Nasty comments and what to do about them #Blogging #Cyberbully #AmReading
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for a fun post. Unfortunately, not everything in life is fun and, in fact, a whole bunch of stuff is decidedly not fun. So, I thought I’d take this day to talk about something unfun with which I could use some help. I can totally admit I don’t know everything and do need help sometimes. Not that I always listen but, anyway, let’s get to the heart of the matter.
In addition to this blog, I have another blog (Readsalot) which has the sole purpose of promoting other (indie) writers. I try to promote books and writers who I believe my readers will enjoy. Of course, I also look for authors who I think have it going on – covers that look professional, well-written and typo-free synopses, etc. But now I’ve run into a problem I don’t know how to handle.
I share my blog postings on my Facebook Readsalot page as well (because I’m awesome like that). On a Facebook post promoting a book, someone commented: “Shit book. Not even worth the cup of coffee it sits under.” Um… what?
I wasn’t sure what to do and as it was 6 o’clock in the morning and the comment had been there all night, I was a bit panicked that I needed to do something – right now. But what? Luckily, my husband lives in a time zone that’s two hours ahead of mine (and he often has early flights so I can totally bug him at 4 a.m. if I want). My husband asked whether the comment was constructive. Nope, not at all. His answer was unequivocal. Then delete it. So, that’s what I did. I also sent a private message to the person to let him know I deleted his comment as it wasn’t constructive and explaining that the page is meant to promote others. I told him he’s welcome to comment, but comments need to be constructive.
Apparently, I’m now a liberal beaner (whatever that means) because I don’t want any nasty stuff on my Facebook page. As I promised not to get political on my blog, I’ll leave that comment right there.
I’m convinced I did the right thing. I have no problem with debating issues, books, movies, archaic tennis rules, you name it. There are those who would argue that I in fact get off on debating. But throwing out nasty comments benefits no one. Have we learned nothing from the recent elections? Oops! There I go getting political again. I think the above comment fits into the category of nasty remarks that people feel free to post online but would never say to someone in person. And that’s what it’s all about for me. If you wouldn’t say the words out loud to the person at whom they are aimed, then you shouldn’t post the remark online. End of.
What do other bloggers think? Should I allow these types of non-helpful comments?
