Amelia, isn't that true? I see it, as well. You've hit on the larger point – we're not paid for this. The attention has to go toward the paid stuff first. I know a few times I've thrown together a blog post and had it online in minutes (I have my own internal deadlines for even blog posts). I know that I should never A) write when I'm exhausted, B) write when I just get up, or C) write when I'm in a hurry.

Gabriella, there are some screws loose – I have to agree. LOL I know of a few blogs run by people I'm not particularly in agreement with or even fond enough of to follow. They screw up all the time. For some reason, I think that's forgivable due to the nature of blogging. But I would never point that out to them in public. You just don't.

Jake, you're why I'm "fourth-ing" that vote. 🙂 Your proofreader is a perfect example of how to do it properly. Offer it as help and polite suggestion, not as a public "Wow, did you ever screw up!"

Fiona, I thought it was mean, as well. I won't identify the blog to keep everyone from being further embarrassed, but there really wasn't any helpful information in the comments, nor a sharing of information.

There was one time, back in my staff editing days, that a proofreader mailed me one of my magazine pages marked up and improved, with a very pleasant note saying she thought she could help us out. I gave her a call, we hit it off, and I hired her each month to proof every darn page at galley stage–it took a load off my mind to know someone was checking the stuff I didn't have the time to or might have missed. But it was the way she handled it–discreetly, politely, and without making me feel stupid–that sealed the deal.

Public criticism is something I've been pondering a lot lately. I know some people who always have to be right, even when they're wrong. They tend to get away with such boorish behavior simple because the rest of us are too diplomatic to take them to task.

I actually had someone "correct" one of my childhood memories, saying I was wrong because she never played a certain game. Less than five minutes later she's telling a story about how she almost fell asleep playing the SAME GAME with someone else. If I'd done that, she would have pounced, "But you just said…" But I just tried to stifle a laugh and didn't say anything about how contradictory her two comments were. Then again, I don't need to build myself up by embarrassing someone else. In the end I think people like that wind up embarrassing themselves, anyway.

On the issue of correcting people, I'm also torn. I do an internal "ouch!" when I see a blogger I like and respect post with mistakes. However, I have WAAAAY too often made my own mistakes in both informal writing and actual assignments. So I generally sympathize.

That said, I have NO sympathy for people who go online to attack others. I was just thinking about it this weekend. I usually don't read comments on news stories because every time I do, I'm disappointed in the meanness and pettiness of my fellow man.

I haven't seen the blog post and comments you're talking about, but I generally think those types of comments say more about the commenters than the blogger–and it's nothing good.

In short, I decided this weekend that if you're taking the time to attack others online, you've got a screw loose. You're small, and karma will bite you in the bee-hind someday.

I do try to keep my blog as clean as possible (you never know who might be reading), but I certainly don't give it the same kind of attention I would give something I'm being paid for.

AMEN, Devon.

I wish people would remember this in all areas of life. This world would be a much different place.