The blogosphere is a huge alter universe. Messages reach millions of people in just a click, and with this fact in mind, it is established that feedback is constantly valued.

There’s no question that, for most of us, receiving criticism is not easy. Even when it’s well-intentioned constructive feedback, listening to someone point out an error that you made, or a flaw you have committed can be very tough endeavor. Criticisms, even when well-intentioned and constructive creates and awkward denial space, in between receiving the blog comment, and appreciation.

“Ignore the negative feedback and learn from constructive comments” is growing to be a cliché of the blog world. The bottom line is, how does one get there? Let me map out the ideal approach towards critiques.

1. Deep Breaths-Relax. Prevent yourself from reacting right away, and maintain composure. Composure in this case, would also mean control, and allows you to organize your thoughts and maintain your balance.

2. Brain over Heart-When ready for the initial reaction, remember to keep your head on top. Focus on the comment per se, and not on the feelings generated.

3. Take Down Notes-Read the blog comment intently and try to comprehend the other’s opinion. It may prove to be very valuable, and constructive for future posts, or is illogical and just a means to kill their time. If you can clearly see the details given, it is easy to identify if it’s the former or latter.

4. Acknowledge the Errors-If the criticism is indeed accurate, it’s does not imply putting up the white flag. Acknowledgement of errors is not at all a losing situation.

5. Time for a Change-Acknowledgement is done, let the self-control be not put to waste by taking corrective action. Modify future blog posts to counter the errors previously committed.
If after Step 3 has been done, and it was found that the criticisms were by no means constructive at all, try to identify the comment’s motive. It would obviously be not worth the additional posts, furthering the other’s blog world visibility. In that case, ignore and delete. It would not be worth yours, or the readers’ time. There is a reason why ignore and delete functions were created in blogs, put them to good use.

Photo courtesy of themarketinggods.com

(This article was originally posted in Ezine Articles)