Elitists, Haters, Negativity and Anger—Oh My!
WARNING: This post is very negative because I was an angry elitist when I wrote it so I fully expect a bunch of haters to come out of the woodwork and say negative things about me, thereby showing what negative, angry elitists they are themselves.
Did the warning above sound kinda circular in its logic when you first read it? Okay, good—it should. If you make your rounds in the freelance blogging community, chances are you’ve seen the words: Elitist, Hater, Negative and Angry come up time and time again on blog posts and in blog comments. They generally come up in two instances:
1. One blogger said something that another blogger or reader does not agree with.
2. Oh, wait, that’s the only time these words seem to come up. Huh. Interesting.
The Problem
So what is the real problem here? Is it the fact that everyone in the freelance writing community doesn’t agree with each other all the time like we live in a freakin’ hippie commune or the fact that it’s difficult for some people to just stand by their convictions using logic and reason alone and not resort to disparaging labels that make them feel safer?
The Example
In my experience, if a blogger thinks that—
- writing for content mills full time is a lousy career choice for a writer,
- working for a residual income by using Associated Content or Hubpages is a fool’s errand,
- print writing is more “legitimate” than web writing,
- the marketing tactics of some content mills are shameful,
- writing for pennies is not sustainable and is unnecessary,
- self-publishing is worthless,
- writing on spec is a huge mistake
—then suddenly they are a negative hater or an angry elitist.
How in the world could someone come to that conclusion? If I absolutely despise the thought of eating ham and you like it—does that make either of us elitists, haters, negative or angry? If I love cats and don’t like dogs and you love dogs and don’t like cats, does that make either of us elitists, haters, negative or angry? Of course not.
And guess what? If a blogger writes a general post that happens to disparage the way you decide to run your career, before you tweet about how negative they are or write a comment or email about how they’re such a negative hater who must be angry, you should stop to consider the fact that the post is not about you. It’s about the author and their opinion. You make it about you when you get all weepy and defensive while reading it.
The Solution
So go forth writers and remember—disagreeing with someone, voicing a negative opinion about a gig or process, and standing up for freelancers in whatever way you see fit does not make you negative, hate-filled, angry or elitist—no matter how often you do it or who agrees with you.
And readers, you don’t have to like any of the things that bloggers “say” to you with their posts—but you should remember that if you take it personally or have a strong emotional reaction to it, it’s no one’s fault but your own. Own your feelings and either move on or do your cause or belief a favor and construct a vehement argument that doesn’t attempt to debase the blogger you disagree with because when you do, you’re the one who is a negative and angry hater.
The Disclaimer
Oh, and before you read this post and think it was about you, let me tell you that it wasn’t. Now, I’m not going to go all Carly Simon on you and never tell you who this post was about–well, actually, I am–because it’s not about any one blogger. These words are everywhere. The straw that broke the camel’s back, however, was this.
About the Author: Yolander Prinzel
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Jenn - 
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Matt - 
Yo - 
Rebecca - 
Chris - 
LaToya - 
Catherine -
Mmmmm, bbq season’s a-comin’! I can feel it today… like an early spring day here.
On another unrelated note, can I just say I really love the readers here. I go to so many blogs where comments are a line or two at best, and there’s very little actual discussion. But when most folks involved are writers, we just can’t keep our virtual mouths shut. I love comments with substance, and I wish other niches got to experience more of it.
@ Jenn – I do hide the bitch rather well. Just ask my husband if it’s there – he’ll tell you the truth.
@ Yo – The SAHM might not be thinking of taking vacations and saving for retirement with that sort of income. The content mills are (in a sense) a replacement for the Tupperware and Southern Living parties. After all, most SAHMs aren’t looking to start another career, they just want some pocket money or are looking to close the financial gap that often occurs when a parent stays home for a few years.
From the many, many conversations I’ve had with moms interested in working online, many are not looking forward thirty years, even if they should be, they are looking for something to do while baby’s napping until they go back to work in a few years or hubby gets the raise he’s been promised.
In that regard, 31K a year, even after taxes might be worthwhile if the other option is government assistance of some kind or scraping by constantly doing without. There’s always the debate of what’s full-time anyhow. But I agree with your point as a whole, it’s frustrating when people don’t present the full picture or bother to support their position.
In full disclosure, this full-time mom would never consider 31k a decent living working online no matter how easy the gigs are to get.
But then I actually know how to market myself effectively, run a business and plan to file taxes for the S-corp. If I didn’t I might not scoff at a job where I’m basically more like an employee rather than a true freelancer. After all, we can’t all be heavy-hitting entrepreneurs. But that’s a tangent, so who cares.
@Rebecca – I won’t ask. Don’t want to get the hubby in trouble.
You make a good point about the ones who don’t really want to make a long-term, full-time go of it. And content mills are probably fine and dandy for those folks. I don’t often see that disputed, even among the most heated mill-haters. They’re also not career freelancers. Yet some of the bloggers who supposedly target freelancers trying to build or start careers give advice for hobby writers masked as something more. That’s one of the big things I take issue with personally (nonetheless those who profit from giving the often-misleading advice).
@Rebecca, those are great points. This is why open dialog and not dismissing people as angry elitists is so important.