Comment by nobody9999
4 years ago
Perhaps you could, rather than taking criticism personally, use these comments as an opportunity to get a broader understanding of how others perceive your work.
I imagine it's a minority view here (well, pretty much everywhere), but I relish getting constructive criticism of my works, whether it's on a site like this or a review by my peers/customers/employers.
That's because I have my own perspective, point of view and view of the world. Others have different ones.
When other folks share their opinions/perspective, it gives me an opportunity to examine my own preconceptions -- which usually winds up giving me a better understanding of the topic at hand.
Granted, in a setting like HN, there will be those who will be uncharitable or dismissive, and those voices can be ignored.
However, those who criticize specific stuff and provide the assumptions/reasoning/thought processes behind those criticisms can provide valuable insight into how you and/or your product/service are perceived outside of your small circle of shared views and assumptions.
I hope the bulk of the comments here are of the latter kind rather than the former, and that you get new perspectives that can drive positive growth for your activities.
I believe the trick is to remove the emotion from it. It can be very hard to not perceive criticism of the thing as criticism of oneself. Especially if the thing is something we've worked hard at and are proud of.
I use the "feedback bucket" mental trick: all feedback is shit (whether supportive or critical). All the feedback goes in the bucket, where it nourishes the growth of the beautiful roses of customer insight.
The point is to remove the immediacy of the feedback, detach it from the thing (and my feelings about the thing). But still allow it to inform my thinking about the thing. Instead of taking a criticism to heart, I can mentally "put it in the bucket". If it's useful, thoughtful, considered, constructive criticism then it will produce some insight later. If it's just spite, then it'll produce nothing.
Indeed -- and this is why, really, we all want our pet thing to be up here on the front page at some point. Feedback from this audience is truly invaluable...
...sometimes. ;-)