How do you tell someone that their baby, their blog - the thing they put time and energy into- just does not work somehow?
Doing this for over a month now, I have been reading a lot of other folks blogs as evidenced by my prodigious sharing of links (that's a joke).
I judged debate for many years and learned how to be as tactful as possible to tell people why something they thought they were doing right didn't work for me. Mind you, that was me. It was also one time and one place. Blogs are semi-permanent- almost as if they were our children.
Fly away little blog post, do what you will in the world and don't get beat up too much by all those mean readers!
So how do you tell someone that the design is heinous? That ads placed ALL OVER THE PLACE are beyond off-putting?
Let's look at some advise.
The gist of this one: do not criticize in public. GREAT advice for bloggers. The reality is we probably can deal with being told something we've done is crud, but to do in their comments? Woo.
But wait, over here at Cats Who Blog, the suggestion arises that its ok to have that commentary. Something is better than nothing. It can show that you can take it.
However, some criticism can get to the level of bullying, yes? Over here, John Cass says it should be ok (not bullying) to criticize constructively so long as it is NOT oppositional.
But that's in the eye of the beholder, ain't it? Over here at the Pick Your Brain blog, it discusses how to handle being criticized.
A great piece of advice on BOTH ends of the criticism from that same post:
"Remember, criticism is usually inevitable. And it may just be an indication that you have taken a risk and chosen to tackle something which is a challenge to you."
If you are offering the thoughts, be aware of why, how, and where it is being done. I bite my tongue, a lot I think. But then again, people are probably reading this and doing the same thing- DON'T, I want your thoughts.
Photo by CarbonNYC