Talking

COPING WITH NEGATIVE FEEDBACK AND ABUSEFirstly, it’s important to distinguish between feedback and abuse.Sometimes negative feedback can be used in a very positive way,especially if you notice a trend where multiple people are saying thesame thing. This is not always the case, of course, because theredoes tend to be a ‘sheep’ mentality in gaming sometimes, so youwill need to be selective and use some common sense. If possible,ask someone from the esports broadcasting industry for confirmation- most will be happy to help.Most of the best advice I’ve come across regarding how to copewith written or verbal abuse tends to follow the rule of ignorance.In other words, if you can’t do anything about it, ignore it. Thisdoesn’t mean bury your head in the sand, but rule out the rubbishbefore taking anything to heart.As I said earlier, you’ll need thick skin in this industry, especially ifyou choose to read all the threads and comments posted about you.I know that many of the top commentators do read forums, Redditthreads and other community sites, often tracking down commentsmade about themselves. There is a little ego and narcissism in doingthis, but most will be looking for the negative feedback so they canimprove (although I do know that some top commentators don’tread anything at all). It’s totally up to you, but early on, it will almostalways help you improve if you’re careful with what you read andhow you take it.You also need to remember that the mindless idiots are the smallestgroup of people posting - but (usually) the loudest as well. However,that doesn’t make them right.72