How NOT to respond to a blogpost-a primer for young players

So let’s just say you’re one of these hospitality people or organisations that say they never read the foodie blogs. This is, as we know, like saying you, as a woman, don’t enjoy, to quote that most learned of wordsmiths, Roger Mellie, the occasional ‘Kit –Kat Shuffle’ in the bath or if you’re a bloke, a sneaky ‘Uncle-Doug’ in the shower.
Like other Onanistic releases, everyone does it but very few admit to doing it.
Anyway, once in a while one might chance upon an opinion on a blog that really niggles no wait actually angers you and prompts a frantic two-fingered stabbing of the keyboard in a response to set the author and subsequent comments on the straight and narrow.
This is where many people/organizations make a mistake.
Firstly, if you intend to contact the blogger, check your facts and in the very least, get the name of their blog correct-in my opinion, this really helps.
Then, you need to understand that first and foremost it’s only an opinion expressed from the bloggers point of view.
Finally if you are motivated to respond make sure you get your points across clearly, rambling and banging on just makes you sound incoherent and shrill.
Remember, you might be angry but you might want to let the blood recede before you press ‘send’ only to discover to your horror that you quite possibly have broken the law because of the content and tone of your email might be demanding a retraction or else you’ll initiate some sort of retribution. Threats of this nature are a serious matter.
Advice that I have received suggests that this type of response could easily be interpreted as blackmail or bullying. In the very least it’s never a good look, but it does reveal a few things about its author.
Most bloggers, (myself included if the comment related to a current post) would accept and respect your right of reply and perhaps a better way to get your message across is to comment on the blog and put your version of events across and then let the readers decide for themselves what version they gravitate toward.
Bombastic and aggressive messages just indicate that the original issues raised touched a nerve and demonstrates your uneasiness with a free-discussion or at worst, a differing opinion to yours.
The important thing here to remember here is that a blog is a medium and a prompt for discussion promoting an interaction with the readers who all share a similar interest. It’s unrealistic to think one might be able to control what people are saying on the blogs even if, again, their opinions are different to yours so you might as well just accept this and move on.
If you find the subject matter intolerable however then might I suggest taking a leaf out of the TV handbook and simply not tune in or change the channels?
Another way to look at it is to simply ignore the post entirely. In reality, most blogs have a miniscule readership and with a few exceptions don’t really influence or determine outcomes so in the scheme of things, they don’t hold much sway, so why get all worked up? If you respond angrily you might just attract anonymous trolls eager to antagonise you further, so it’s better just to retain a dignified silence. Today’s news is tomorrows’ fish and chips wrapper.
Hope my top tips are helpful and feel free to join the discussion!