How do you Respond to Negative Reader Comments?
Before I start, I must say that this post is an exception to the “nice guys finish last” rule. Not that I’m a form believer in it, but there are so many bloggers in the same niche as me who tend to build their blogs on controversy. I don’t have anything against them, and neither do I approve their ways.
So, if you’re being a controversial blogger and had used your fair share of controversy throughout your post, then you asked for negative comments - and it’s all a part of being a blogger. Anyway, coming back to the point, what would you do wen you get a negative comment or a two for few of your blog posts even if you weren’t being so controversial?
Once a few days, a reader of ROCKFUSE(not a regular one) would send in a comment criticizing me for no reason at all or pointing out a mistake that I’ve done and being a bit harsh about it. So how can you tackle these things?
Although I’ve lost the original comment, one reader left an anonymous comment on the post - “Are you splitting your PageRank in half for no reason?“.
Although I can’t exactly quote it out, the basic idea was this.
- That I’ve made a logical error in my language so one whole sentence doesn’t make any sense - and it’s something unexpectable from a blogger trying to make money by blogging.
- That I’ve a PR0 and I shouldn’t be talking about SEO when I’ve no PR at all.
Well, I had two choices. Either to ignore the comment or to reply to it by mail. I do not approve negative comments if they are out of the subject matter and if they are anonymous since no one would possibly benefit from reading that. And I hardly ignore a comment that is not just hollow criticism.
So, this is a screen-shot of the e-mail discussion that took place between me and that commentator. Hope it would explain a lot.
And I’m proud to say that none of my negative commentators had ever held grudges with me at the end of out discussions. So, I guess nice guys don’t end up last after all, right?
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Nice post!Well done.
I hate to say this but I really like the way John Chow handles nasty comments-it’s not easy when another blogger is earning his bread off a little pun on Chow’s name!
Nice post once again!
Thanks mate! Can’t say you’re wrong..
Good job handling that situation… i had my first negative comment last week, I accidentally deleted lol… really! I emailed the commenter and told him to feel free to re-post, but I got no response.
Reply to JulianThanks.. You sure it was accidental?
Great post……
Negative comments are good if it’s still in context.
I respect what on people’s mind and admire their different opinions about my topic.
Sometimes, we learn something from this negative ones.
True. Sometimes, we should respect the people offering us constructive criticism.
Negative comment is not always bad and most frequently will give us a challenge to do better in the future…
Agreed! It’s about how you take it. Half Full? Half Empty??
When they’re rediculously critical, I just ignore them and delete the comment. I had one guy for a while that would be sort of nice, but throw some negative criticism in with it. Always picking at what I wrote.
I was usually just nice in return, but a little sharp when needed.
Of course. Sometimes, people will just play you out fo fun. I had a guy who left some comments recently, who wasn’t that harsh but insulting in a way in his 2 line comments. It was pretty obvious he was after the links.
I got a ridiculously pointless hard comment on an article about iPhone downloads site… I guess they had a bad experience once upon a time and decided to take it out on me…
Reply to JulianYeah.. not all people are born with brains ha? It’s best to ignore them.
Always Think Positive
Your reaction was highly commendable. As they say, one cannot stay angry with a person who treats you with kindness and respect.
We must not allow the behavior of other people to affect us negatively, instead we should be the one influencing the other’s behavior by reacting positively. (like what you did in this scenario) Bravo!
Good post. Thanks for sharing.
such an admirable and a very professional reply coming from you!
If others are quick in their attacking mode, we, the recipient of the negative comment are also quick in the defensive and counter-attack positions. But these are not really helpful.
Very nice post. I have not encountered negative comments so far. Or I just dont consider them negative although they are against my ideas. i am the one who respect the ideas of others and I don’t care about their comments. It is my blog and they have the choice to close the window if they don’t like.
On the other hand, I love constructive criticisms and I learn from them.It makes me grow and improve myself.
The best way to show my respect to the opinions of everyone? I do not edit/approve comments. They are auto approved.
Actually, someone attacked me as bandwidth theft and in the process, that person apologized and praised my actions in handling the situation. I did not even consider it as a negative stuff.
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I respond to all valid arguments and delete all the idiotic ones made with the soul purpose to offend the OP.
I will only delete comments if they are abusive personal attacks. Otherwise negative comments can be useful learning experiences.