I recently wrote about the one-year anniversary of my blog. Happily, this prompted some people to send comments of congratulations and support. I appreciated these words of encouragement, as writing without feedback can sometimes feel like I’m communicating with just myself.
However, along with the positive comments also came criticism. One friend let me know he finds my blog boring. The reason he gave for his reaction is he wants to hear more about drama and intrigue than about birding and photography—my blog just isn’t sexy enough for him.
I admit my feelings were hurt to hear this criticism. My reaction probably has to do with the fact that the theme of my blog is a collection of my thoughts and ideas. When I heard my friend say he finds my blog boring, I felt perhaps I’m boring.
This isn’t the first time I’ve received criticism, certainly, but sometimes I’ve been able to move forward after the criticism more effectively than others. To figure out why this is and how to move forward from my friend’s criticism of my blog, I decided to reflect on some useful strategies for taking criticism in a constructive manner. Here are some thoughts on the subject:
How does the negative feedback you’ve received compare to what others have said? In other words, ask yourself if most comments convey the same negative message or if the criticism is an outlier. If many people have the same criticism, you may need to take it seriously. However, if only a few share negative feedback, perhaps you need to come to terms with the idea that you can’t satisfy everyone all the time.
In my case, the feedback about my blog being boring came from just one person. In fact, this is the first negative feedback I’ve received about my blog. In the year I’ve been blogging, I admittedly haven’t heard responses from many people, but those I have heard from have told me they enjoy my blog or have learned something from it. To me, this means the criticism about my blog being boring is an isolated incident and perhaps reflects just one person’s unique perspective. That doesn’t make the criticism meaningless, but it does keep its significance in perspective.
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| Bright idea. (ccPixs.com) |
When it comes to my blog, the lesson I’ve learned from my friend’s criticism is that I should be careful to guard against self-censorship. His perception is that surely nobody thinks about only the G-rated thoughts and ideas I’ve shared in my blog. Perhaps there is some truth in this. I could write more about some of the darker aspects of life—grief, doubt, conflict, fear—than I have so far. Or I could write more about the thrilling aspects of life—excitement, wonder, joy. While my blog will probably never satisfy anyone’s desire to read a thriller or a romance novel, I can think about whether I might dig deeper and share more details about my emotional life. Stay tuned to see whether my future posts go more in this direction!
It’s important not to let the criticism freeze you from continuing your efforts. The criticism happened in a moment in time, and like all moments in time, it should be allowed to pass. After taking what lessons you can from the criticism, leave it behind and move ahead.
I admit I felt momentarily frozen after receiving the criticism about my blog. I wondered why, if my blog is boring, I should keep writing it. I don’t seem much point in spewing unappealing words into the public universe. But, after going through the reflective steps I outlined in this post, I decided I could move forward. I could keep the criticism in perspective, learn what lessons I could from it, and keep blogging.