Please be Honest and Tell me This Post Sucks
Scott Greenfield posted a couple of weeks ago about the delusion of finding a mentor online: "Twitter and the Mentor Delusion." Honest criticism ("telling you when you suck") is a key part of mentorship. I would say it's integral. I have learned the most from lawyers (and others) who tell me unabashedly that my work product left a lot to be desired. I recently sent a brief off to a lawyer who falls in this category. I had labored over it for hours. Hours and hours. I knew it wasn't perfect but I thought it was pretty good. His first words: "you're off to a good start here."
Honest criticism is tough to find on the social web, and this is why we should be skeptical of the whole idea of online mentorship, particularly on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Far from telling you that you suck, people tell you that your stuff is great. This is a double whammy.
I recently came across a post from a totally different realm that captured this nicely:
For a second there I almost thought Scott Greenfield went off and started a photography blog and wrote those words.
I don't know that I necessarily subscribe 100% to why people are reluctant to be negative online (in the social context), but I think his point rings true. For whatever reason, people are free with their praise, and if you are looking to hone your craft, feedback from the social web isn't necessarily the best place to go. In fact, it's probably the worst.
Added: Pew Internet released a survey (Feb. 9, 2012): "The tone of life on social networking sites:"
(For what it's worth, I've met a lot of people online who I've learned a lot from so I don't recommend being closed off in this sense. Maybe not a lot. At least a few.)
Honest criticism is tough to find on the social web, and this is why we should be skeptical of the whole idea of online mentorship, particularly on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Far from telling you that you suck, people tell you that your stuff is great. This is a double whammy.
I recently came across a post from a totally different realm that captured this nicely:
Positive reinforcement is your enemy. Your Facebook friends, your Twitter followers... hate you. Instead of taking ten seconds to say. "This doesn't work. You need to do better". They readily push that "like" button, because it's easy and they hope to get the same from you, but also because they're cowards.("Chances Are, You Suck.")
They're afraid of the internet mob. Nobody wants to get on the wrong side of a mob, so it's easier to play nice. Go along to get along seems to be the secret to a happy online life.
For a second there I almost thought Scott Greenfield went off and started a photography blog and wrote those words.
I don't know that I necessarily subscribe 100% to why people are reluctant to be negative online (in the social context), but I think his point rings true. For whatever reason, people are free with their praise, and if you are looking to hone your craft, feedback from the social web isn't necessarily the best place to go. In fact, it's probably the worst.
Added: Pew Internet released a survey (Feb. 9, 2012): "The tone of life on social networking sites:"
The overall social and emotional climate of social networking sites (SNS) is a very positive one where adult users get personal rewards and satisfactions at far higher levels than they encounter anti-social people or have ill consequences from their encounters.I'm shocked! (Two other parts of the survey were somewhat interesting, but the first finding was entirely predictable.)
(For what it's worth, I've met a lot of people online who I've learned a lot from so I don't recommend being closed off in this sense. Maybe not a lot. At least a few.)
This post doesn't sucks. You're off to a good start.
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I see tons of criticism on the social web, so I'm not sure where y'all are coming from here. And then let's ask my wife about her career as a blogger and all the crazy trolling insane comments and replies she has to deal with. In both realms, there is absolutely no shortage of negative feedback, for better or worse.
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Al - anonymous trolls/commenters offer some harsh criticism but my point is that this is much less likely to come from one of your Facebook friends.
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Or maybe Al's wife is a really awful blogger? It could happen.
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No, she actually a fantastic blogger. She broke some sort of record for page views on a Roman Polanski article fro Salon.com. But I digress.
Venkat, I certainly suppose it is true that your inner circle -- online inner circle, perhaps -- are least likely to provide negative feedback. That strikes me as a normal function of self-selection of those who you want to interact with most closely. Their opinions are more likely to be attuned to yours, or at least they're most likely to be concerned about hurting you with negative feedback.
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You can do anything, Venkat!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/319318/saturday-night-live-you-can-do-anything
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