5 Ways of Dealing with Criticism
Dealing with negative commentary can be a serious problem for many, new and old to their profession. Many people will get defensive upon dealing with negative feedback, however, taking such a route can usually result in loss of customers and alienation of your readers.
Nobody really appreciates negative feedback, but there are various ways of dealing with criticism while building your authority and using it to your advantage.
Ignore It
Some comments are made simply to be rude or destructive. The best way to deal with “trolling” or blatantly offensive commentary is simply to ignore it.
“Don’t feed the troll.” Responding to such commentary makes you seem defensive, and some people even consider it a sign of intellectual weakness to blatantly argue online, stating that time would be otherwise utilized to work on something constructive. If you receive comments you know are made just to cause trouble, the best course of action is to ignore them completely.ﾠ
Thank the Commentator for His/Her Opinion
Some comments are made to be constructive, even if they are not stated in the most polite way. Online, you can often encounter people who are “brutally honest” and while these people may not break the ice gently, they do so with the hope of being genuinely helpful.
The best way to address such comments is simply to thank the person for his/her opinion, and take it into consideration with the understanding that their intention was not to be rude or hurtful. Often the community will gladly step in to soften the blow. Remember to genuinely consider the comments made, and ask yourself if a change should be implemented.
Let Your Readers Deal with It
Blogs and websites are built to form communities. Your readers will be happy to step in and reprimand a troll or destructive presence within your website’s community. Allowing the readers to defend the blog not only builds loyalty, but also authority.
Remember to thank your community members for sticking up for the blog, and to fulfill your obligation of bringing them an excellent experience and product. Loyal customers can make the best defense for a website in trouble with a troll.
Defend Yourself
In the case of a comment that is unacceptable to extreme cases, you should defend yourself and your ideas. These comments are ones that address you personally, and attack your values or morals. The best way to handle derogatory statements is to address theme directly on your blog, and defend yourself with examples, statistics, and any other legitimate forms of justification.
If possible, consider creating a blog post about the issue, and describe your thoughts and ideas in detail, making sure to link out to others who share your stance. There are times when you should build your authority by showing off your knowledge and intuitiveness.
Make a Changeﾠ
If you constantly receive criticism on the same topic, then it may be time to make a change in that area. Try to create a new approach to the problem, and show your readers and customers that you can grow and adapt to suit their needs and your needs. Remember, “the customer is always right.”
Negative criticism is never fun, however, you can deal with it in a way that not only shows people that you are respectful and considerate, but authoritative and knowledgeable. Being able to turn the negative into the positive is a trait that any entrepreneur should be able to master.
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Approach of customer is always right doesn’t always work because there are certain types of people which enjoy getting in arguments and single person can waste a lot of your energy. So maybe your organization, blog or whatever just doesn’t suit them and is better to tell it right away. Great post anyways! Thanks!
Great list! I especially like the part about other users taking part and helping keep the blog a friendly place. Keep up the good work
I think I have done all of the above. You need to decide which one to apply when.
Thanks for the post. If the criticism is thought out and may have merit, I view the criticism as something to address and learn from. If the criticism is just someone trolling, then I could truly care less. Use the best judgment for the situation.
Good Work minimize the chances to get criticize, Keep up the Hard work, Apply above mention points yourself
Dealing with criticism is not easy for your ambitions, but can be rewarding
It all depends on the situation, but trying to put one’s ego aside, and actually listening to criticism and perhaps learning and growing from it is the ultimate challenge. Not all criticism is meant to be positive though, so don’t fall into the trap of taking it all personally!
Be confident about your work, Keep blog friendly, Most of These also apply to my blog
Understanding which one to of these applies to your situation is very helpful. Also, understanding that you may have to apply more than one of these solutions to just one situation. For example, you may find yourself learning from negative criticism while your readers are dealing with it.
I think weather it is online or offline, it is super important to deal with criticism. I think you will often get more criticism online though, since people are behind a computer screen, and they are more likely to share their true feelings since there is a “space” between them hehe. But… yeah definitely you need to be able to deal with Criticism if you want to be successful in any walk of life.
Till then,
John
Found your site via following you on Twitter. I’ve poked around a it and read a few articles. I just wanted to say howdy and let you know I will be following the site as well as twitter. Later.
Criticism is extremely hard to deal with. I personally am my own worst critic, and I think a lot of others can relate to that challenge. While I don’t necessarily want to hear negative opinions, no matter how constructive, I’ve probably already had the same line of thought about my work. I think you have to take all feedback with a grain of salt, and always look at whether the critic is really trying to help you improve or not.
I am use this punchline”I Love my attitude problem” For Dealing with Criticism
Stay calm and just take it positvly
I took the “thanking their opinion” option the other day to someone who really ticked me off and left a lewd comment…it was only a couple of minutes later when I felt the need to vent..
I just hate it when people expect that they can disrespect you on your own site without thinking that you’ll ultimately defend yourself..and your intentions
I think that if you establish enough credibility with your readers when someone leaves a nasty comment it will be obvious what their intentions were. I recently had someone leave a comment on my blog that was a recently terminated employee with the company I work for. It was apparent in her comment that she had not even read the post and went on a tangent of unrelated topics. It was what I would consider my first real negative comment. I debated on whether to leave it up, but decided not to make my comments an open place to vent about losing her job.
Now, I have also received some feedback on my posts that didn’t agree with my point of view, and I like those. It brings a different point of view and leaves room for others to comment.
One phrase that comes from John Chow is “If you’re not pissing someone off, you’re not doing it right!”
very interesting and informative post.all are right but you have to decide which one you will do apply.
You shouldn’t ever DEFEND yourself when someone criticizes you. This just show the other person that you want to fight for it because you know the statement he/she said is true or somewhat true.
-Mike
If someone wants to post a comment on my blog, they are welcome to do so.The comment can be criticizing as long as it contributes to the discussion.No point in defending your self, just thank them for leaving a comment and ask them to visit you again.
I always look at the credibility of the messenger. Criticism from a dear friend is quite different than accepting criticism from a control-freak co-worker. Just stay calm, if you feel that some of their feedback is true, then just listen. If you feel that they are criticizing just to be difficult, ask them to lay off, change the subject, or walk away.
Interesting topic Yan. Blog owners need to know how to deal with criticism that they are bound to get over one issue or another. If you aren’t prepared to deal with criticism, you might get quite offended and discouraged. If the criticism continues, you might even throw in the towel prematurely.
If it is constructive criticism, listen and learn from it. Pay attention to where the criticism comes from. If it’s from a credible source and from someone looking out for your well being you should listen. Otherwise, ignore it and move on.
You are of course absolutely right in what you said. But a lot of people are just too dumb to get it. They are more concerned with claiming America is great than actually making America great.
i have been dealing with negative criticism last year, i had to deal with people yelling, arguing, screaming at me for no reasons. i just know that my better days will come very soon all i got to do is be patient, god will help me washed my stressful days off if i had very rough days. everybody has their good days and bad days.
In all cases of negative criticism we need to keep positive attitude and to be more creative.
Maybe some sort of negative criticism is not to bad after all. We can recheck our actions again and improve things.
I like that “Loyal customers can make the best defense for a website in trouble with a troll.” …can I quote you on this?
Handling negative criticism IS tough, but like you suggested, I prefer to use criticism as a measuring stick in whether I’m providing good info or not.
Not sure if I’m lucky but, I have more issues with spammers than trolls on my blogs.
Thanks,
Trish
The best way to address such comments is simply to thank the person for his/her opinion, and take it into consideration with the understanding that their intention was not to be rude or hurtful.