For years I tried to understand the reasoning behind negativity. Why would some people spend so much time and effort being negative is a question that might never be completely answered, at least in a way that leaves me satisfied.
It's not that I'm against criticism, I understand it's value and as a matter of fact, I believe it to be necessary for the process of growth to really take place. There is no way someone knows everything and it's only when we think we do, that we show our level of ignorance.
Making assertions in absolutes also makes no sense. Life is not so black and white and there are always details missed by such simple thoughts. Because I want to be clear, I'll go as far as to give some examples of absolutes that are not logical.
"Nobody likes your content" - "Everybody is hypocritical" - "You are selfish like the rest"
These comments make a lot of assumptions and cannot be based on the observation of reality. I try to refrain from being negative myself, I won't lie it can be hard at times and I'm not perfect. Just like every other person on this planet I have my own pet peeves, things that sound like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I'm not saying someone won't like my content, I respect that choice. Even musicians like Ray Charles, Hendrix, Clapton have people who don't like their music, and they are considered to be musical Icons. So, Why would I ever think I won't have people who dislike what I do? That is just how life works and I accept it.
However, saying something to me like "Nobody likes your content" assumes that the "critic" knows the will of everyone. The "critic" declares himself an authority over the rest of the people in question and voices their collective opinion?. If we want to be honest about this… How can this be accurate? Was there a poll done I'm not aware of?
I'm posing those questions knowing full well the answer. I'm simply stating that the comment itself is not a critic of value, its an attack, a projection of frustration and nothing more. It has nothing to do with me and as such I should simply ignore it.
I keep on reminding myself that "Positivity and engaging with respect always wins in the end". I'm not saying I can't have a disagreement, some of the people who I have a good working relationship with have disagreed with me, but we have discussed facts, and stripped the conversation of emotional projections.
I'm choosing to talk about this because I'm completely aware these behaviors won't really stop, some of these negative people act as if they are defending the integrity of Steem. If this is the case, if they really care about this platform being successful they could spend more time adding value, supporting users, delegating to good initiatives and not self upvoting themselves on blogs with negative comments that add nothing to the valuation of Steem.
I'm also talking about this because I would like to tell the people who follow this blog that these negative people will always be around and if you intend to work for your own success they will attack you as well. Maybe it's accurate to think of them as a positive sign of growth, maybe without them knowing they validate your relevance.
Some of the "critics" I receive are also not informed, they assume my intentions when using bots is to drain the platform of rewards, when they have not done the math to know that the profits are never there. Maybe they don't understand the math or maybe they don't want to, I'm not entirely sure.
Why would I spend precious time writing on my second language (it takes more effort) and promoting my publications if not to find more people who can benefit from the messages of positivity. I could easily become a self voting farm as they call themselves and actually turn some profits, but as I've said before there is no happiness on being an island and I'm fully aware of this.
I guess this will continue, maybe the negative agents won't stop and will continue to pretend they do this because they care, but I believe I can find enough people of the Tribe of good intent so that the negative voices will be too low for anyone to notice them.
