Some going-on’s in the PF blog arena reminded me: I’d like to take a moment and say a big thank-you to all of my readers, who have been positive and encouraging 99.9% of the time I’ve been blogging. (Even my spam comments paid me a compliment!)
I’m sure many of you read a very popular personal finance blog, Krystal At Work. Krystal has gotten some comments on her decision to purchase a new car. Whether or not a reader agrees with her decision, there are civil ways and not-so-civil ways to express one’s opinion, and well, civility doesn’t cost a thing, so there’s no reason to be stingy with it. 
The blogosphere can be a wonderful place to share ideas, build communities, and even make friends (A handful of blog buddies have become great real life friends / colleagues).
But it can also be a place where people forget that there are real men and women behind the screen names, that there is a lot of information that a blogger choose to withhold for whatever reason, that there are real lives behind blog posts. Anonymity shouldn’t be a veil for rudeness or personal attacks – I’ve read blogs where the comments can become truly vitriolic. So I think I just lucked out with such a great bunch of readers. (Or perhaps I just don’t inspire anyone to such, er, “passionate” opinions? Good thing I don’t post about religion or politics!)
So to all the readers of my little blog: Thank you for making blogging such an awesome experience for me. Thank you for your kind, thoughtful, and civil comments. I truly appreciate it.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
While reading the comments thread made me angry at how Krystal was being treated (and a bit uncivil in a couple comments, I’m afraid), it made me deeply grateful for my own readers and commenters. There were probably more nasty comments in that one thread than I’ve had on my blog in the last 2.25 years, or ones that I can remember.
Readers and comments make all the difference!
To be fair, you don’t really post anything controversial
Krystal posted her car purchase at $30k, or whatever, and suddenly, overnight she had lots of people going: WTF, KRYSTAL!?….. because it was like it was a sudden departure.
If you started posting that you would buy a home for $300k, I am sure they would pop up and let you know WTF is going on
I do find that with WordPress, I have less trolls (I moderate everything.. that may be why).. and more spam
Oh and I wanted to note that you and Mrs. Micah are totally right.
You can disagree with someone, but do it in a nice way. There’s no need to call names or attack them personally
It’s not their style to buy a $30k car, but it isn’t the end of their world either.
Or at least, it shouldn’t be.
@ FB – oh, I guess I forgot to mention the $300K home I just bought…
It makes me truly glad that my blog isn’t popular enough to get haters.
I think a lot of Krystal’s readers were upset that they weren’t going to get to read about her world-traveling adventures, and he buying a car just seemed like such a normal thing to do. There’s also this common theme in PF blogging that cars = bad. Most of the mean commenters said she had to drop her net worth $30K, but no one mentioned that she’d get a lot of that back due to the value of the car.
Whoa, my article today is similar to this. I guess being on that remote island kept me in the dark. I hadn’t read Krystal’s article yet, but I will now. I agree there needs to be civility amongst us.
I’m really glad you wrote this – it got pretty rediculous for a while. You don’t have to agree to make suggestions or to critique (not critisize) we’re all here to learn and grow.
I can agree, though I didn’t really read any of the comments on the post. Hey, to each his own, and if you’re comfortable taking it on, go for it! Who am I to try and stop you? (For the record, I HATE “internet badasses.” HATE HATE HATE.)
I was so sure I was gonna get horribly criticized when I started spending on my cars, shifting from a hardcore (miserable) saver to some pretty crazy spending, so I mitigated and quit the PF writing. Now, nobody bats an eye at my car spending since it’s kinda interesting to watch instead.
Surprisingly, nobody’s ever busted my chops for financing a $2.5k money pit project. There’s only one comment I can really remember, about some guy who told me I was going to regret it, blah blah blah. (Yeah, the one’s who comment like that have no clue what they’re saying, so….)
I mean, hell, if you can have good financial habits and save here and there, but *never* spend the money on anything, wtf is good in your life??? You don’t just save-save-save and never spend, it isn’t healthy, on any level or any life stage. Ever.