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One of the things I’ve noticed over my years of blogging is that there’s a fair amount of ranting and raving going on in the blogosphere. Such bloggers even appear to get attention at times.
So, is it worth it? Should you be the negative writer on your blog?
Many bloggers claim that negativity makes them more authentic. I’m not sure that I would agree. I don’t think that you have to be negative to be authentic.
While it may feel satisfying at first to be the negative writer, negativity can have long-range consequences.
I got into an excellent discussion with Judy Gombita about negativity the other day on Google+. Judy has written a post on the topic from the perspective of a public relations professional, but really her points would apply to freelance writers as well. If you haven’t read it already, check out Decorum Byte: Don’t be Negative; Practice Positive PR2.0 on her blog.
I won’t repeat all of the excellent points Judy’s post made here, but some of the points that apply to freelance writers include:
- Your social media participation sets a tone for your business interactions.
- Negativity can ultimately cause you to lose part of your community.
- People want to work with positive people.
Some of you may argue that you’re not that kind of blogger, you’re just a hobby blogger so it doesn’t really matter what you say online.
While I understand this perspective, remember that you may not always be a hobby blogger. You may one day wish to establish an online business presence. When that day comes, your past negativity may come back to haunt you.
What do you think? How negative are you online and do you think it impacts your freelance writing?
7 responses so far ↓
1 dojo // Apr 15, 2012 at
I see many bloggers in my country build upon negativity. I can’t lie, I do tend to write ‘nasty’ stuff sometimes myself since certain events/things drive me up the wall. But this type of posts shouldn’t be the majority in a blog. I like presenting ‘positive’ things more and have noticed my readers love those articles too.
2 Carrie Daton // Apr 18, 2012 at
I think it does effect how people percieve things and your outlook. Sometimes it backfires and created negative publicity for you and your content/site/product. Negative publicity might be good in some cases but it will affect you in the long run. So what i want to say is being more affirmative in your writing would do you good but if you are voicing your opinion, you should not think about negative or positive writing, just write away.
Carrie.
3 Laura Spencer // Apr 26, 2012 at
Thanks Dojo and Carrie! Perception is important. However, there’s also a difference between being negative all the time and being negative once in a while.
4 Katherine // Sep 12, 2012 at
Hi, my perspective is that honey attracts honey and I would much prefer to be positive and read positive comments. I think one can critique some point of view in a positive way even when the critique is not positive. It’s all in the way you say it.
5 Laura Spencer // Sep 12, 2012 at
Thanks Katherine! To some extent, I think what you say is true. If you adopt an angry tone in your posts, you’re likely to attract other angry people.
6 Curt Worrell // Nov 13, 2012 at
Wow great post, Laura. I agree that bloggers should not use negative tones in their posts. As with anything else in life… you attract what you put out. I believe in karma and try to keep my online and offline interactions positive. Thanks for the thought provoking post.
7 Laura Spencer // Nov 14, 2012 at
Hi Curt!
Yes, well people can be attracted to negativity–at first. But if you want a long-term writing career it’s not the way to go.