Getting Some Advice on Handling the Haters
If you’ve been reading the comments on my review of the first episode of “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” you know I’ve been taking a beating. For my opinions, my eating habits, my looks and even my weight. All based on one little harmless crack about liking breakfast pizza…
I’ve been doing this now for four years, and these comments are the nastiest and most personal ones I’ve ever gotten. So I admit that the first stab at my weight—which I have no idea how you can judge from a picture that only shows my face—hit me kind of hard. But after about the fourth one, I got over it.
However, I wouldn’t be human if it didn’t still bug me a little. So when I got the chance to talk to one of my favorite writers, Michael Slezak of “Entertainment Weekly,” I asked him how he deals with the negative comments.
“I’m used to it now. After a while you just say I’m okay with it. You want them to feel engaged. I’d rather have negative comments than no comments at all.”
When I told Slezak what the Jamie Oliver fans had said about me, he told me that one reader commented that he looked like a potato. “They do go for the jugular,” he said.
But Slezak says no matter how negative the comments, he won’t back down. “I would never change my style and tone just because readers don’t like it.”
And then he gave me a great piece of advice. He told me that the key is to be “genuine.” If I was being completely genuine about how I felt at the time about something then I was doing my job. Then he added, “If people are reacting then you’re doing your job as a blogger.”
So as “Stay Tuned” celebrates its fourth birthday, I have no intention of changing my ways. I will continue to give you guys my honest opinions—even if they’re unpopular. If you disagree with me then feel free to let me know it.
And if you want to attack me personally? Bring it on. I can handle it…
You can read Michael Slezak’s latest “American Idol” recap here. You can read more of my conversation with Slezak in Tuesday’s “Herald-Dispatch.”
