Well ... dang!

I saw this last night on Etsy's Crafting and Business forum.

Loosewirestudio has been a strong voice of reason on the Etsy forums and one of the most helpful of the old-timer brigade. Her frustration with the tone and tenor of many of the postings in the various fora rings a familiar tone to many of us ... especially the newbies.

I'm a newbie to Etsy and therefore a newbie to Etsy forums, but I not a newbie to life and good behavior. In five decades, with life literally more than half over, one had better have learned something along the way!

I used to belong to an organization called Tough Love. I'm not providing a link because I don't see the "offical" site. But Google will provide a lot of links for you. (BTW ... the reason for my joining Tough Love has become a source of happiness and pride in my life.) One of the things I learned is that unconstructive criticism is abuse.

There are rules to constructive criticism.

#1. Commend first. Find something good and positive and state it clearly.
#2. Common ground. Let the person know you've been there and none of us are perfect.
#3. Critique. With graciousness. Avoid negative terms.
#4. Offer a solution. Critiquing without suggesting a way to improve is wasting everyone's time.
#5. Commend again.

When I was brand-spanking new to Etsy I was crituqued on a few things ... primarily my banner. But I was commended first (my photos are fairly decent). The critiquer gave me the reason why she didn't like my banner. She let me know there are folks on Etsy who can help me out. I went to one, got my new banner (thank you Callista) and tweaked a few things. I'm very grateful for the honest constructive criticism and even convoed the individual to give her my thanks!

I hope Loosewirestudio comes back to visit with us in the fora of Etsy. In the meantime, I encourage readers to visit her shop and see beautiful work.