I’d like to think that this was a “No Drama Zone”, but I know better. This is the blogosphere, and drama abounds! Actually, I think anytime you get a group of people, passionate about whatever topic, you’re going to find pettiness and drama. I’ve seen it in every group I’ve belonged to, and it’s kept me from staying with a group for very long. I hate drama and confrontations.
I’m just curious as to why the drama? Why does someone, who really has absolutely no reason to rip someone to shreds do it? Why does someone who has no interest in what someone else is doing or taking part in, decide that their opinion on this person is somehow so important that they need to not only do everything they can to hurt that person, but get other people to believe the same way?
I always think about what I was always taught. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Of course, this doesn’t always hold true. Sometimes you have to speak out about something that is going on to make others aware of the situation.
Like a while back there was a mommy blogger who got a very nasty email from a company after she sent them a querry on doing some advertising for them. This company got very rude and nasty with her, so she emailed them back saying it was uncalled for, and the company rep got even more rude. This interaction was then taken public by the blogger, not just because of how rude the man was, but because of his disrespect to a whole group of people (all mommy bloggers). His treatment of that one blogger, and then subsequent bloggers contacting him about this situation, made everyone very angry. And if you think Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, don’t take on the Mommy Bloggers!
This situation was handled in the right way though. First the blogger contacted this company rep to confront him on his disrespectful attitude towards her. When he escalated the disrespect and rudeness, she then took it to the public at large. She first gave him a chance to explain himself, defend his position, or change his attitude before she got the word out on his abusive attitude.
Another situation came about today that was totally wrong, in my opinion. One PR company is starting a new campaign for a large corporation. They are taking applications from bloggers who want to be brand ambassadors for this corporation. A specific and somewhat well known blogger took exception to one part of the application. Instead of contacting the PR company directly asking about that section, they decided to complain about this section online, stating that the PR company had no business being in the PR business. This blogger without further understanding of what the PR company wanted or was talking about, decided to try and discredit and lambaste this companies repuation online. For what? Because the blogger didn’t like the fact that ONE word was mispelled and they didn’t like the way one section was worded on the application.
It just so happens that the PR company in question is one that I’ve worked with for a while. They are very good at what they do. I’ve been able to make some great contacts through them and trust them because of the work that they have done. So when this blogger started complaining and trying to rip them to shreds, I was very upset. They continued to try to discredit this company on twitter and on their blogs without any real reason. This blogger could do some real damage to the PR company and they know this.
I think it’s sad that this one blogger decided to make trouble for the PR company, simply because they didn’t like one little section of an application on their website. Was it that bloggers business to try and hurt the PR company? Did the PR company do anything to the blogger? NO! The PR company didn’t contact the blogger with any rude or disrespectful emails. The PR company wasn’t asking the blogger to do anything. If the blogger didn’t like the application process or the basics of the contract, then they didn’t have to apply for the blogging opportunity. Simple as that. Instead the blogger in question, decided to try to discredit and hurt the PR company with tweets and blog posts about them.
I’m glad to say that a lot of other bloggers in the community, both large and small, have stepped up to stand behind the PR company. It’s good to know that not everyone out there is petty and mean.
As far as I’m concerned, this blogger lost my trust, my respect, and all credibility because of their actions towards this company. They acted like the big bully on the playground, trying to hurt someone for no good reason. Instead of trying to explain to the PR company why they felt something was wrong with the application, they decided to try and hurt their reputation online. This was totally uncalled for and only really hurt their own reputation.