Smack blogs-appalled :(

[maggiemae]

Please believe me when I say I am not "getting" at anyone here but this is something that genuinely puzzles me about the scrapping community - why is any criticism taken as a personal attack? Is it because we feel we "know" the magazine contributors, class teachers, authors etc through their posts on here?.

I mean if you go to a restaurant and don't like the meal you tell people. You don't keep quiet for fear of hurting the chef's feelings. Why should a scrapbook class be different?

If you buy a book and you don't like it you would happily say it was rubbish (in your opinion) - I don't think you would care about hurting the author's feelings ( the reviews on amazon certainly don't and no-one comes along and calls someone jealous for posting a negative review there!) Why should a book about scrapbooking be any different?

There was a thread on here about films that were so bad people walked out on them - no-one was worried about hurting the actor's or director's feelings? Why should comments on scrapbook magazines be different?

Yes there have been a few mean personal comments on the scrapblog and I really wish there hadn't been. It is hurtful and unnecessary. However if you have complete freedom of speech you have to take the good with the bad and if these posts were just ignored then I am sure they would die away.

As consumers if we pay for something and it doesn't meet our expectations surely we should be able to say so and not be told "well don't buy it, don't go" etc etc." for example there is a post on community about someone with a bad experience on ebay - so far no-one has said to her "well don't use ebay then" - why is scrapping so different?

I have thought long and hard about posting this as I am not one for confrontation (Libra star sign - like to see both sides, diplomat etc ) but I would like to know what others think is the reason for this different attitude re scrapbook products.

[Bluemoonjules]

Maggie, I agree.

I'd guess this is about the way things have been written, and the fact that, in the end, this is a sponsored site. It doesn't bother me as I can have a private whinge at a crop or with scrapping friends IRL!

Personally I like it that this site is moderated and kept pleasant. I also like that it is not an exclusive club!

[maggiemae]

Hey Jules

I totally understand that as a sponsored site UKS may not be the place for these kind of comments (not the personal ones - there is NOWHERE that is the right place for those obviously!) - and yes if you attand a crop or have real life scrappy friends then you can whinge there - however lots of scrappers dont go to crops or have craft friends in real life and so thats why I think the smackblog could be a valuable place for people to let off steam - though obviously it would be much better if the silly immature people kept their personal attacks to themselves.

[Bluemoonjules]

Hiya - yes, I agree. I understand why Katie was so upset as to post about it here, but maybe it has given it more oxygen than it needed.

[wanna_scrap?]

Publicly bashed, self esteem bruised - still blogging

Its my job, as a freelance designer and photographer to earn a living through whatever mediums I can, using whatever I know to do it. Just like people who buy classes though the DC, people who buy Shimelles classes and Cheryls Painting with light tutorials.

If you want it, buy it.
If you dont - erm, dont!

But I fail to see what makes good conversation about humiliating people for offering a service.

[nikkimitch]

Publicly bashed, self esteem bruised - still blogging

Its my job, as a freelance designer and photographer to earn a living through whatever mediums I can, using whatever I know to do it. Just like people who buy classes though the DC, people who buy Shimelles classes and Cheryls Painting with light tutorials.

If you want it, buy it.
If you dont - erm, dont!

But I fail to see what makes good conversation about humiliating people for offering a service.

exactly - very well put - I quite agree with being allowed to air an opinion (which is not always possible on uks so will be following this blog with interest) BUT there are ways of expressing an opinion without offense - and as you said noone is being forced to part with money for something - really dont see how what you have offered is any different from say writing a book about something - if you dont want to buy it - then dont - it should be possible to air a review on something you have read (but how is it possible to review something you havent read?) but this can be done politely and with constructive comments rather than personal attack.

[nikkimitch]

Oh and by the way I had intended to sign up for these tutorials (I know I can google them for free but like the way you explain things and hope to learn something) but had forgotten - this blog saga has reminded me so at least it has achieved one positive!!

[StephB]

"self esteem bruised"

No Kirsty that shouldn't be how you feel.
That horrible feeling should be placed frirmly on the shoulders of people who take the ethos of free speech and the right to complaint and use it purely as a way to be absolute bitches! I get sick and tired of people whinging and moaning on public forums about people. If you've got a problem with someone then deal with it - in private. Before anyone jumps on me - the things that people were saying on that blog were a personal attack - NOT about shoddy service etc.

[leigh11]

can't find the offending blog, but agree with everything said here!!!
If you don't like it=don't read it

Kirsty, I love your work, and wish I had half your talent!!!!!!

could someone PM me the link please

[cantstopstampin]

I must admit that I have seen one or two questions which were fairly innocent that got smacked down rather curtly. This was a while ago you understand and I was fairly new here too... but I do remember a post in particular that said something like: "here is the info you want! I don't see why people have to provide you with it when you could easily have searched for it yourself. The info has always been there and we keep having to give you newbies the same info over and over again. Its just laziness" blah blah blah. Now it might have been a bad day for that person (can't even remember who it was now) but as a newbie myself, who had no idea how to search for something I must admit it put me right off asking any questions for a long, long time.

I will say that I haven't seen those sorts of posts for quite a while now.

Gosh - if I'd have received a reply like that to a Q: I would have been really upset and probably not posted on here ever again. I've only ever found 'most' people very helpful and accommodating. I post my pics on my gallery for me (I know I'm not good) but I like the end result for my albums and my kids and DH like em so that's all I have to worry about. Glad you stayed though to enjoy this forum, because I think it's brill.

Well done to you for having the staying power! Scrapulicious.

[maggiemae]

Before anyone jumps on me - the things that people were saying on that blog were a personal attack - NOT about shoddy service etc.

Really? All of them? Are you sure? have you read through ALL the blog comments. Out of all the replies only a very small minority have been personal (and of course I agree there should have been no personal comments at all)

eg What about the informative post about the scrapbook event in paris? Or the reason why many shops can only carry a limited range of stock? I found both helpful and interesting to know and not a hint of a personal attack there at all?

Nikki - I agree. If people could stick with constructive comments it would be better.

If you've got a problem with someone then deal with it - in private.

- but if your problem was with something you paid good money for that is still on sale why should it necessarily be done in private. (although I agree if something has gone wrong you should give the person an opportunity to put things right before airing your grievance) But why should other consumers not have a chance to hear of potential problems.

If you buy a washing machine you may check out the Which guide for the best option - if they find fault with an item are the Which journalists whingers and moaners too?

[leeann21]

Publicly bashed, self esteem bruised - still blogging

Its my job, as a freelance designer and photographer to earn a living through whatever mediums I can, using whatever I know to do it. Just like people who buy classes though the DC, people who buy Shimelles classes and Cheryls Painting with light tutorials.

If you want it, buy it.
If you dont - erm, dont!

But I fail to see what makes good conversation about humiliating people for offering a service.

Im glad it hasnt fazed you kirsty, your too good a person to let them bring you down

[__TJ__]

personally i dont beleive with hiding behind anon posting - if you have an opinion at least have the gumption to stand by it. also you can choose to moderate all posts before they are allowed into your blog - but with one as popular as kirsty's then youd spend all day allowing posts, maybe banning anon posts would be a good idea, after all most of the comments are +ve and people are happy to put their names.
as for getting paid to do what you love - lucky thing! wish i could

[Sally R]

but if your problem was with something you paid good money for that is still on sale why should it necessarily be done in private. (although I agree if something has gone wrong you should give the person an opportunity to put things right before airing your grievance) But why should other consumers not have a chance to hear of potential problems.

If you buy a washing machine you may check out the Which guide for the best option - if they find fault with an item are the Which journalists whingers and moaners too?
__________________

Fair comment, Maggiemae. The only thing I would take issue with is that the audience is so large. For example, if you had a problem with your local shop, you would complain to them and then probably over numerous occasions tell friends, family etc etc. You wouldn't take out an ad in the local paper - their wouldn't take it - so the people who would hear of your complaint would be small. Here, the shops cater to a small market and most of their customers are here so a complaint here has much more impact on a business.

It is certainly a very recent thing where people feel they have to tell all and sundry about problems they may have experienced. For example again it is different making a comment in a team thread about customer service of a sponsor to taking out a thread naming and shaming in the title.

I think it is the problem of scale. Perhaps consideration should be given to whether the impact of the complaint is appropriate to the actual problem itself.

As for Which magazine. They are never personal, always professional and have an agreed scale of assessing products and service. The problem here is that when a complain is made, we only hear of that and never about the other aspects of that company.

[CloClo]

Yes, I don't think Which Magazine and a smackblog are a fair comparison, though I agree perhaps we do need a more honest and fair way of reviewing products. The fact is, the UK scrapping market is small, so any comment is bound to have an impact. I think its also really difficult to say that a class or something is not up to standard - not like a washing machine being faulty or something. A class which one person hates will be exactly what another person is looking for. Its all a question of taste and personal preference.