I know I don’t usually blog *on a Tuesday* but I was struck with some inspiration recently and I wanted to get my ranting out before I forgot.
Anyone with a blog knows that you can’t please everyone. There’s always going to be people out there that don’t like what you’re writing about or don’t think that anyone wants to hear your opinions. At the same time, there will be readers that absolutely love what you have to say.
For the most part, though, human beings tend to pay more attention to negative attention than positive attention. I am no exception.
Someone recently tweeted, “Twitter isn’t good enough for some attention whores anymore. Now they have to make blogs to share their irrelevant opinions.” Now, although I can’t prove this is about me, after more than five people screen-shotted the tweet and sent it to me, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it, indeed, was directed towards my “irrelevant” self.
I was definitely offended at first. I don’t necessarily think I’m bothering anyone by blogging, and even if I am, I’m not passing out contracts requiring anyone to read my attention-seeking opinions against their will.
Being not calm, cool or collected doesn’t help, either. If I were more even-keeled, I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about the tweet, but we all know I can’t just go with the flow. I have to obsess about these things- over-think, over-analyze, over-worry. Should I just stop blogging now?
After my initial annoyance, though, I realized that you truly can’t win everyone’s approval. As cliche as, “You win some, you lose some,” is, it’s still 100% true. And spending your time worrying about the losses takes away from the wins.
Plus, criticism and negativity open up a conversation. If I had any sort of desire to speak to that tweeter, I could’ve utilized their negativity to create a discussion about what they prefer to see in blogs and what interests them. In the future, I plan to do this when I see similar comments. This person, however, didn’t deserve my time.
And that will happen, too. Some people are open to a respectful debate, and other people just want to bring you down. Deciphering between the two is crucial for bloggers.
I also think that the blogging world is one of acceptance. I am no angel, and it’s not like I’ve never judged someone in the past. But I certainly think that once you’re aware of how difficult and raw it is to put your personal thoughts on the World Wide Web, you become less critical of others and more open-minded. Love me some blogosphere.
In conclusion, a fair warning: Say whatever you like, but just like Taylor Swift can write a song about you…
I can blog about you 😉
Not Calm, Cool or Collected 