Stop Criticizing and Name-Dropping Other Medium Writers
For the Sake of the Reader.
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Is it just me, or do some writers here want to start a war of words?
My writing education taught me not to name anyone if I have something bad to say about their work.
However, I still read articles here that do. One of the last ones I read had a title, with the other writer’s name in it, that said their articles were “S — — .”
Alarm bells went off when I read this. One reason is that not everyone is comfortable around swear words. However, I did read the article, and the author didn’t criticize this other writer. But, the title of this blog needs to be changed, so that it doesn’t sound so harsh.
When Medium writers bash other writers, they seem to forget one thing: The Reader. Remember, not every reader on here is a writer. And not everyone that is reading your article is a Medium member.
Some of your readers do not know who the Medium author you are negatively criticizing is. They only care about what advice you can offer that may be useful to them. That’s why they found your article in the first place. Not because you bashed another writer whom they don’t know to prove your point. This Medium writer might be popular here, but not on other sites.
In other words, if you want to criticize another author harshly, don’t mention their name. They can be kept anonymous by using the pronouns “they” and “them”. Otherwise, avoid starting another useless war of words just by naming the other author. But if you do, you will alienate your readers and they will stop following you.
I know that what I just wrote will fall on death ears. Some authors will still think it’s okay to criticize another Medium writer’s work negatively and mention their name. But in the long run, it seems childish.
On a Positive Note.
However, if you write something positive about another Medium Writer, then it’s okay to do some name-dropping. You are doing them a favor by giving them more fans.
By criticizing another Medium Writer, you alienate your readers, especially those who don’t write themselves.
Remember that you also have readers who aren’t writers or Medium members. I think it would be beneficial for the platform and for the world if we stopped negatively critiquing other people’s work.
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