Haters gonna hate
January 10, 2011 § 8 Comments
Poor WordPress. Seriously and with no intended sarcasm: poor WordPress!
Their team came up with a great project not only to generate more users on their website (hello business acumen!), but also to sustain their users’ use of the website in general. This project gets people clicking on links (hello site stats!), gets people generating words, gets people reading each other’s generated words, and ultimately leads people to create fabulous little blogging relationships that might never have otherwise been created.
I used to blog on Blogger. I hated Blogger. You know why I hated Blogger? Because it was extremely difficult to locate any other blogs on Blogger. Sure, you could click on the “random blog” link, but unless you knew someone’s blog address: good luck to you! I love WordPress because they make it so much easier to find people with similar interests, not to mention the fun little pat-on-the-back that is FreshlyPressed.
All that said, I was miffed when I saw that the DailyPost blog, the blog devoted to the Post a Day in 2011 challenge, featured a post about those who have been complaining about the topics. If you don’t subscribe to said blog, you can read it here (and you can find my ass-long comment and read it there too). I recoiled from the subject matter of this post as a visceral reaction–it reminded me of teaching. “You guys are more creative than this,” said the complainer. “I see no topic ideas that make for compelling writing (0r reading).”
Sigh. Big, fat sigh.
To be sure, the fella, Scott, who handled the complaint from WordPress’s side, handled it quite well. Exceedingly well. (It makes me wonder how many times he had to erase his original response…I might have been a little more snarky.) See, if you’re not participating in the Post a Day or the Post a Week challenge, you may not be aware of this: although WordPress gives us topic ideas, they are simply prompts and not homework assignments. We are not required to write on those topics. And I have only very loosely written on a specific topic once or twice, but whatever. That’s not the point. In fact, several times I’ve seen a topic suggestion and have been reminded of something I wanted to write about.
Here’s what I have to say about this nonsense: haters are always going to hate. No matter how hard you work on a project, no matter the hours you put into it, the anxiety, the sacrifice; no matter all of that: haters are just gonna go right on hating.
WordPress and DailyPost, in particular, you just keep on doing your thing. Ignore the negative comments, don’t even respond to them. If someone finds the topics inappropriate for their blog or uninspired, then don’t worry about them. The topics are meant to help get those creative juices flowing (lord knows that coming up with a new topic every single day for 365 days is tricky and daunting).
Of course, I guess we could have assumed that it wouldn’t have taken longer than 10 days into the project before people started bitching and moaning about it, huh?
A.Hab.'s View 
I agree. Prompts are used to jump-start your brain. If you don’t like the topic, don’t write about it. It’s that simple.
If you can’t imagine writing a post without someone telling you what to write about…then why do you have a blog in the first place?
Haha, so true! It truly boggles the mind. Although, these were probably the kind of people who, in a college literature classroom, might have balked at the idea of having an entirely open free-write exercise. I have had some of those people in my class, and I want to bang my head on the desk. They complain because when I tell them that they can literally write about anything whatsoever, I’m not giving them enough direction. Apparently they have to be told what to write about. There are times when I really have to hold back the urge to look at them and say, “Have you ever had a single original thought in your entire life? Yes? Then write about it.” But then I know I’d be giving them what they wanted in the first place. 😉
Ewww, Chronic Complainers make my brain hurt. These are the folks that would depsise the rain and later whine that the sun’s too bright! I thought WordPress made it pretty clear that the idea was to get you writing, not exclusively writing about prompts (they were just trying to be helpful!). Glad you put in a good (and rational) word in!
Lol, I mean, I thought it was pretty clear what the topics were intended for…and I think a lot of other people thought it was pretty clear, to. I think what surprised me most about that particular comment and others who have complained is that they have this sort of “cater to me” air about them. I mean, just speaking from experience here, it is extremely hard to come up with a topic for people to write about! It’s literally impossible to cater to one single person (or a small group of unhappy people).
I like that WordPress made the (very correct) recommendation that, rather than complain about the topics, people should instead offer better suggestions. Maybe something more along the lines of: “My blog’s theme is about how Intergalactic Health Care will one day destroy us all. So, do you think we could have a topic about what intergalactic pharmaceutical companies should do to prevent universal annihilation?”
For instance. Lol.
I’m not participating in the challenge and haven’t checked for a response to my comment, but I suggested asking people to blog about Haiti on Wednesday, the one year anniversary of the earthquake–not as a complaint, but just because I thought those of us at WordPress could raise a collective cry against the suffering here–just like the American Refugee Committee is asking all churches, schools, and town halls across America to ring their bells at 4:53 pm on Wed, the 12th–ring them for 35 seconds, the time it took the earthquake to topple Port-au-Prince. Oh, well, I will post the request to my blog tomorrow. But good for you–glad you shared your perspective, cause, yes, someone will always complain!
I love that idea! I saw your comment on the blog post, and I absolutely want to participate–my plan is to write a “Where Was I When…” type of post about the earthquake. I think those of us living in the States (and even more those of us who have little experience with earthquakes) had a completely different understanding of what happened in Haiti. So I want to explore that more. 🙂 But I’ve got my fingers crossed that WordPress chooses that for the theme on Wednesday!
Ah, I just checked and saw that you had supported my Haiti suggestion. Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad you will say something about those who are struggling here!
Haha! You’re welcome! It’s a great idea! 🙂