How To Handle Complainers In Your Blog Audience
My philosophy is that, with any audience, you will have a small percentage who like to complain. As your blog audience grows, it may seem as if the amount of unhappy people has increased. Over on PCMech, I sure get them. A few examples come to mind:
- The person who actually bothers to email me a nastygram because, God forbid, a typo got through without being caught.
- The person who gets offended at the use of a seemingly minor word (such as the word “crap” – seriously, it just happened to me this morning).
- The person who proceeds to rip you apart for daring to try to make any money with your blog.
It happens. What I keep in mind when I get these things is:
- This is part of having a popular blog.
- These people don’t know me and are simply venting.
- I can take these complaints as an opportunity to improve my site.
When I get a nastygram about a typo, my first instinct is to blast them for being petty. But, irregardless of whether they are being petty or not, it was still a typo and that should be taken as a reminder to pay more attention to your spelling and grammar before you hit the “Publish” button. Typically what I do in these instances is fix the typo and delete the email. Sometimes I may reply with a simple “thank you” message, but I always stop short of blasting the person for being petty (even though I feel that way 
). In most cases, whether I reply or not depends on whether the person was being polite or being very rude. I usually don’t bother with the rude ones.
When I get a person who just doesn’t like my content or proceeds to bash me around for my views, I usually take note of the email and delete it. Some bloggers feel the need to reply to every email. I don’t. While I make all effort to produce quality content, I also produce a lot of content for free and I do this full time. At the end of the day, if a person wants to chew me out given all that I put into this, they can go read another blog. Worrying about that single reader just isn’t worth my time.
If they threaten to unsubscribe, let them. No blog is for everybody. Ultimately, you need to do what YOU want to do. It is YOUR site. Some will dig it – others won’t. Stay true to yourself and your audience will fall in place.
So, my guidelines for handling complainers would be:
- If you get a negative comment, by all means let it through. I would never censor or delete a negative blog comment. You can use those comments as an opportunity to clarify yourself, to answer a question, or to provoke another follow-up post. On PCMech, the only time I delete a blog comment is if it contains blatant swearing.
- If you get a negative email, make note of it and make a judgement call on whether it deserves a reply. You may feel it is necessary to reply to every email in order to be accessible to your audience. But, keep in mind that you have the right to be choosy. You don’t OWE anybody an email reply. If you do wish to respond, then consider taking the email and your response public. but, typing a thorough response for one person who is hell-bent on being an ass isn’t really a good use of your time.
At the end of the day, all bloggers are going to eventually piss somebody off. The trick is to use the complaint as a means to improve your blogging and not let it get to your head. Responding in kind usually means you’re only taking the low-road.
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Comments
OMG YOU SAID IRREGARDLESS!!! THAT IS NONSTANDARD ENGLISH! 
Good advice. Unfortunately, the majority of those that are outspoken are also feeble minded and never contribute any value to online discussions. Fortunately you can often turn their ignorance against them with an intelligent response for all to see. I find this to be a rather amusing and effective method to expose their stupidity to everyone else taking part in the discussion. You may often also have others come to your defense when doing so.
In many cases, if someone offers a correction, it’s because they think you’re capable of doing better. If it’s something minor, like a spelling goof, or a dead link, the proper reply is just “Thanks” - and fixing the error so people that wander along later don’t run into it.
When they think you’re hopeless, then you should worry.
Yes I totally agree with you: if they don't like it then sod 'em. - Simple as that.
Personally I generally attempt to answer people reasonably even if blatantly
. having said that I have an internet stalker who's comments I delete as they're usually crude or just filled with negative crap.
I think the attitude of ' If they don't like your blog they can go read another' is right on.
P.S. That cat looks like a snake that's just about to strike.