When I was in college, I decided there was no better way to make myself completely homicidal than to double major in Fine Art, and illustration. Five hundred bottles of caffeine pills later, I realized these majors were not for me. As much as I loved staying up until 5am working on a full written parody movement on an Ernest Hemmingway story, I felt like there was something better out there for me.
Even though my education in the art department didn’t last too long, I did gain some valuable experience points. Being an *extremely* minor internet personality sort of reminds me of being an art major. I create something to show other people, then I get critiqued. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes people really like it. Sometimes people despise it. Sometimes people are downright honest with you in their criticisms. And sometimes that stings. After all, you spend time making these videos, or artwork, or novel, or whatever it is, and when people don’t like it, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
There’s always talk about people not being able to accept constructive criticism, that they have “thin skin.” Could be true. Some people *don’t* take constructive criticism well. My best friend in art school got incredibly irritated whenever ANYONE suggested his stuff was anything other than perfect.
I think there are a few problems with constructive criticism. My experience was not pleasant, and not for the reason of “I can’t handle the TRUUUUTH” way.
Every week in my creative art studio, we’d post a piece on the wall, so that everyone could critique it. It always went the same way, and the comments were ALWAYS the same. “I think you could have done this better” or the classic, “I like it!” I believe people become frightened to give truthful criticism. Granted, not EVERYTHING needs to be critiqued. Sometimes you just like something. But in this case, none of us in that art class had the guts to be truthful, and actually speak what is on our minds. The internet operates on a different level. Nobody is in the same room, nobody has to look you dead in the eye and tell you your severed head sculpture is terrible (it wasn’t THAT bad, dammit), and you can even give criticism anonymously. It’s a little harder to accept criticism from people you don’t know, and can’t see. I think it has to do with not knowing who that person on the other side of the monitor is, and not knowing what their experience is. In my art class, we were all artists. I appreciated a fellow artists opinion. Posting videos on the net, well. I don’t know WHO is critiquing my work, or what experience they have, or if their advice can actually help me. It’s hard to take a screen name seriously.
Even so, at the end of the day, I always look at constructive criticism positively. In fact, I owe a lot to advice I’ve gotten from other people, and tips I’ve learned just by reading the comments section on my articles, or my videos. I know how hard it is to be brutally honest, so I would never discard something I feel will help me in the end. It takes time to watch someones video and come up with thoughtful critique. This isn’t to say I’m going to agree with everyone. There cannot be a united opinion on everything. We wouldn’t be diverse people if there was. But I appreciate advice, and if someone doesn’t like something, I brush it off, and improve. And for people who have a hard time accepting critique: don’t take it as a personal slight. People have some great ideas out there, and we shouldn’t push them aside over a few hurtful, but truthful comments.
