How do you tell a person they are doing something wrong and how they can fix the problem? These days people tend to be a bit more sensitive about the things they say or do. Criticism is taken as an attack on their person rather than feedback to improve ones work. They get upset and either ignore the criticism or strike back with a reply of their own, sometimes being rude and insulting in the process.
Take for example the following comment made on a recent Famous Bloggers articles that was posted:
Thank you for your helpful voice. Honestly I think someone should write a post about spellchecking and reviewing a post before submitting it as a guest post. Most guest posts I’ve seen (even on other sites) have several mistakes in them, don’t have a clearly defined organization, or just repeat themselves endlessly. Someone needs to set these people straight! (You can find the post and comments ) Link
I agree with Laura Davis, spellchecking is a must not because we are all spellcheck police but because it’s simply the right way to do things. My problem is how do you tell people things like this. Jakes took it well and had his reason for why his post had what some would consider some grammatical and spelling errors. I can’t say for sure Laura’s intentions was to criticize his post and I’m sure she did not mean to be insulting in any way, but some people may take it the wrong way, still I think it’s necessary to mention it, but how to do it is the question.
Who am I to Criticize Anyone?
Really, who am I to criticize someone’s spelling and grammatical errors? I make mistakes too, my grammar is far from perfect and even my spellchecker can make mistakes. But does this mean one can’t point this out when one sees it? I think not, after all would you prefer we ignore the problems of life simply because we create them as well or should we point them out in the hopes we can all eventually correct ourselves as well?
Sometimes people need to see the positive side of what may come across as an insult when pointing out mistakes or contradicting a statement. An open mind is very important in order to make the world a better place because you may think you have a great idea to fix a problem but perhaps someone else has an even better one. The goal is the same so why concern ourselves with who reaches it first?
Sometimes we just have to accept the consequences in order to achieve a positive result
Too often I see people not take it upon themselves to correct a problem because A) they are not personally involved in the problem at the moment or B) they don’t think it’s their responsibility. But if the resolution to a problem can benefit everyone, why not involve yourself even if it had nothing to do with you in the first place?
Constructive criticism can be a good thing as long as the criticism is done with the intentions of helping so not only should the one getting the criticism be less sensitive and more open but the one criticizing should also be more considerate and do it for positive reasons not as a form of insult or attack.
Some Advise for you!
So here is some advise for everyone who enjoys posting articles on their blogs and as guestbloggers:
- Make sure you reread what you wrote before posting.
- Spellcheck your article before submitting. Don’t just use the built in spellchecker on what every you use to post the articles, do a visual inspection of your own. There are some words spellcheck may not catch due to grammatical reasons.
- Check for grammar errors, sometimes I write duplicate words without realizing it or use the wrong past tense form such as the “ed” or the ‘ing” at the end of the word.
- Check your links to ensure they are correct
- Make sure the paragraph spacing is good. There are times I post stuff on my blog, do a small edit and for some reason all the paragraph spaces disappear.
- Read it to yourself before submitting after all the error checking and editing. (this one is said alot )
- Most importantly, be confident it’s worth the read.
Don’t be afraid!
Don’t be afraid to be criticized. Some may have good intentions to help make you blog better (0therwise how would you know you are doing something wrong); those who don’t can easily be dismissed. Also don’t be afraid to criticize. Do it the right way though. Not everyone will be very receptive but you’d be surprised how many may actually pay attention and even say thank you.
Article by chuckusa
My name is Charles, but you can call me Chuck. I'm a Customer Service Rep for the A/P Dept where I work. I love blogging; it's fun, educational and a great way to meet new people. Check my Motormouth of the blogging world blog It's fun to give my perspective about the world thru my blog and I hope others enjoy reading them.
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{ 87 comments… read them below or add one }
I take criticism in a positive manner and try to improve my self on its basis.
Karan Labra recently posted..How to revive your old blogposts
Twitter: udegbunamchuks
September 6, 2010 at 8:56 am
I’m not afraid of being criticized especially when I know that it’s constructive criticism and not some anonymous guy coming around and talking a boat load of nonsense about my blog/business.
Nice post. I was reading another post from a literary agent, and it seems that industry is exposed to huge criticism among authors who provide sample pieces to their readers. Spelling mistakes are one thing, but when someone attacks a work of art near and dear to your heart, it can be incredibly crushing.
I do think you’re right that we have to grow thicker skin and take the criticism into account. I also believe there’s a proper way to offer constructive criticism without it being the Simon Cowell-style, nor should it be all glowing reviews either; otherwise, the person won’t be able to grow.
So I suppose the key in supplying criticism is the the appropriate balance of giving it and receiving it.
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August 24, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Constructive criticism is always a great thing as long as those people doing so actually have something worthwhile to say. We always have to take it with a grain of salt but keep an open mind because it will help you improve and expand your knowledge.
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Chuck, I want to thank you for opening this amazing topic and leading the discussion!
Maybe some people here really don’t understand why we have to take care of spelling and grammar, I think it’s not about readers, I mean .. we are all from different backgrounds, and if you write the best content ever, believe it or not, but you will find that there is so many people still don’t understand what you wrote!
I just want to remind our readers and friends that the real reason why we should take care of spelling mistakes and grammar is to (save the language)! and again .. it’s not because it turns off readers!
Readers need the information, they don’t really care about spelling mistakes! but of course they will trust you more if don’t have mistakes (just an opinion)
That’s a good point. It’s about preserving the language. Take for example “LOL”, a word that is not really a word but the first letters of 3 words that are simply a phrase to describe a moment of laughter. But as oppose to writing the 3 words (even when not texting) and since there is no actually way to write laugh, LOL has become an accepted word in todays society. It’s not a bad thing in this case but then there is “eva” which is really the word “ever” but has been used very often as a cool way to say things. Problem is, like texting acronyms, these kinds of words are engraved into our youth before they even learn how to spell the real word properly which can affect future situations. I know cause I have seen it already where teachers have had to consistently correct and even lower children’s grades for writing words in texting style.
It’s a matter of making sure that while it’s not big deal to use texting slang when texting that the proper language itself is not lost in the process.
Charles recently posted..Lisa Reviews Giveaway – a great site- a great contest
Twitter: TJ_McDowell
August 24, 2010 at 4:46 pm
The way I see it, saying positive things encourages friendship, and saying negative things makes a person feel attacked. If your goal is to build lasting relationships, I think the focus has to be on encouraging. That being said, I think there are still times where criticism is needed.
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Totally agree. Remaining positive fosters positive things, both personally and professionally.
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I have a theory that people truly only want feedback when they ask for it. I liked the picture of Simon on the post and feel it is most appropriate. However, the people going on American Idol are asking for public humiliation and judgment. Not sure if those writing small blogs out there in the world really care to be criticized
As much as I liked your post, I appreciate you taking the time to answer all your comments. This is something a lot of people don’t acknowledge because they don’t realize the time and effort it takes for a successful blogger to answer the many comments he or she receives day in and day out. Particularly, if the blogger has muliple blogs plus wites guest blogs. We’re talking about a lot of comments here. Thank you.
Great post! I got any negative comment in my blog and I understand it because I am not good person in English. I personally will accept how they criticize me as long as they are still human.
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As long as they are not rude, it’s all good. Anything else deserves to have their comment deleted.
Darn, hit submit by mistake. I meant to add thank you. as well.
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Hi Charles. Enjoyed your post. Think of it as “compassionate revelation” instead of criticism. It’s not just semantics. Feedback given in a caring respectful manner will be more influential than hitting someone over the head with hard truths.
You’ll be singing that old song, “A spoonful of praise helps the feedback go down.”
Joe
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You know, that’s a catchy tune. Careful Mary Poppins doesn’t sue you. LOL
Compassionate revelation, now why didn’t I think of that? I like that. I’m actually considering adding something to my articles that will forward people to email me if there’s something they don’t like, hopefully in a decent manner that is. Nice post Joe.
Charles recently posted..Lisa Reviews Giveaway – a great site- a great contest
Hey Chuck,
I was technical writing major in college and did it for my job for about 3 years. Yet, I rarely point out someone’s spelling or grammatical errors.
Some of the most intelligent people in the world cannot spell to save their lives. Being able to spell well is not a reflection of intelligence; it’s a reflection of conformity. It says how well that person can remember and stick to the rules.
Some rules suck. Spelling is one of them. As long as people can understand what’s being said, I don’t think there’s a need to conform to spelling rules.
That said, I’m pretty sure I never even so much as received a B on a spelling test. I was always a great speller.
And I have always been called a square, too. Is there a link? Quite possibly.
Cheers,
Tia
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Well, some people don’t mind or make big deals out of things such as spelling and grammar errors. Others do find it annoying. I say to each hisor her own. I personally don’t mind being told and actually appreciate it as I am concerned over my abilities to write things properly. I feel, while it may not express my intelligence (although some may disagree with you on this), it does at least express my lack of desire to either improve myself or to do something the right way to begin with.
Words were meant to be written a certain way and, with the exception of text messaging, I don’t see any reason to change them or accept the incorrectly. But that’s just me. When my kids try to pull these kinds of concepts on me such as speaking or writing in what is called “slang” in quickly stop them and tell them when i start talking to you that way then you can address me in that manner, in the mean time normal English or Spanish is the rule of the house.
Interesting major, how does that apply to a job? You got me curious now.
Charles recently posted..Lisa Reviews Giveaway – a great site- a great contest
Life is bigger than spelling; that’s my major issue with it.
That said, I am just not the type of person to point out the mistake. Maybe it’s doing them an injustice but in my opinion, they have just as much access to a dictionary as I do. I try not to be the Sheriff of the blogosphere.
But since people are going to call out mistakes, might as well be gracious, I suppose!
There are many, many technical writer jobs out there. In all fields and for all sorts of purposes. It’s very in-demand!
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This sound good to me
Imagine someone who is not English native, and he is trying to find his way! for me.. it’s ok if I can understand what he is saying!
Twitter: element321
August 23, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Great post Charles,
I totally agree with you. People really shouldn’t criticize. I normally do not say anything because I know, I am not the best at grammar and spelling. But if I see something that needs to be change I will tell them by email and be polite about it.
For me, I try and write all my post content or at least my important ones using Word or Open office. That way the word processor catches most of the grammar and spelling errors. Then I do a manual edit for everything else. I generally check 2 or 3 times then transfer to windows live writer. Then I check several times on there as well. In most cases, this works out pretty well.
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I don’t mind using word to do the writing part, heck word even comes with the option to write and post the article right from it. What I don’t like about word is that it tends to give me a hard time when it comes to the fonts and how it always wants to control them rather than letting me choose. Perhaps the new 2010 version is better but I’ll stick with Live Writer for now which is free, for now.
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Twitter: element321
August 23, 2010 at 9:38 pm
I have office 2007 and I don’t like it. I use 2003 at work and prefer that one over any of the other versions. I have heard good things from 2010 and I will be getting a copy of that in a few weeks. We will just have to see. When I use office to write content, I don’t worry about font sizes or titles, I just write and then I let Live Wire worry about the fonts. If you allow live write sync with your wordpress host, it will grab your theme and match it up pretty well.
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Yea, that I do. My Live Writer downloaded my them and works good although it seems to have problems with 3 row themes. That’s why i have 2.
I recently found out I can get office 2010 thru my job for just $10. talk about an opportunity I can’t miss. Will be getting it soon to try it out myself.
Charles recently posted..Lisa Reviews Giveaway – a great site- a great contest
Twitter: element321
August 24, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Wow! Thats a great deal. I would do that to and not think about it. Get off 2007 as fast as you can.
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When commenting on blogs, sometimes it is hard not to criticize, but I don’t want to offend the blogger, only to be moderated out either.
I love to praise the blogger when the post is good, but I don’t want to seem phony either, since everybody seems to always be praising too, in order not to be moderated and to come into good standing with the blogger/moderater.
What to do and still be genuine?
As many have said here, a private msg seems a much better option. The trick is to actually do it in a very honest and nice manner and hope for the best. To do nothing will not help the person improve. I like improvement and don’t mind being told where I can improve. I may be hardheaded sometimes but I’ll always take it into consideration.
Charles recently posted..Lisa Reviews Giveaway – a great site- a great contest
Excelllent points and remonders Charles. There is no excuze for speling erors. With so many spell checkrs availlable, why the spellling errors? Geesh! [grins]
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LOL, aint that the toof
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
You know what? This post is an eye opener. On my point of view, there are constructive and destructive criticism. As I read Laura’s comment, it doesn’t sound insulting. I think it doesn’t pertain to someone only. It is for everybody. She doesn’t even stereotyping. She just wants to give her opinion to those who are ignorant enough to post without checking their comments before hitting submit. Sometimes we need not give emotions to posts. Because we do not know what is the real emotion of the person righting or typing the comments. It would always be great to give benefit of the doubt. Let’s be open to minded. Criticisms are not always destructive. Unless they are mean and harsh., right?
Open minded, another excellent key word or key phrase. It’s all about improvement after all, that’s why most of us come here afterall.
Charles recently posted..Lisa Reviews Giveaway – a great site- a great contest
Thank you Famous Bloggers for accepting my article and thank you all for reading and commenting. I had to learn these things the hard way, as usual. I didn’t take blogging serious when i first started several years ago. I just did it for the fun in the debate, the learning and more than anything I liked watching people get into virtual fist fights over topics, mainly political one.
These days I am more serious and although I still enjoy watching these “heated debates” I do my best to be more professional and would make sure my blog does not get lost in these flame wars that can sometimes erupt. So i try to keep my spelling and grammar in check as often as possible because it not only improves my life online but also my life outside the Internet world such as my job.
These things can impact both worlds so it’s good to apply these ideas to both of them.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Charles, you have done a great post here, I will trying to locate time to jump in the conversion!
We check spelling, but there is no way to 100% avoid mistakes!
I kinda wondered that. Thanks for answering that curiosity. And thank you for posting my article.
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Twitter: indblog
August 23, 2010 at 1:33 pm
People will ask me who am I togive advice to people on how to make money online when I only earn about $200-$300 a month.
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If that is what you make online then as far as I’m concerned you are someone who i can learn from since I make $0 online as we speak.
I agree with Chuck, maybe we can learn from you!
Also, it’s not about who much you make!
Advice is advice!
Splendid topic. I believe that approach is what separates pure criticism from blatant insult. Its not our job to please everyone but when criticizing, we should at least have the decency to make the criticism clear and not something that’s personal.
Good point. I don’t normally due it because I think most people tend to be too sensitive but at the same time I realize that old saying “evil triumphs when good men (or women) do nothing”. I’m not saying people are evil but it can be applied when people are incorrect about something.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
I am not the best writer in the world. I do the best I can, I have someone proof read my stuff before they are posted and I hope that my message gets across. I am more than happy to accept critiques of my writing, as long as they are objective and polite. My goal is to communicate my point to my audience and that can be distracting if there are mistakes. Thanks for bringing up this sensitive topic.
A second opinion, never thought of that. Not a bad idea. Perhaps I can get my wife to read my articles before posting from time to time see what she can see.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
I do find it annoying to see the amount of spelling mistake out there. It is not like they don’t have spell check and it really doesn’t take that long to spell check. So what is with it? I guess it is just pure laziness. I heard the other day on the news that most college freshmen think email is archaic and would rather be texted. Is it that hard to check email?
That’s one thing I had all of a sudden gotten as a habit and was hard to break but I forced myself to break it, writing as if I was texting. I don’t mind the use of acronyms like LOL and OMG but I have found myself, in the past, writing article where I use to many of these acronyms and the article came off as something you would find in a text msg. I was criticized by this very badly which is why I stopped. heck, look at this reply for example. I left the error on purpose to show it but I wrote msg instead of message. Might not be a big deal but can be the start of a really bad habit.
Good call.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Your right about that. I find myself using texting lingo as well. Especially on Facebook. It is easier and faster but a hard habit to break. Its funny how we evolve and devolve at the same time.
It’s true sometimes you just make mistakes. I know I am doing them all the time. To try and minimize these I reread my articles at least twice and also check the links. And I believe that constructive criticism is great because it helps you to improve yourself. I don’t like people telling me how good my blog or articles are. I would rather have some people telling me what I could improve.
You don’t like being told your blog or articles are good? Strange but hey, to each his or her own.
I like being told if my blog is good, sometimes . lol
It would be interesting to apply constructive criticism to more than just our blogs or websites, but to life in general. Imagine how much time, money, beaty and even lives we can save if we were less sensitive to criticism and listened more.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
See now you misunderstood me
Of course I like being told that my articles are good. But it’s much more helpful if someone says “well it’s an interesting article but you could improve this and that”. There is no reason why you should ever stop learning. Once you acknowledge that you are good enough you stop learning. That’s all I wanted to say 
Gotcha, gotta forgive me. I’m not always fast at catching on. Must not have enough caffeine in me yet. LOL.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Twitter: mani0993
August 23, 2010 at 7:06 am
I agree with the points you’ve mentioned. Just would say, when we criticize (sarcastically) on other’s blog; we need to think twice that one day even we will make similar mistakes.
I too use WLW & “After the Deadline plugin” though the latter finds out some errors when verbs are used (it can be ignored)
Rereading is what I will try to consider from the next blog post I write
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It’s weird for me to reread my own stuff, sometimes I sound silly after I write it and it makes me rethink about posting some of my stuff. But it can be a good thing as you don’t want to sound stupid or silly either. I learned that the hard way in my previous blog.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Twitter: azblogtips
August 23, 2010 at 6:51 am
No one is perfect and I usually criticize myself first
Thanks for raising this and it reminded me for more criticism
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LOL, no problem, always glad I can help.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Twitter: azblogtips
August 23, 2010 at 11:54 pm
I will friend LOL
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Hi Charles,
Great article, nobody is perfect, and definitive not me. My English is horrible as you can see, Spanish is ok, German njaaa and Scandinavian good, but I can take it.
Wow, and I thought I was cool because I could speak, rad and write English and Spanish and understand Portuguese a little. I’m close to perfect, lol, just kidding. I never got good grades in English or Spanish grammar so I have to work twice as hard to ensure I write a decent post. Thank God for things like google to help.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Oops, I clicked submit too fast and didn’t fix my spelling there, darn.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Hi Charles,
Thanks, then I’m not the only one who have problem with spelling and that Google can help us a little.
Re: Some Advise for You!
If someone advises you to do something, you can take that advice or not.
You can choose to make that choice.
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That’s true. That is how I handle my job here. As a Customer Service rep for both vendors outside the company and employees inside I have to provide the best customer service I can without telling them they are wrong. That’s why I never tell anyone what to do, I simply advise them on what I think is the best course of action and leave to them to decide. They don’t always follow me the first time but this does lead to them realizing I was right in most cases and next time around they listen to me, most of the time anyways.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
This is by far the best post I ever read in Famous Blogger, and I have just too much to talk about when it comes to criticism stuff. The first thing is almost everyone can’t face the fact when they are wrong or in the losing side including me too. It’s normal, and we human are born not to lose especially our self esteem, earlier on I commented on one of the blog post in famous blogger and self-promote my blog in the comment for others to get more information from me… guess what? Some people think self-promoting in comment section is wrong… and it’s even “funny.” Well, if that’s wrong, tell me “Famous Blogger” why do you still approve my comment then?
Look, some people can’t take losing as a advice to learn something they never expected, they think… “well… I’m earning more then you and I’m getting better traffic then you… who are you for me to listen to…” This attitude is in everyone, but how you are going to overcome is all up to how you going to reply in order not to offend.
When I saw the word “funny” I feel it’s not right, here I’m trying to promote myself and giving value and information to people to come to my blog for answer and he think is funny… It’s even funny when you do not self-promote because marketing is all about advertising and promotion… without it give me a good answer how to make money then….
The Bad Blogger recently posted..The Bad Blogger Swears Under Oath That He Will Delete Your Comment If You Did Not Follow The Rules Of This Particular Blog No Matter Who You Are !
Thank you Bad Blogger (and I meant that in a nice way, LOL). I am curious about your blog and why you call yourself The bad Blogger. Are you bad and in cool, bad as in “I’ll kick your butt” or bad as in sucky? I guess I’ll have to check out your site and find out for myself. I like people who have interesting names for themselves in their blogs. I chose Chatterbox Chuck because I ran for class chatterbox when I graduated from high school. i didn’t win but that was because I was only in that school for 1 year, given more time that title would have been mine for sure.
If you wanna promote yourself I say do it, just don’t make it seem like you are spamming. That’s my opinion.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Well… actually the name “Bad Blogger” just came to my mind when I started blogging… eh… may be because I blog about sexual stuff so, I thought out that name, but anyway, as you say no spamming, well… I never spam on anyone’s blog and I mean it…
Look… unless the author hates me and my “Name” (The Bad Blogger)… I never got rejected for nothing since the day I started my first comment on John Chow’s blog… woww it’s been long and I will never forget my first blog I ever commented….
The Bad Blogger recently posted..The Bad Blogger Swears Under Oath That He Will Delete Your Comment If You Did Not Follow The Rules Of This Particular Blog No Matter Who You Are !
Hmm, sexual stuff, now I’m even more intrigued. I’ll definitely check it out this afternoon.
No people, I am not some sex maniac or anything, I’m just a guy and it’s in the genes. lol.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
I allow your comments because as you said you don’t spam and you add value all the time!
Also, I hate your blog name, not because your blog name as much as it’s the field to put you name (real name) you don’t follow this one the right way!
We have here some ways to promote yourself and blog, use your name, add twitter account, and leave a link behind! let me know if this is not enough
I approve your comments because I know you.
Well… it’s my “pen name” in the blogging zone, although I know you and many others know my real name through face book. I have many pen name in different niches… as I earn through yahoo and google ppc… I have to be different as to use name that people can easily remember.
The Bad Blogger recently posted..The Bad Blogger Swears Under Oath That He Will Delete Your Comment If You Did Not Follow The Rules Of This Particular Blog No Matter Who You Are !
Sometimes some mistakes are ok to live with, but at times it is too horrible that it can irritate a reader no end. The reason is that the reader might think that the author has just posted for the sake of it and not what he loves doing. So its always a good idea to proof read your articles at least twice before posting just to make sure that everything is correct. And as the saying goes only GOD is infallible so we are bound to make mistakes but yes with proper attention we can minimize it for sure.
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Minimize is definitely the key word. After all, we are only human.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Grammar and spell checking issues can drive away a reader if it’s in a horrible condition, like too many silly mistakes. Before posting anything on my blog, I proofread it several time to make sure there aren’t any “big” mistakes…well, some small ones manage to avoid the filter process.
About notifying mistakes to another blogger, I think if it is done in a proper way, then it can lead to a nice relationship between the two. I try to notify them by sending emails, and not make the thing public.
Sourav recently posted..TnB Weekend Blog Revisit 2
I think avoid public criticism is the best way to do it. Although sometimes it makes the article interesting but still.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Thank goodness I’m not the only one who obsessively re-reads their posts before submitting, and does the same for comments on other people’s sites… I’m clearly in good company!
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LOL, I’m glad to keep you company. This is a habit I am willing to accept and live with. I think it’s a really good one.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
It is always good to be able to take positive criticism. This is how we grow to become not only better bloggers, but better people in general.
If someone is offering you constructive criticism, you should thank them. This means that they at least care enough to bring it to you because THEY want to see you succeed. Even if you do not end up taking their advice, you should still thank them regardless.
Exactly. Thank you Wayne. Now can you tell this to my boss? LOL, sometimes I wish her criticism more more constructive than destructive. Sometimes she means well but she could you a class on how to criticize.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
I’m pretty sure we all can relate. Maybe you should take the time to approach her about it? You never know what might become of it.
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Hmm, not sure I’m brave enough, not right now anyways. LOL
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
It is also important to check your comments for spelling-grammatical errors….I do think people need to calm down a bit and approach criticism with an open mind. Not a bad topic to bring up. Nicely done, and no spelling errors that I could see
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Thank you. I did my best to make sure as it would have been kinda funny to talk about spell errors while having some in the post itself. lol
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Twitter: Ileane
August 22, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Hi Chuck, I’m in agreement with you. A similar situation came up regarding a guest post that was formatting incorrectly. The entire post was formatted like a bulleted list and it should not have been. I’m not sure who was at fault but the blogger should have made a point to let the host know that the post needed to be corrected. All of the good intentions of the blogger went down the drain because of it.
Thanks for bringing up this conversation, hopefully we can all learn from it, whether we are the guest, the host or even when it’s our own blog post!
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As Kevin said it’s easy to fix mistakes on your own blogs and some sites allway you to correct errors on your comments as well, but have noticed not a lot of them let you do that these days and guest blogging also takes this ability away so one must always check, double check and maybe even triple check if necessary just to be sure. Thank you.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Hi Chuck,
Thanks for the proofreading tips – it’s nice to have some new ones to add to the routine.
The errors that really drive me crazy are the ones that slip through when I leave a comment as I have no control over fixing them. At least a blog post can be fixed if you notice the mistake.
One additional proofreading tip that I received recently is to read what you’ve written aloud while underlining each word with your finger.
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I rarely have time to myself, if I am not at work I am home with my 2 (soon to be 3) kids and wife so reading out loud is not something I am thrilled about doing. But I do try to reread it before posting. I guess my biggest drawback is that I am a “last minute” blogger where I create my articles out of inspiration and have to post it as fast as possible or I end up losing my pace and the article ends up in the draft section for a long time as I have a hard time finishing them once I lose my inspiration.
I have learned so much from sites like this, tips are always a great to have.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Forgot to add Thank you.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Poor grammar and syntax puts off some readers.
That is reason enough to get it right.
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It does to me, I saw a blog once where the grammar and spelling was terrible, I was amazed the owner even had readers and commentators.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Chuck Nice post and I do admire people getting to honest topics.
I don’t really try to go around correcting anyone because I think it’s best to let
people do what they are going to do. I was recently hurt to see a blogger do something I thought was totally two faced hey it stung but I realized most bloggers are out for themselves and me getting into spats over it isn’t going to change anything.
People that come by very rarely to bloggerluv have the most advice and the only complaints I ever heard about the functions and features me personally I know I have been wrong many times so I would be a fool to not at least read and consider advice any blogger offers, I have seen plenty come and go that haven’t took anyone’s advice.
I think it you private message someone a legit suggestions like I had a lady DM me that I sounded ANGRY and I had to take a look at that anyway nice to see everyone posting here is from BloggerLUV
Stumbled
Yea, it can be very difficult to say anything. Last thing you want is to get into confrontations with anyone. PM is a great way to mention it to keep it off the boards, just hopefully the receiver is receptive to such things. i for one have no problems being told about errors. As long as it’s not meant to insult me in any way. Heck, I noticed a few after reading my article again after posted.
Thank you. I always prefer honesty.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
Hi Charles
You have raised a minor problem which later becomes a major problem if not corrected at the starting phase of Blogging life
I use MS word to check for errors rather than using WordPress plugin for spell check. Although it takes time but still I find this method to be very efficient
As a Blogger If I come across any spell mistakes in my friends blogs, then I do comment by asking politely and make them also feel good about it.
Happy Blogging =)
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I use Windows Live Writer to post to my blog and it has a handy spell checker but even it has missed some misspelling due to the grammar of the sentence. I tend to reread my stuff because I don’t always say what I want to say the right way and sometimes I get distracted and after rereading realize some sections make no sense. So this is my chance to correct it not to mention I can sometimes say it better.
Thank you. Blogging does make me happy.
Charles recently posted..The Famous Bloggers ComLuv contest may be over- but the fun has just begun
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