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How to deal with Negative Comments

You've written something well. Thoughtful. Innovative. Or just plain cool. But to your surprise, nobody has anything positive to say. I recently experienced a similar fiasco from a digging however it was indeed not the first time I've be flogged for an idea. It is in the nature of the web for people to flame, rant, argue, even put other people down for the mere fact that something can be considered 'popular'.

Yahoo! and criticism

Having been on the Yahoo! development team for a little over 6 months, I've seen and experienced first hand what it's like to be on the front-line of criticism. The fact of the matter is, there is no pleasing everyone. There's always something wrong with our product. There's always something that can be improved. And the flamers keep ranting on.

Who are these people?

Most likely these folks have never put together a real product. They just 'talk trash' and say what's wrong with whatever they're ranting about. In fact, they get a kick out of it. It makes them feel better to put something down as if they're better than it or too cool to 'jump on that wagon'. Their ideaology is backwards. The mere fact that something is popular, it all the sudden becomes 'uncool'. It's a macho thing. A personal thing. An anti-conformity issue that they were never able to get over as a kid.

What's a blogger to do?

Simple answer: Just keep blogging. As a personal blogger, I try to engage into the conversations of not only my own articles, but my colleagues as well. It is a great way to personalize the develosphere experience. If people have constructive things to say, then by all means I take it as a positive comment. Otherwise, there are quite a few ways I can pinpoint a negative comment, and I never take those too personal.

Identifying negative responses

Personally, I think negative comments are bad. Some would call them constructive, but I have a different definition of what a negative response means. First of all, negative comments are not that constructive at all. They come in many forms too. Open ended questions are rarely helpful. Why did you do this? Why did you do that? This is lame. They are in no way helpful. They don't propose a solution. And they don't come back. Others think something is bad just because 'they' can't use it. Fine. I'm down with that. Either tell me why or don't leave a comment. No reason to add to a stack of comments that isn't going to help anyone.

Soft-Spammers

Some comments I like to call the result of someone who is a soft-spammer. They stop by once, leave a response like This is dumb. I've seen better then drop a link to their website. Thanks guys. We appreciate the insight. I'll be sure to contact you later for more professional advice.

The Community is what matters

If you've stuck around my website for quite some time then you'll know that I'm all about the community. I love returning readers, commenters, and other frequent lackeys who keep in touch through email. You should too. Those are the people that are honest and constructive. They help you improve your ideas which ultimately make us better developers.

Todays question and book information

The winner of today’s contest will receive a copy of Don't make me think by Steve Krug. Flinstones or the Jetsons. Why?

Please remember to put your answers encapsulated within a <blockquote> element, and the regular discussion as normal.