Comments on: AppsLab FAQ: What if Someone Says Something Negative?

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:06:02 +0000

No problem, I prefer honesty and transparency. It's better for setting expecatations.

By: waj

waj — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:29:50 +0000

And congratulations for not even editing your own comments!

(i.e., “people do appreciate honestly”…)

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:01:43 +0000

Good point. The FAQ series collects experiences that we have seen through our 2.0 activity, but there is application to real world interaction as well.

Twitter is a bit dangerous as a punching bag, since it's indexed by search engines. You should assume that what you say will be seen by everyone. It is an interesting tool to track real time reactions to a presentation or a meeting, as a back channel.

By: GrahamAka

GrahamAka — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:26:04 +0000

Great post Jake and one that applies to a wider audience than just blogs… I could draw a lot of parallels in the time I spent in Consulting with the points that you draw out.

I think that your comment on Twitter indicates a wider need though, people need to sound off, somewhere, when something goes wrong. Doing that in the commetns of a blog, or on Twitter is (usually) much less destructive than them doing it in a meeting. T'Internet is a great safety valve!

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:55:34 +0000

Yeah, comment moderation just bugs me, even though I get why people do it. Still, it just fractures the conversation.

Transparency can be bad, but people do appreciate honestly. Bad news is bad news, but hiding it or lying make it worse.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:53:43 +0000

Ha, Cluetrain what now?

It's all brand-new for so many people, which I guess is an explanation . . .

By: chet

chet — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:39:39 +0000

http://headrush.typepad.com/

http://www.37signals.com/svn/

I agree. I specifically changed my comment moderation (I had to approve) because of one of your previous posts (a month or two ago).

Transparency is a very good thing. I wish more and more people/companies would practice it.

By: Bob Rhubart

Bob Rhubart — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:11:49 +0000

Jake,

Right on! It surprises me that so many years after the original Cluetrain Manifesto that people just don't get this.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:41:47 +0000

You're right. I did leave out spam because dealing with it seems pretty obvious. Our spam plugin does a nice job of filtering out the crud.

Mix, being behind a login wall, has very little spam.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:24:24 +0000

Mostly agree…but pure spam comments get a quick dump from my blog. But then I'm not popular enough to have many.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:38:46 +0000

Agreed. I normally would include some pithy rejoinder, but I don't have it in me right now.

By: Dan Norris

Dan Norris — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:58:37 +0000

Jake,

I agree completely with your theory on comments and patrol. I don't have too many comments on most of my posts, but when I do, I try my best to reply in some way to each of them. I think responding to each of them in a timely manner helps keep readers and increases my overall cred in the community.

I believe that when people take the time and effort to leave a comment, they deserve at least acknowledgment and often a response as well.