Stumble Upon Some Criticism
January 12, 2007 on 11:33 am | In blogging, introspective |So, I checked my site meter for the first time in a while and noticed that I had a notably larger hits per day average. I know that about once a month I get a brief flood of hits (I’ll refrain from an Aunt Flo joke) from www.stumbleupon.com, so I followed the link to the reviews of my site.
I had four times more thumbs ups than thumbs down, but the thumbs down people had taken the time to write what they didn’t like about my site. I’ll admit, I’m sensitive. Once when I was in elementary school I dropped out of gymnastics because my teacher told me not to play on the balance beam. But really, this was the first negative feedback I’d gotten about my site, and I need this stuff so that I can improve. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it feels great.
One comment was just nonsensical jibberish, so I brushed that off. Another was a quote of something I’d said about naming a rifle, which I guess was their reason for not liking the site. Fair enough, guns aren’t the most popular topic. But the last one stung:
From the page: “So, how was your weekend? Relaxing? Get a lot done? Did you go out of town? Good for you!” - that’s about as interesting as this dire blog gets. It’s just about the dreariest monologue of non-events ever. All I can think of is the word smug.
Ouch. Dire? Yeah, I guess I can be a little negative. “Dreariest monologue of non-events ever”? That makes me sound like Eeyore. However, ya got me, I do write about the mundane. But I own up to that, and try my darndest to make it interesting. “All I can think of is the word smug.” That’s all this person could think of? Gotta say, that stings a little. I was going for “playful.” Or something. Not smug. I hate smug.
You know how they say that negative comments can overshadow a multitude of positive comments? Yeesh, quite true. But it’s cool, I appreciate the honesty. And I’ll try to improve. The majority of my writing will still probably be about the mundane, because that’s what most of our lives are composed of. So if I can make that funny or interesting, I’m proud of that. The rest, I’m working on.
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How rude! Your blog isn’t dreary!! It cracks me up. That’s why I’ve kept reading over … oh bother, when I did I start reading your blog? I don’t even remember but I’d say it’s been at least three years. I know I don’t know you in real life and I hope it’s not weird that I’ve been reading but I really do enjoy your blog and your wry sense of humour.
Comment by /Karen/ — January 12, 2007 #
Aw, thank you Karen!
No, it’s not weird at all. I read a lot of blogs by people I don’t know in person. If anything it’s flattering because someone reads even though they’re not obligated to.
Comment by Wendy W — January 13, 2007 #
Whoever said you were smug obviously was lacking in some basic…something. What a crock! You’re so not smug! And you’re REALLY not dreary!!! I’m offended on your behalf! And you do talk about mudane things, but you’re so funny and witty that they aren’t mundane anymore. Bah. You’re amazing. Forget that guy.
Comment by Teresa — January 14, 2007 #
You do not hate smug. You are the queen of smug. Every morning when I get to work and see a flashing Gtalk, I think, “Sweet, my morning Mug-O-Smug.” Why do you think I talk to you?
Comment by The Dane — January 16, 2007 #
I thought it was because I have the innate ability to properly mock people.
Plus, there’s the witty banter. Which comes in a mug as well. Mmm. Frothy.
Comment by Wendy W — January 17, 2007 #
My blogroll rocks! (Part 1)…
On the night of the Word by Word dinner, several people commented to me that my blogroll is awesome. Which……
Trackback by /Karen/ — January 28, 2007 #
[…] Karen posted about her blogroll and happened to mention me and Brandon in it. I like reading stuff like this, not just because my ego needs a little attention every now and then, but because it’s nice to know that people who aren’t obligated to keep up with me actually read my site. Here’s what she said: Brandon (and Wendy, for that matter) are people I don’t actually know in real life. We’re separated by the Pacific Ocean so it’s not really surprising. I started reading Brandon and Wendy back when they were sharing the same blog. Ben put me onto them (don’t know how Ben found them but maybe they were among the “famous” Christians of the blogosphere back then—or they knew famous people of the blogosphere). Anyway, I was interested in how a married couple would go at having a blog together, and certainly Mosaic Life was fun to read. Then Brandon gradually stopped posting and moved over to his own domain where he started to blog more about theological stuff (he took up studying theology) so Wendy had Mosaic Life all to herself. Wendy is a scream. Don’t believe the reviews—they don’t know what they’re talking about. If you haven’t read her blog, you certainly should. […]
Pingback by Mosaic Life » Where the Blogging is Easy — January 29, 2007 #
I had the same situation. I was getting a ton of hits to http://www.grapheety.com more than 1000 uniques a day. Then one day it just stopped all together. I can’t see if I had bad reviews or it just expired or what?
No idea…
Maybe the page has to have changing content on its front page?
Comment by Gavin Quinn — February 13, 2007 #