So with the rise of a lot of threads critiquing stories on the platform, and from the amount of Tea n’ Drama™ I’ve seen on the forums and God help me, I’ve restrained myself from blowing up on a couple of users already, which I’m sure others have felt the same way I did, but I digress, I decided to make a thread about the title above - on what it is, how it is executed, and why is it important.
Before I start, I’d like to limit this topic to the forums alone, as Instagram and/or any other social media platform is in no doubt, completely different from the forums as a whole, so anything posted here can be taken here with a grain of salt.
The intent of this thread is to educate the forum users in better understanding of how both subjects work and how can one give out a legitimate review without anybody raising their pitchforks and torches in the forums
because this:
is the last thing we wanna deal with while we’re all just minding our own business.
on with the thread!
I. By definition,
and
and to summarize:
It seems like night and day right?
Yet, it’s often mistaken or interchanged with one another, that it seems like both of these cannot be distinguished from one another, as Constructive Criticism (CC) can often carry this sort of negative weight because you’re hearing all the flaws and the things that don’t work, which is then presumed to be “Hate” or “Hating”. Which cannot be more further than the truth, so the question now here is:
II. “Is negativity itself bad?”
And the answer is, no. it isn’t, unless intended, or it is by circumstance. Negativity may be troublesome, but then again, it’s more often than it’s the trouble that helps us grow into better people. After all, there cannot be a positive if there is no negative to be positive about.
Ironically enough, it’s because of the negatives we try to stay positive because we know how bad things can get if we do let it take over, yet, without it at all, there would be no reason to stay positive!
And if everything IS positive then, nothing is.
and with that said,
III. The problem then lies on how we execute our points and how we write or verbalize our thoughts in an argument.
Arguments are normal - until one starts to insult the other and the ground’s become an online war ground of entitlement and pride, not to mention the “who wins the fight” mentality. And unfortunately, that argument can turn into it’s more violent counterpart: Fighting.
It is a rule of verbal debate that insults are penalized or disqualified during a debate what more with just arguments?:
link: https://www.living-democracy.com/textbooks/volume-4/students-manual-6/student-handout-35/
link: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/rules-of-behaviour.pdf
As it:
- Invalidates/questions your ability to keep your composure,
- Questions your credibility to communicate properly in the argument, and your credibility alone (and)
- Violates moral ethics, and the purpose of the argument in the first place
-
Remember: a proper argument (and this case critique) is something where you can gather information, and share yours without anyone getting hurt, degraded, and insulted.
The opposing side, or the so-called ‘enemy’, has about the same amount of human rights as you do, SO DO NOT TAKE THAT AWAY FROM THEM JUST TO PROVE A POINT.
IV. Creating a well-versed point or critique is then between positivity and negativity.
It’s tricky, but it’s doable. But it takes time and practice to get it right like every other skill there is.
The main key to keeping it that way is a balance of the heart and mind - the feeling and facts, both rational empathy and logic. Yes, points might get invalidated but it’s how one delivers and executes it that makes it impactful and well-meaning to the audience, and to the opposing side.
Respect is kept despite disagreements, and even though there are opposing sides no one is at each other’s throats trying desperately to prove a point.
Criticism is a good thing when the critic tells the audience what they think of a medium or a situation. It gives us the facts without getting too emotional over a topic, saving our credibility and reputation when in a debate.
Hate, on the other hand, can also be good, as it expresses dislike or it expresses the outrage of a group or a community just through emotion, it’s more effective than just simply explaining it plainly, and can serve as the drive to why debates and arguments happens.
and if we add these two together, we have:
V. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
Constructive criticism is, therefore, an analytical and stable (verbal or contextual) approach in an argument in getting your points across without having the need to insult or patronize a thing in question. Communicate, Debate, Clarify, Think, and Respect.
Author’s note: I’m sorry for the long thread, but if you got this far I’d like to thank you for reading this one heck of post amidst these times in the forums, if you’d like to add or comment what else needs to be said, you’re free to do so down below ^^! again, thank you so much for reading!
