So, I had this epiphany recently pertaining to how people (myself included) leave comments on an author's work.
What I'm trying to ask is, are there any comments that you've personally felt are more endearing than others? Plain? Or otherwise more valuable than others? That is to say, what kinds of comments do you prefer?
I personally have discovered that simple comments like "This is cool!" or "Awesome 💓" comes off as nice, but makes me question whether the person genuinely read the work. Also... what the heck makes it "cool" or "awesome?" I'd much rather know than be left in the dark guessing. Plus it doesn't feel like the person really cares. Like fair weather friends for example.
Then there are some comments (which I've also done myself too) that come off a little bit condescending. I'm talking about where the commenter tells the author what their work means, or how to write their poem/lines better.
I'd understand constructive feedback if it were asked for, but I'm talking about when the suggestions are not asked for by the author. Not to mention telling another poet what their own poem means to us is quite egotistic, don't you think?
I know some of what I'm stating might come off brash, but when we live for a fast-paced social dynamic (Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, etc.) simple etiquette seems to be thrown out the window. In most instances we don't see any proper etiquette at all.
Which brings me to my concluding question:
I believe that constructive criticism is one thing but putting down someone’s poetry can be hurtful as poetry is normally personal. This can lead to fear of poets posting any further work they have, or even give up all together which is really not what we all want to happen.
R.