It shouldn’t come as a surprise that not all comments we receive from our blogging efforts are positive. This is not exactly a goody-two-shoes world where people will not say something if they do not have anything nice to say. Especially in the internet where people can bask in their anonymity and speak their uncensored views, eventually receiving negative feedback is a given.

Over the past two days, I read two blog posts that dealt with these negative comments, one is from Caroline-Middlebrook.com who received some rather colorful comments when she tried to thank those who stumbled upon her blog, and another from that 14-year old wunderkind resident of carlocab.com. In Carlo’s case an article he submitted to digg got flamed, and apparently, reading from his article on negative comments, it wasn’t the first time that it happened.

The Two Way Approach

There are only two ways to handle negative reactions or comments:

Either you run from it, or you learn from it.

The middle ground, which is to fight these comments head on would most likely result in further conflict so it’s best to stick to the two ways.

Each of these two approaches is largely dependent on the context of the comments received.

1. Run, Forrest, Run!

Some of those who post negative comments do it out of spite, some without meaning to, and some just for the heck of it. It is difficult to delve into their motivations as to why they wrote what they wrote, and frankly it’s a just a big waste of time speculating.

Most of these types of comments are easily categorized as blow-offs as they would not provide any basis to their reactions. At surface value, the intention is clearly to hurt and embarass, but then again, it may just be a way for them to express their displeasure with just two choice words. As I said, speculating as to their motives is just a big waste of time.

Move on. Ignore.

2. Read And Learn, My Young Padawan

Once you’ve gotten over the shock of seeing a negative comment, look at it more objectively and realize that if you only think about it for just a second longer, some of these negative comments (barring those comments mentioned above) are actually areas for improvement. These comments can also give you some very good insights on what some of your readers want to read, and what you may have failed to communicate with them.

You cannot get a better learning opportunity than direct feedback from those who patronize your product. These are unsolicited, honest reviews, that you didn’t have to pay money for. Imagine how much you have to shell out to get John Chow to review your product.

It’s The Circle Of Life

The run or learn from it approach is not entirely an original idea. If you recall the teachings of that wise monkey from The Lion King (assuming you’ve watched it), that’s what he actually counseled the young Simba on. Simba then was running away from his problems, carrying the burden of actually believing that he killed his father. Simba, after heeding the monkey’s advice, made a great turnaround and went on to become a great king of the jungle.

Of course we can’t all be kings, but whether you’re a lion or a blogger, what the monkey said is a universal truth and we would all do well to learn from it.