It’s hard to grow as a blogger without falling under some criticism. Luckily in the year I’ve been blogging, most of it professionally, the criticism and angry commentary has been rare. But it’s been there.

Bloggers get some flack. And sometimes it’s some major stuff. Sometimes it’s for what you stand for. Somtimes for who you cite or your research bias. Sometimes it’s for your opinion. And sometimes, unfortunately, it’s personal. People just hate you, and they are ok saying so.

An example. I’ve been openly criticized for my opinion on a cafe on my Vancouver Coffee blog. It was a hard one for me. The criticism was major - public - and rude. We thankfully migrated the ‘fight’ offline, so to speak, and moderated even, but it got me down. Once I moved past it I realized that the online fight looked far worse for the instigator than for me, and left it there as a reminder - and as a bit of a permanent payback as well, perhaps. ;)

Nonetheless, as a blogger you’re likely to hit these down moments when you just want to stop sharing and turn off your comments. Darren over at ProBlogger talks about some ways to deal with criticism:

  1. Thicken your skin
  2. Establish boundaries
  3. Remember the Humanness of the Other (vital)
  4. Step away from the computer
  5. Listen
  6. Accept responsibility
  7. Don’t get personal
  8. Take it private
  9. Keep perspective
  10. Look for Opportunities (this is something we do a lot when we meet negative Qumana reviews. And it works)
  11. Anger = Threat
  12. Dialogue
  13. Consider a Mediator
  14. Control the Rhythm and Tone of your Blog
  15. Move on

Read the details of each point from Darren. [italics are my own comments]. Some very valuable insight on how to deal with the flack - and how to avoid it in the future.

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