say the least.
Maybe we deserved it…. I wrote one article on my blog, which I then syndicated on BlogHer, and it was not well received. In fact, most of the readers hated it! I chose not to respond to the comments but instead I wrote another post in response to the first. Basically, I chose to apologize. Not for my opinions, (because honestly they haven’t changed), but for the hurt that I caused my readers.
I learned quite a bit from that post and eventually decided I didn’t ever want to write another post like that again. I just don’t want to cause pain. There is enough of that in this world. So there. That is my little story on handling negativity… don’t respond or respond with another post. Apologize if you feel like it. In my case, I wanted too. I don’t like hurting people.
Allow The Consistent Readers to Respond
“I think that what you do with a negative comment depends on whether the comment is merely someone stating an opinion or whether they are criticizing you without basis and taking your words out of context.
If someone is being negative to troll your blog, I think it’s best to either just delete the comment or let it stay there and allow the consistent readers of your blog respond. This may start a healthy conversation about each person’s perspective.
This is especially true when handling people who are negative because they have a different opinion than you do. Above all, don’t take it personally. While an attack on your writing can feel hurtful, most people who do this are either (a) just not understanding your perspective or (b) trolls, otherwise known as intensely unhappy people who have nothing better to do than to put you down.
Think about how you would respond to a troll-like person face-to-face. Would you ignore them because they’ve clearly got emotional problems, or would you argue back? Personally, I’ve found it best to just ignore people like this. After some time of not responding to their negativity, they usually go away.
Finally, if someone consistently attacks you even though you’ve deleted their comments, find an app that tracks IP addresses and blocks their comments. Out of sight, out of mind!” – Teresa from Embracing The Spectrum
You Can’t Please Everyone. Learn and Grow!
“As much as I try to be a people-pleaser, I realize that I can not and will not be able to please everyone. They are welcome to have their opinions, but I will not let them define who I am or what I write about. This is my story and not theirs. So I put my big girl pants on and move forward realizing that there are much more people to reach out to.
How to Deal With Negative Comments On Your Blog
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5 Strategies to Deal With Negative Comments on Your Blog Posts
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5 Sure-Fire Ways To Deal with Negative Blog Comments
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How to Deal with Negative Comments On Your Blog
Since I didn’t get as many responses as I would have liked from our IBA members, I wanted to include some great tips from Huffington Post, Shout Me Loud, and ProBlogger. Basically, everyone has the same idea:
- Don’t let it get to you.
- Ignore it or respond tactfully.
- Delete the comment if you feel it’s necessary.
- Learn from the comment, if any part of it applies to you or your writing, (this requires humility, but sometimes we need a little humbling!)
[bctt tweet=”How to handle negative comments on your blog – from our #IBABloggers Original Series” username=”IBAbloggers”]
So there you have it, folks! Between all this advice and these helpful linked articles, I think you will survive 😉 When we put ourselves into the public eye we must expect some backlash. Unfortunately, not everyone will love us or our message! Keep on writing guys and girls and don’t give up! The world needs journalists that speak their heart 🙂
Let’s Make Your Blog Awesome is an original blogging learning series written for the International Bloggers’ Association. Stay tuned for the next edition of Let’s Make Your Blog Awesome coming September 7th. The topic is not yet decided, but don’t worry. It will be cool 😉
Have a wonderful week wherever you are in the world! Signing off, Tina in Mexico