And I think Elizabeth put it perfectly when she said "Maybe this is just blogger burnout on my part, or maybe the climate online really is shifting, I'm not sure." It's something that keeps popping up in my mind. Is the climate online really changing? Is it just a coincidence that so many bloggers are feeling the same way all at once?
I'm inclined to think that it really is changing. When I look around at all the bullying, competition, and self worth issues going around the world today, I'm sort of surprised it's taken this long to migrate into the blogosphere. The question I'm really wrestling with is what to do about it. I'm not a quitter - I'm a fighter. I always have been and I always will be. I'm not going to let a bunch of nastiest scare me away from something I love, but sitting back and taking it isn't exactly the way to deal with it, either. And just not looking can only work for so long - unless I were to disable commenting, stop giving out my email address, and quit Twitter; which isn't going to happen any time soon. But something has to change.
I think the fault partly lies with the bloggers. I think we've forgotten to laugh and the ridiculousness of people who feel the need to tear us down to build themselves up. I remember several months ago when a friend of mine tweeting about a nasty comment she received from someone ripping on her for being "boring" and other such things. I remember laughing at the ridiculousness of it all with her. But lately, I see bloggers complaining about the trolls, and how the blogosphere isn't a positive place anymore. But isn't complaining about the trolls and loss of positivity only adding the negativity? Isn't it just giving into the haters? To be honest, the trolls don't bother me all that much. I occasionally read GOMI (occasionally meaning quite often) and usually walk away from it with a good laugh. What bothers me is seeing girls I know giving into the trolls by talking about it. Complaining about it. Adding to the negativity by going on Twitter and being like "oh I'm so tired of these haters."
Maybe I'm way off base here, but in my experience the best way to fight negativity and cynicism is with positivity. That's what I used to love about the blogsphere. I used to see girls lifting each other up and laughing with each other when random trolls came around complaining. But lately, I don't see that anymore.
It's not the trolls and haters that make me tired of the blogsphere - it's the bloggers who go around complaining about them.
What do you think? Do you agree with me or think I'm a crack pot? Comment and let me know.
I would absolutely love to hear your opinions/thoughts on this matter.
Disclaimer: I wrote this post with extremely little editing. It's basically just my thoughts spilling out on this subject, so some of it may be very rough/sound weird. Also I borrowed this idea from Kaehla Bee who has a regular feature called "Honest to Blog."
I get the same feeling, at least from the blogs I've read that are all "ugh the internet is changing, trolls are making my disillusioned!" Dude. Trolls have been on the internet since the beginning of the internet. Maybe when blogs get more traffic there are more trolls, so they think it's the internet changing when perhaps it's not. I don't know; I've never had that problem because I have like 5 regular blog readers, but I do think there's a lot to be said about how people respond to negativity. Obviously it's not up to us to determine how somebody responds to something; I often respond to negativity in kind. But it's true that what you send out into the universe is often what comes back into your life. Bloggers should learn to focus on the (probably much more frequent) positive comments, and just do what they enjoy doing, regardless of what a few dicks on the internet say about it. My 2p! xx
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I definitely agree! I've only been blogging for about 9 months, so by no means am I a pro at this. But I haven't actually seen too much hate, I hear people complain about it all the time, but I don't go looking for hate messages/comments. Whenever I see things like that it makes me feel bad, so I tend to stay away. But on the other hand, I definitely believe that this is getting to be a big issue, and we all need to do something about it. Bloggers definitely should start leaving nice comments, with compliments and maybe even a story:)
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Katie I seriously LOVE this post! Thank you so much for writing it <3 It expresses some thoughts and feelings that I've been having lately so please just know you're not alone! Hang in there; not all is lost in the blogging world <3
ReplyDeleteI can see how pointing out the trolls would only give them more power. And you're right, bloggers just need to ignore and go on with their life. And my favorite part of the blogsphere is that it is a great community. I love that bloggers just build one another up. And every time I find a new blog I am inspired and motivated. So I hope you get out the blog funk and continue updating because I really enjoy your posts. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this! I totally agree, haters get a kick out of knowing they are defeating you! I'm putting together a little series of putting the positivity back into blogging, i hope it's okay if i add this to my list of favourite posts on the topic!
ReplyDeleteKate xo
I don't get out much, I never noticed this. Wait, not getting out much, on the internet...does this mean I have no real life social life?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I don't know must of the things behind this post, but I do agree with the complaining bit. It only makes things worse. That's why I only complain about spiders. (Sorry, I'm being very random today.)
What I mean to say is you can't give up, because you are a very encouraging person.
P. S. Like my new profile picture?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. You should never take yourself so seriously that you let the rude, trolling comments get to you. Just laugh at how ridiculous it all is. It's really pretty funny. And you will feel better and probably live longer because you avoided a lot of unnecessary stress! I think you give some great advice here. :)
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