Annoying or Helpful?
March 20, 2009 by BloggerNewbie
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“Question of the Week? Vote in our Poll!”
“Annoying or Helpful?”
Do you appreciate it when someone points out a mistake or typo in your post or blog? Do you take criticism for what it is meant to be. Do you take offense to critiques?
Do you find it annoying or helpful?
Would it matter how the error is pointed out?
Private message:
If the “friendly” reader sends you an email message or sends you a message from your contact page, do you appreciate the information.
I don’t like typos. I don’t like to see them and I especially don’t like to make them. They are frustrating! They hide while you are writing the post. They only appear when you hit publish. The same thing happens at work as well.
Public Comment:
What do you think when someone points out your mistakes in the comment section? I don’t think anyone likes their mistakes made public. So in this instance I might find it a tad annoying.
However, if I had to choose between a public comment pointing out my goof or not knowing at all, I would take the hit any day and go about my business.
What about you?
So as they say - are you secure enough in yourself to take constructive and helpful criticism?
Toodles – Blog Happy!
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“No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious…”
~ George Bernard Shaw
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Annoying or Helpful
- Helpful (80%, 4 Votes)
- Annoying (20%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 5
Loading ...Popularity: 8% [?]
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Dee
It’s annoying because, like you, typos really stand out for me on any written medium and grab my attention in a negative way. I feel bad when I notice my own mistakes on my blog, which are probably many because I have a short attention span and proof reading is not something I’m skilled at. So I get annoyed with myself!
However it’s helpful from the person pointing out the mistake. My wife is very good at that and whenever she reads my posts it’s the first thing she does. Fortunately she just tells me and it doesn’t go on record but it’s still annoying and very helpful!
I haven’t had anyone comment or Email telling me about mistakes I made. It could be that my wife picks them all up .. but I doubt it. My preference would be for a private Email. If someone pointed out a typo in a blog comment I would probably Email them to thank them, and edit out that part of their comment (and tell them in the Email that I’d done it). Not sure how that would be received?
Ian
Ian Peatey´s last blog post..Stop making me happy!
“They only appear when you hit publish” – YES.
I will re-read my posts a hundred times before I hit publish, then have to go edit it in about 2 seconds after I view the post.
I wouldn’t mind if they were brought up in my comment section, I would rather have it fixed – typo’s drive me nuts. I have gone back and fixed posts that were weeks old if I noticed a typo.
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Dee,
I picked up a great book at the thrift store the other day and I think the title says it all in terms of my feelings on the subject: “Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies”
Good Lord. Typos? Who cares! Unless the post is filled with the darned things let them slide. I will say that if I visit a site and there are just too many with poor grammar I probably won’t be back any time soon, but I don’t feel the need to berate them in public about it.
I dare someone to NOT find a typo in one of my posts!
George
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oh my gaud! dee, i really don’t see typos on my blog because i’ve read the post so many times that my brain just corrects it. i see typos on other people’s blog and i don’t feel the need to point it out to them. either they will find it or it will stay there. i don’t feel a minor typo is a reason to fire up my email and say hey you made a mistake, fix it. it’s not important – for most blogs – if it is your livelihood then yeah, you need to fix that – but if it’s just a hobby blog – then it’s nice to know you are human. i don’t expect everything you type to be error free. i make typos in my comments ALL THE TIME and i’m trying to get better at it with my blog posts as well. i do have a friend that reads over my post just to look for the typos (after i hit publish) and it’s helpful, but petty that all people look for or see is error or typo. when she makes a typo i don’t say anything, but when i do it, it’s a big announcement. imagine if people did that with every mistake someone made in life. we should try to limit our typos, but if there is one – pretend the other person is human and get over it. i just feel people like to show how much better they are over you by pointing out your mistakes. we all make mistakes.
great discussion.
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Ian:
My daughter reads all my posts and will call me or email me with typos. In a recent post I wrote something about write or wrong! too funny, I almost fainted when she called me. I am way to OCD when it comes to that, like we all don’t have more important things to worry about!!
Ben:
I guess it would depend on the comment but really I would prefer an email. I have sent someone an email when there was a typo in like the sidebar or something. Not usually in the post because it will soon be replaced by the next great writing but the theme itself sticks around for awhile.
George:
I like that book title. When I was president of our local Kiwanis Club a grammar nut friend of mine would critique all of my speeches AFTER I presented them. I was so paranoid about speaking after that (still am) I could barely talk. Yeah, sweat the small stuff? I wonder who else really cared?
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Val:
I KNOW, I was running out of ideas for “question of the week”! he he. I know a person like that, always trying to blow out my candle to make hers shine brighter. I am told it’s obvious to everyone around but still makes you shrink back a little.
Dee Langdon – BloggerNewbie´s last blog post..When All Is Said And Done
I agree that if your going to attempt to correct someone or point out a mistake it’s best done in private, but in either case tact makes all the difference. I really dislike smug people who act like they never make mistakes, or that your mistake makes them better than you.
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Wardell:
Sounds like good advice to me. Sometimes it is hard to convey your “tone of voice” with email. I often think of things like this post and wonder what other people think about the same topic? Does it bother them? Do they like it? etc. A good series to get the feel of fellow bloggers!
I personal prefer to have the typo, mistakes or blog glitches pointed out in a private email. Particularly if the only statement left in the comment section was about the issue and not preceded by a comment that is topic related. I do get tick and yes I do delete those comments. Particular because it is mainly fellow bloggers that comment on blogs, so they know how the shoe fits.
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Debo:
In my reply to Ian part of what made me think of this post was the typo (which spell check won’t pickup) write or wrong. That just makes me look like I never made it out of secondary english class! It was almost funny. My daughter thought it was funny. She called me to tell me so I could fix it. She probably doesn’t want anyone to think her mamma ain’t got no english.
Exactly about the other bloggers, we all do it, happens all the time. If you say it doesn’t well then good for you.
I only contact bloggers when the “errors” are when everything shows up as gibberish (css code, wp formatting, etc issues). I don’t care about typos and I’m probably the last to notice them anyway. If I’m close to the blogger, I may contact that person, but other than that, I just let it slide.
On the other hand, I really appreciate it when someone (via email) points out any errors or mistakes I’ve made.
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Hi Carla:
If I appreciate it I think others would appreciate it and/or the opposite. Might be a good philosophy, might not!