Massif wrote:Y'know, there comes a point when you need to be less paranoid (not really the correct word, but close) about criticism and Beer.
I can kinda see Bazul's point, because you've used the line "I'm new to this thing" or variants, a fair bit. It probably only makes an impact if you watch a bunch of your videos one after another. Aside from that you're seeing criticism where there isn't any! We all like your content, but you'll see a disproportionate amount of criticism because that's the way forums work.
Oh, and you don't need an account to watch videos, so there's no reason to doubt the claim that they've watched a stack before deciding to comment.
I said I'd "file it" under Beer28 - I can tell a genuine Beer post from a non Beer post. He does have a certain style that gives him away (not just talking about content).
The reason I saw it as a troll was that we've been hit by someone who's creating accounts with which to troll. It's hard not to be suspicious when I find negative comments posted with brand new accounts.
As for the annoying stuff... I've been public speaking/blogging/podcasting/whatevering for so long now that none of this stuff requires any kind of conscious effort. I have to watch these videos as I'm editing them, and I have no idea what Bazul was talking about.
Again, if someone's going to provide any kind of feedback about something specific (and it sounds like there's a specific complaint here), it helps to point me to what is offending rather than just telling me that I've got a "shtick" and that it's irritating.
When I critique something (or flat out complain), I do the object of my critiques the favor of specifying exactly what it is I'm talking about. I don't just say "You stink" and then walk off. That's not helpful.
There's also been so much negativity around here in recent months that it's getting harder and harder to tolerate. I hope to have a "breakthrough moment" when I suddently decide to stop caring about it, but it hasn't happened yet because I'm still in the stage of caring about my job and how well I do it.
In my last job, I read thousands of comments from customers. The vast majority were extremely positive.
The few negative comments usually fell into one of these categories:
- Personal Preference: These were the people who didn't like my style and kept the comment simple, down to a few general adjectives and adverbs from which I could learn absolutely nothing
- Insane: Some people would leave a few comments in Klingon amid grease stains left by their unwashed hands - I didn't pay a lot of attention to these
- Experience: You'd be shocked at the number of times I got rated down because someone didn't like the muffins
- Ignorance: Some people just didn't know any better and left scathing complaints to make it look like it was somehow my fault their IQs were in the low double-digits
- Valuable: These were the rarest complaints, but I dd get them every now and then - From them, I was able to improve what I did, and avoid making certain common mistakes, but it required the effort on behalf of the audience member to come up with something specific to say - Without specifics, it was right back to the "Personal Preference" flavor of complaints...
After getting so many insulting comments, I got a little tired of it.
But those interactions were one way. I collected the comment sheets, read them, and couldn't respond.
Now I can respond, and I think that what I initially said to Bazul was entirely valid:
If you have a problem with how I do my job, then your comments will get a lot more attention and respect if they're specific and respectful - I don't respond well when someone calls my personality "shtick" - it may prove that this is the case and that I'm the wrong guy for this job, but I know absolutely nothing more about how to do my job well after having read Bazul's comment than before.
That, and with all the mud-slinging I've been seeing here (there's a reason I stopped frequenting the Coffeehouse), it's hard to tell the real comments (yours) from the bait.
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