the 3 button-options for feedback on submissions

Tallen said:How about:

Positive Feedback
Improvement Feedback
No Feedback, thank You

Now that sounds like a great idea

It's probably just personal semantics we're chatting about here
but just to clear away some of the mud. . .

Sometimes i feel as though many commenters
see these 2 words as the same
which i have never felt they were.

Sorry, i didn't realize my screen shot was gonna be so tiny.

Here's the link:

http://abacus.bates.edu/~rrichar2/learn/ui/critique.html

Anonymous said:<< post removed >>*sighs* yeah, synonymous even if not the same thing. as Aha points out, there's still ambiguity surrounding the proper usage (thanks, Aha, for that educational tidbit!) but, perhaps in the case here it's almost more about common perception of a word: critique seems to carry less negative connotations; criticism is generally considered more negative in its overall nature... not so much literary as experiences of it we grew up with

to your other points:

yes, people improve through well-structured critique—IF they are in the right place (as an author) to receive it in the spirit intended
most offer suggestions for improvement with a good heart and without ulterior motive, despite the few loud voices jumping up and down frantically claiming otherwise.

any critique that sets out to criticise the poet, rewrite a poem in the critter's own 'voice'/preference without taking the voice of the poem into account, and without taking the time to point out strengths as well as weaknesses AND offering suggestions (if they can) as to how to improve those weaknesses? that's NOT a good critique.

experience-level should NOT be a block to someone wanting to offer their opinions. they are usually able to relate just how a poem connects with them, and that feedback is vital to any poet wanting to know if they manage to do that. it can also help the poet understand which specific areas worked for that reader and maybe understand better why it did. technical matters help present your poems in their best light—if you want others to read them, it's just a good idea to wash their faces a little first. but technical understanding comes with time, and the best way to learn is to read and to do. i never discount a crit offered to me by a newcomer to writing—they might offer invaluable insight in areas not previously considered. we were ALL new writers once.

butters said: there will be some whose idea of a good critique are as far removed from the reality (for reasons more to do with their own egos than the benefit of the poem in question) that it makes their opinions not so important: ALWAYS consider the source.

Boy oh boy, you got that right!

Anonymous said:<< post removed >>and that's just how it should be

there are those few critters whose motives are less than constructive but, like life, they'll always exist. the people who seem to feel most critique is about tearing others down, well i'm guessing they don't take well to being told their writing's less than perfect and have received a lot of "improvement feedback" in their day :D

if a writer makes such a fuss about any crit they receive as being nasty/unkind/wrong/h8ter/trolling, they tend to shut down any beneficial feedback and so get stuck in the loop of only pats-on-the-back/go-get-'em-tiger  kind of comments, which only serves to reinforce their own opinions of how brill their writing is (they never get ANYone pointing out faults!) and so it stymies growth.

as a commenter, i've often been stuck for words when it comes to reading great writers—here or elsewhere. i might not be able to offer ANYTHING constructive for improvement, because it blows me away, but i can still let them know it did & which parts, specifically. that's important for a writer to hear, too, and it might be years before i can return and spot anything that could be improved upon; growth as a writer will allow me deeper insight and so more equipped to spot areas that could be improved upon. BUT, those writers blwoing me away are NOT the ones locked in their own alternate-world bubbles, believing they're the best thing since macdonalds, and have got to where they are now by listening to and thinking about critique.

Anonymous said:<< post removed >>here? i've never seen it here, but then i've only been a member 2 months. seems some people here think the place is riddled with it, lol, but most members wouldn't agree.

it IS a thing, but so are verrucas freeze 'em out :D

butters said:here? i've never seen it here, but then i've only been a member 2 months. seems some people here think the place is riddled with it, lol, but most members wouldn't agree.

it IS a thing, but so are verrucas freeze 'em out :D

The closest thing I remember being considered a bad critique ( not by me ) was one on this by slowfires:

?fbclid=IwAR2pYvbzXbQBOzW158uGp-r1z0dERqWc6_W1Ar8VSzVlij5-94S4p3Wkfsw[/url]

I didn't consider it harsh at all, but honest, which is exactly what I asked for; however, a moderator took it upon themselves to hide it without consulting me first. I had to get the Webmiss to reinstate it so I could respond after requests that it be unhidden went ignored.  

Anonymous said:<< post removed >>

well, good question: Yes it does happen, just not so often as it might have done in the past. Most poets in here are well-meaning good people but as in life, there are always some rotten apples.

the trick is if you experience such behaviour, which hopefully you won't, you should report it and block the person/s involved

Ahavati said:

The closest thing I remember being considered a bad critique ( not by me ) was one on this by slowfires:

I didn't consider it harsh at all, but honest, which is exactly what I asked for; however, a moderator took it upon themselves to hide it without consulting me first. I had to get the Webmiss to reinstate it so I could respond after requests that it be unhidden went ignored.  




LOL I remember that. slowfires was a nut! And you replied to both of his critiques admirably.

Skyblue2 said:

Correction, that link is what doesn't work.

It exists because the poem is listed. Simply "Go to the Page" and scroll down to read the critiques.