Advice on Weathering a Blogstorm…

Being involved in the blogging community can be a wonderful thing – more often than not, support and encouragement from fellow bloggers makes for a very positive experience.

However, there is the chance that you will suddenly find yourself thrown into the deep end of a much more negative experience – something called a ‘blogstorm’…

You suddenly find you have posted about something which seems to have enraged or outraged a section of the blogging community, and you find yourself at the wrong end of a lot of shouting and pointing of fingers online. It’s not a nice experience and can be quite stressful and worrying to someone trying to build an online brand.

Firstly, let me tell you that a blogstorm always seems bigger than it is when you are at the center of it and secondly, let me tell you that blogstorms blow over – they may feel interminable and insurmountable, but when you’re out the other side of a blogstorm you realise that most blogstorms occur in a flash, and in a teacup.

How you should react to a blogstorm you seem to have initiated will depend on the scale and nature of the issue – there is no single approach which will fix everything, but I hope this article will help newer bloggers weather their first blogstorm.

I’m going to go through five steps that are worth considering when you encounter a spate of negativity aimed at you online.

1. Never argue with a blogger – he’ll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Generally it is good to respond to negative criticism, but I would warn against getting dragged into long protracted point for point arguments – nobody ever comes out looking well from a public brawl.

2. Take time to consider your position.
If you have posted something on your blog which has resulted in either negative comments or negative blog posts on other blogs, it is crucial to take the time to truly consider your position.

Try to objectively assess whether there is any truth in any of the allegations which may be leveled against you. You may find that the comments or blog posts aimed at you feel personal, or even inflammatory, or just plain get up your nose. It’s a tough one, but you may find that despite not liking the tone or attitude of your ‘attackers’ they could still have some valid points.

3. Don’t go negative.
No matter how personally attacked you feel, remember you don’t have to go negative. Take a deep breath, take the hit to your ego, and remain positive.

After you have tried to look objectively at what’s going on, thank people for their feedback and let them know you are taking it on board.

If you need to defend certain positions, that’s fine – but don’t respond with a counter attack. In the short run a counter attack may make you feel better, but in the long run and from an outside perspective you’re counter attack is likely to look petty and small.

Stay positive and professional. It will stand to you in the long term.

4. Write your response, but pause before publishing.
Once you decide to respond, take time to write a considered response to those you have incensed. Don’t rush into an angry response. It’s not easy, but it’s vital – my advice would be to write your response and save it to review a little later before publishing, give yourself a couple of hours or even overnight if at all possible.

You will most likely find that no matter how calm you thought you were, a second look reveals a more emotional side to your response than you intended. Coming back to your response after a break allows you a second chance to ensure the professionalism of your response.

I would also recommend having your views sanity checked by those you trust. Try to get a few points of view and, if possible, from a couple of seasoned bloggers who have experience in dealing with blogstorms.

5. Walk away (but continue to monitor).
Try to write your response bearing in mind that once you have written it, you will walk away. Your position will only be weakened by constant updates to your response, and you can come across as flustered, stressed and unsure of your position – which may be how you feel at the time, which is why it’s all the more important to take time and wait before publishing a response.

It is difficult sometimes to restrain yourself from responding to every new comment/blogpost on the matter – you may feel you have to defend your position. The fact is, usually, you will be able to respond and leave it at that. Yes, you may have people shouting and wondering why you are not responding to them, but if you have written a considered response addressing the major issues, you should be able to step away from the keyboard.

Trying to defend every single point from every single commenter can result in prolonging the blogstorm and making you look defensive, petty and even desperate.

Of course, you need to continue to monitor the situation, and there are cases where you will need a follow up response – but be sure it’s necessary. Leave time between responses and go through the points above again for each response – if my experience is anything to go by, you will find that responses you felt at the time were urgent, critical and necessary look silly in the cold light of day.

Oh and one other thing… where should you respond?
Where you should respond depends on the nature of the blogstorm. You could respond on your blog with a new post, but it’s not always the best option. You may not wish to add fuel to the fire, or to raise awareness of the blogstorm by devoting a new post to it.

Posting comments might suffice – usually a good old fashioned blogstorm will be happening in comments on your blog and on new posts on other people’s blogs – so you can usually comment your response on your own blog and if necessary comment on the other blogs with a note pointing out your response.

In some cases you may feel it is necessary to address the issue with a new blog post clarifying your position, or changing your position if you feel you have made a mistake or an error in judgement. In this case you can write your post and then trackback or comment on others blogs letting them know you have done so.

Summary
Blogstorms can feel like personal attacks, and if you respond in the heat of the moment in a defensive mood you can find you have said something you wish you could take back. But it’s the internet, there’s no ‘retract’ button – it’s out there and it’s out there until they turn off the internet.

So that’s my advice, and it’s not always easy advice to follow. The next time I find myself in the center of a blogstorm I will be visiting this post and trying to make sure I follow my own advice:

1. Never argue with a blogger – he’ll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
2. Take time to consider your position.
3. Don’t go negative.
4. Write your response, but pause before publishing.
5. Walk away (but continue to monitor).

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 9:26 am and is filed under Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.