Todd Defren wrote last week to ignore the trolls, and it’s a post I’ve been thinking about for a few days.
After mulling it over, I can’t help but think it’s bad advice. Here’s why.
The wisdom of crowds
We will often handwave the mindless comments from naysayers, only to turn around and happily embrace the equally mindless comments from people who seem to do nothing but compliment. There’s no difference in the value of the comments, but one flatters our egos, and thus is recorded.
In the end, we shouldn’t be dismissing anything, especially when it comes to feedback from a large body of commentators.
Plop a jar of marbles in front of someone and ask them to guess the count, and they’ll probably be completely off. Average the guesses of a hundred people, however, and your result will be pretty close to the actual amount.
Some people will guess way too high. Some way too low. But look at the big picture, the average, and suddenly you realize that their guesses all made a meaningful contribution, even though on an individual level they each would be pretty useless.
The middle way
In Buddhism, they call it the middle way– a path of moderation that sits between two extremes.
Look for it when you receive feedback online. The extremes will always be there, and the answer will always lie somewhere (usually directly) in the middle.
Don’t get upset with the trolls or overly delighted with the yes men. Accept both and use them to paint a picture of how people (with an emphasis on the plural) feel about your product.
And remember: You only run into trolls when you cross bridges. If you encounter them, you at least know you’re getting somewhere.
