Sometimes People Write Mean Things About You On the Internet

If you put yourself out there on the internet, you’re gonna get criticism. There’s no way around that. Fans of =3 have been buzzing about this all week after a Facebook post on the subject, but it’s on my mind too. Today I found a pretty nasty thread criticizing an old blog post of mine (from a different now-defunct blog). My appearance, my writing style, my critical thinking skills  - all coming under fire from internet strangers and it’s not the first time. I know better than to take these things to heart, but that doesn’t mean they don’t sting at all.

I love that the internet has connected me to so many polite, supportive individuals but sometimes the way that people hide behind anonymity can be annoying. There are two parties involved in this kind of drive-by online interaction; there’s the person putting out content and there’s the person who responds to it. It’s good to play both roles sometimes but I’m STOKED to count myself as a content creator. Everyone should actively try to foster their creativity! Even if the result isn’t the best ever, WHO CARES! I’m still making stuff and having fun just by trying to figure all this out.

I think the only part about it that’s making me feel bad is that I know I didn’t try my hardest on the post in question. It was a few years ago and I was playing by somebody else’s rules of blogging and trying to do what I thought would make me fit into the blogosphere. Dumb idea, right? These days, even if I write a sub-par blog post or pitch a bad joke in the writer’s room, I don’t stress out about it. It’s just the stupid internet, right? Why take it so seriously? Why tear someone down just for trying? That’s just not how I roll, but if it makes someone else feel good to insult and belittle me then go ahead I guess. Ambitions of writing mean that taking criticism comes with the territory. I’m making plenty of mistakes on my creative journey and I’ll never be too shy to admit that.