OK, so I did not realize that this was such a problem around the book community, but apparently there has been a lot of hate going around. I do not know how long it has been happening for, but I just got wind of it yesterday and it is not pretty.
I do not understand why people feel the need to say such nasty and hateful things to people. Especially over books and peoples opinions of them. I understand that reading certain books can really produce strong emotions in people but unless the person is giving a really bashing review of a book shouldn't we just let people state their opinions without being so judgemental?
Isn't one of the reasons why people love to be in the book community because it is such a happy and welcoming one? I know that is the reason I like to be in it and I have heard plenty of people state that is exactly why they also like being in this community.
People do this (have blogs, do videos, etc) because it is something that they enjoy doing. They love reading and they love to share their thoughts with others. They do not do this because they are looking for a debate or a fight, and when others start that it makes us upset and question if we should continue doing something that we really loved. It makes us question if it is worth all the hate to continue spending time to share our love of reading with others.
I believe that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. Even if the review in question is bashing a book or the author. Although, if the review is bashing the author maybe you should stand up for said author. But please refrain from any hate or ugly words on your end also, because all you, we are doing is being just like the people we do not like.
I do not understand why people feel the need to say such nasty and hateful things to people. Especially over books and peoples opinions of them. I understand that reading certain books can really produce strong emotions in people but unless the person is giving a really bashing review of a book shouldn't we just let people state their opinions without being so judgemental?
Isn't one of the reasons why people love to be in the book community because it is such a happy and welcoming one? I know that is the reason I like to be in it and I have heard plenty of people state that is exactly why they also like being in this community.
People do this (have blogs, do videos, etc) because it is something that they enjoy doing. They love reading and they love to share their thoughts with others. They do not do this because they are looking for a debate or a fight, and when others start that it makes us upset and question if we should continue doing something that we really loved. It makes us question if it is worth all the hate to continue spending time to share our love of reading with others.
I believe that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. Even if the review in question is bashing a book or the author. Although, if the review is bashing the author maybe you should stand up for said author. But please refrain from any hate or ugly words on your end also, because all you, we are doing is being just like the people we do not like.
I don't think that strongly-worded reviews are necessarily a bad thing, provided that they stick to the books themselves and don't go after the author. I'm an author myself, and the way I see it, the book is out of my hands the second it's off my hard drive and sailing through the world. The trick is to differentiate between reviews going after the book and reviews going after the author, though, isn't it? I'll admit, I've gotten huffy at my computer screen after a bad review. And then I go and mouth off to my friends or something, because anything said on the internet lives FOREVER.
ReplyDeleteWe have to be careful not to confuse trolls with booktubers/bloggers. On YouTube, hate happens. Often those that say the really nasty things are not part of the community and are just passing through. They don't care about books or what we have to say, they just want to hate. Almost all of the hate I have ever received was from someone who wasn't even a subscriber. If you're going to put yourself out there, you have to be prepared for people like that. They will come around, but they never stick. Only those that really like you stick around.
ReplyDeleteI am aware of one incident involving an actual BookTuber and I've heard about all of the Author VS Reviewer BS going on. That's unacceptable and embarrassing for us all.
I completely agree with both of you. Thank you Lindsay for clarifying that the ppl who usually are hateful are ones who aren't in the community or aren't even subbed...but it still makes us think.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Mary for your thoughts on this. I tried to emphasis the difference between bad reviews on the book vs. bad reviews on the author, cuz you are right, there is a difference...