I know I should probably be posting something today about AIDS. But I do work year round helping people with AIDS, and I take this work very seriously. So for me there isn’t a set day for AIDS awareness. It’s an ongoing process.

So I decided to post about the way authors sometimes handle themselves online. Most are excellent and professional. But every now and then I come across a comment thread on someone’s blog where I see authors making snide, vicious comments about other authors and it makes me cringe. I’ve posted about this in the past. But I recently saw it happen all over again and it wasn’t pretty.

First, whether your aware of this or not, the most popular bloggers know how to manipulate their readers and draw negative comments (just as they know how to draw positive comments as well). For some, the more negative comments they get the happier they are. It’s a passive aggressive, subtle form of manipulation that some people fall for…without reading between the lines. And it only makes the blogger more popular and gives them more attention.

But at what expense? And how does this affect authors who leave nasty comments about publishers or other authors? Some could argue that it all depends on the topic of discussion. But I tend to disagree. And I have a long standing rule that I never leave a negative comment about anyone or anything, especially not online. It’s not always easy either. But as an author I know and understand that whatever is posted online is usually there forever. And people tend to forget the good things you do or say and concentrate on the negative things instead. Ask anyone who has ever gone through a divorce.

This isn’t preaching; it’s just a little friendly advice. Beware of manipulative blog posts and always think twice before you leave a negative comment anywhere on the Internet. Because when the blog post is long forgotten, the negative comment won’t be.