When someone expends a great deal of effort to achieve something, and all that person gets as a response is a great deal of non-constructive criticism, it annoys me. It annoys me even when it’s not me that’s the subject of the criticism, but it really annoys me when it is.

In “real” (non-online) life, this situation very rarely arises - usually people are more polite. Online, however, is a different matter - even the mildest-mannered of souls seem to lose all social grace, the thin veneer of civilisation is seared clean, and the invective flows free. Sadly.

Why is this ? Well I think it’s down to the separation of accused and accuser - that distance (to our primitive hind-brains) implies safety from retribution. The old “actions have consequences” maxim, although intellectually understood, doesn’t have the impact required for restraint, when the accuser is feeling safe and secure.

I suppose we all need to be more people-friendly, or maybe the ‘net just has to become far *more* immersive before it can become truly social. A network (after all) describes a raft of inter-connected islands, whereas we describe social interaction in terms of groups of people. The differences between the two can be both stark and subtle.

Why am I ranting over this ? Well, I work at a fairly large computer company, and we’ve been going through hell and back to turn around a piece of software. We’ve (all) been working hard. I mean H.A.R.D to get new releases out the door to satisfy our customers. When you pour your heart and soul into a project like that, it can be hard to take that all you ever see is complaints that “it doesn’t do XXX, it’s crap”, etc. etc. (and believe me, even more etc.)

The product is actually pretty cool (in my admittedly biased opinion), and although it’s not perfect (what is ?), it’s certainly improving rapidly. I guess I’m just bitching - it’s nice to have people appreciate what you’ve done sometimes, rather than just complain that you still haven’t found the cure for world hunger...