Had someone call me an idiot and a moron yesterday for my Galaxy Note 7 piece. (Don’t look for it in the comments, it was an emailed reply.) Apparently he had a beef with Samsung.
Whatever.
Naturally this isn’t the first time I’ve been called names. Basically if you say or do anything on the internet – heaven forbid actually express an opinion – you’re going to get feedback, to put it politely. Play in the tech space where religion and personal experiences rule the day, and you’re bound to run across someone who disagrees with you, and does so in a disagreeable way.
We can blame the internet, society, bad parenting, anonymity, or a whole host of other reasons if we choose, but that’s kinda pointless if you ask me. Doesn’t matter where it came from, it is what it is.
One of the requirements for publishing online is developing what most might call a thick skin. After 13+ years of Ask Leo! you can bet that I’m there.
But I’m beginning to see it as something other than a “thick skin”. I’m beginning to view it as “acceptance”. For reasons that matter not at all, there will be feedback of that ilk. Accepting that it will happen, and then choosing my response, is all that I have control over.
My response? Unsubscribing the individual, and using it as a moment of introspection.
And a moment of gratitude for that opportunity, and for all the other more constructive feedback I receive daily.
And now I move on….