Who doesn’t love a good online rant – besides the target of the rant?
Rant Retribution
An article, Increasingly, Online Rants Proving Costly, by David G. Savage of the Tribune Washington Bureau, has been making the rounds on sites and newspapers.
The article discusses a growing trend – increasing litigation over online content. Here are just a few of the consequences.
- Some postings led to criminal charges
- Courts have not protected those who comment – even anonymously – from being sued
When do online rants or comments go too far?
Rant Rating
I hope that the fear of a lawsuit does not become the yardstick for measuring when an online rant has gone too far.
The ubiquitous “they” or a “popular blogger” removes most threat of lawsuit, but does that make an online rant acceptable?
Not all are created equal. There are varying degrees. Here are just two examples.
The Condescending Rant
Some of the tactics of condescending ranters include:
- A superior, look-down-your nose at anyone who is not them
- A mocking, personal attack on anyone with a different view
- Frequent, almost exclusive , use of the word “I”
“If a condescending joke is truly funny, make yourself the subject- you will increase the number of people laughing by at least one.” Joe Harsel
The Wizard Behind the Curtain Rant
These anonymous, hide-behind-the-username individuals rant loudest. They sprinkle in a few of their own characteristics with the Condescending Ranter.
- They mock
- They launch personal attacks
- They do not require facts
- They often go off topic
“…some people without brains do an awful lot of talking…” Scarecrow, Wizard of Oz
Rant Removal
My writer buddy, Jenn Mattern at All Freelance Writing, jokes about her online rants.
I had someone send me a message about my ranting about English Muffins. Ranting – really?
There is a difference between expressing opinions and ranting.
You can tell me how you feel without ranting. You can even get angry without ranting.
How do you know the difference? People expressing opinions:
- Do not confuse prejudice with passion
- Accept different views
- Have actual experience with the subject
- Do not need to launch personal attacks
What do you think? What kicks a difference of opinion into an online rant that goes too far?
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I’m a big fan of expressing opinions in blogging. But I do tend to get more opinionated about the rants. And it’s been great for business. It set me apart from others in the PR industry when I ran a firm, because I refused to become a part of the kool-aid crowd. And it does the same in my freelance writing work. Clients respect people who speak their mind — at least the ones in my markets with the budgets I’m looking for.
I have a few rules though:
1. Only rant when I’m passionate about something. Ranting just to rant seems silly to me.
2. Back up all claims of fact with, well, facts! I’ve always been conscious of the media law issues behind blogging from back in my PR days. I know to back things up with sources and to make sure opinions are very clearly opinions and not potentially libelous claims of fact. Actually, one of my favorite things to do is to use a company’s own words against it (well, their reps’ words). I did that with Demand Studios a while back, exposing the lies and hypocrisy behind some of their executives and their own words wrote much of the article for me.
3. If I do make a mistake (I’m careful, but it can happen to anyone), I apologize and fix the error on-site, leaving an editorial note to let readers know what was changed and why (no covert cover-ups in my content).
You have to be careful in anything you write, but with rants that can become even more important. It can be tough to stay level-headed if you write a rant post while you’re still overly heated. I try to give myself a few hours to a day to cool off. I’m still passionate at that time, but less likely to say something I’ll regret.
As for the condescending part, sometimes bloggers are. But sometimes readers just think they are when they see something they don’t like. I’ve had people tell me on multiple occasions that I’m condescending when I tell writers they can do better than writing for content mills (even though I tell them it’s fine and dandy to choose to do that if they really want to, because it’s no skin off my back). Sometimes those mill writers take it as a “you think you’re better than me” thing, whereas it’s really a “I’ve been in your shoes even though you don’t realize it, was hired to recruit people like you under the false promises you hear, have years of experience and education in business, and I’m sharing that experience to help those who do want to move on to something bigger.” I’ve learned to just brush that off most of the time. In several cases I’ve had people get really heated with me over those rants, only to come back months later when they were fed up with mills and needed serious business advice, telling me that now they understand what I was saying. So you really can’t win. By their very nature, rants are always going to piss some people off and bring out other critics. And if that leads to productive discussion, I’m fine with that. I do it more because I find it helps others who feel the same way to speak out more — no one seems to want to be first.
All great points, Jenn. I think why it works so well for you is that your passion is evident and you do back it up with facts.
You also accept others’ views without personally attacking them for it. You’ll disagree with them-sometimes vociferously 🙂 but I never feel like you are dismissing them as “morons” – a label used in the article.
You are right about sometimes the “condescending” can be a false perception of the reader, but I am sure you have read posts where the condescending attitude is the only thing the blogger has going for them. It bothers me a lot that personal attacks have become so accepted and even considered entertainment-watch any “reality” tv show.
Like I said, we love online rants-I think they can kick some of us into action & they educate. But, I want facts, I want fairness & I want respect for my opinion – no matter how much we disagree.
Thanks, as always, for sharing your view.