A reader writes:
Love to hear your thoughts as to why Heather Armstrong has some negative perceptions about her as alluded in the article about BlogHer and how Mommybloggers profit. [To take the focus off of Heather and her blog - www.dooce.com I'm modifying the question to: Any downsides to being "too" successful in the celebrity blogosphere?]
“Armstrong even limited her time at BlogHer because her biggest fans – other bloggers – tend to react to meeting her by publishing every detail, and sometimes those details are less than kind. ‘There are hundreds and thousands of strangers who detest me,’ Armstrong said. ‘It’s a weird reality to live with.’” – clip from the article
As far as I can see, most of the tweets during co-speakers Heather Armstrong and Stephanie Klein BlogHer08′s closing keynote, “Living the Truman Show,” are positive.
I’m not going to make this too personal, except to say that I respect and admire Heather. I don’t read her blog regularly, but now I might: she really spoke to my artistic side. And, I loved her purple tights. Her blog logs between 5-6 million readers a month.
Now, back to the negativity . . .being a positive person this is a hard place to go, but it’s all too real to ignore.
I’ve seen this happen with not just bloggers, celebrities and every day people, but with issues, proposals and projects.
My advice? Listen to everyone, see if there’s any validity in the negativity and focus on the positive. That’s easier said than done, especially when emotions get in the way.
Let’s face it: today it’s all too easy to attack anyone and be anonymous on the Internet. Preparing for blog bullies, a BlogHerald post, counsels that meanness is bound to happen. Are you ready?
Take a look at Oprah.
Remember how much negative publicity via social media she got for endorsing Obama? How did she handle it?
She didn't. Oprah's PR firm did.
Their role model? Paris Hilton - no stranger to all kinds of publicity and commentary.
In closing, I'll let Stephanie have the last words from her post "the divine secrets of the BlogHer ’08 sisterhood“. . .
“When people in my life preface what they’re about to say with, ‘you cannot write about this on your blog,’ I pretty much always respond, ‘Don’t flatter yourself.’ You’re not that important or interesting (even if you are). It’s the one thing in life we find so hard to believe: that no one notices or pays nearly as much attention to us as we do.”
Image: Be nice to me or I'll blog about you t-shirt I got at BlogHer08 - thanks CafePress!
What do you think?
Do you plan for or anticipate "less than kind details?" Would your trade more success for more exposure - of all kinds?
