Does A Webmasters 'Reality' Differ From...

[Lee]

A regular persons reality of the world?

All to often i see webmasters listening to the positive advice on message boards but not listening to the 'practical' advice they hear in fact, if someone does offer practical advice, id say that 90% of the time i have seen them get belittled because of it.

What do you folks think? Do webmasters always want to hear the good/hype without actually learning about the harsh reality of things?

Regards,

Lee

[Chilihost]

I respect and listen to constructive criticism from my peers, especially those I respect - like most guys and gals on this board. Maybe its a maturity thing, there is a constant churn of newbies that don't bother listening and then are out of the business within 6-12 months, whereas those that have been around for a while know that when most people offer advice its genuine and should be taken on board.

cheers,
Luke

[maxpower]

I think their is a certain, “yes man”/PR mentality, and for the most part people try not to say anything negative for many reasons “I apparently am not as good at shutting up as many are” But I think it would be allot worse if it swung to far the other way, and everyone just bitched at each other all the time. I personally have been really help out allot by a few members of this bound, so in the long run I can not complain to much, and I am really grateful for may of you. :thumbsup:

[GaySearch4Sex]

I know I'm a newbie on this board, but IMHO I find the posters on this board to be more honest and straightforward with their opinions. whether or not people actually take their advice... well who knows.

however, Ive seen on other boards where "board whores" who have a high profile can say jack shit on anything and people will agree with them or give them praise for how smart and witty they are. but then again, its online, and unless you've met your fellow webmasters in person, you've got to take other's advice with more than a few grains of salt :goof:

[XXXWriterDude]

All to often i see webmasters listening to the positive advice on message boards but not listening to the 'practical' advice they hear in fact, if someone does offer practical advice, id say that 90% of the time i have seen them get belittled because of it.

Don't most business people usually hear what they want to hear when they're trying to make money?

I think it's too easy to get caught up in the hype when you're excited about starting a new business. Most businessfolk, however, once they've been around long enough to see how things work, soon switch over to taking the practical/negative advice as well. Or else they fail.

It's just getting past the starting phase where everything is new and exciting that makes the difference.

[basschick]

newbies tend to be hard-headed. they want to make money fast and easy and they want to believe that they can do it by opening a teen tgp with a free script on a virtual account i've been paid in the past by a couple newbs who spent over $100,000 on their paysites and in the end lost money even thought it would have been easy to turn things around - if they hadn't been so deeply invested in their vision.

as far as the rest, i think you have it backward. every time i ask for an opinion of a graphic or page on a board, everyone wants to tell me how great it is. never mind that what i really want is the stuff i should fix so i can make more money. several guys on this board have asked for honest opinions and everyone said "oooo! it's great! i love it!" even though on icq they said to me they didn't really like it. the end result? the guys were confused when their sites didn't make money because EVERYONE had said their sites were great work.

so what i hear the most isn't people ignoring advice - it's people who don't want to hurt their feelings being less than honest.

[XXXWriterDude]

so what i hear the most isn't people ignoring advice - it's people who don't want to hurt their feelings being less than honest.

Exactly. The flip side of that is that being critical--as I am naturally inclined to be, having been trained in theater, where we were encouraged and sometimes even required to honestly critique each other's work--is often viewed as a character flaw. People often tell me I'm being too critical of movies, sites, porn, etc. etc. But that's only because I think everyone should strive to be unique and different instead of derivative and unoriginal, which more than half of the stuff on the Net and in the brick and mortar community is. For those working in such an interesting and exciting field, pornographers sure can be a dull and boring bunch.

The problem is that there is just too much ego in this business. It's only when people get out of their own heads and see how others react to their work--and honestly LISTEN to the advice they get--that they will be able to succeed. Singularity of vision and an out of control ego are an artist's greatest downfalls, I think.

[basschick]

Ken, when i post "what do you think of my..." on a board, i want critical. i want to know every single thing people don't want. honestly i barely care what they like - that's already there.

fuck my ego - i wanna make money

[desslock]

Everyone - webmasters to neurosurgeons to maids - are all "living in their own world," unless they make the conscious decision to choose to look and learn.

My favorite example of this is George Lucas. I cocluded from the total lameness of the last trilogy of Star Wars movies that they were created by a man who surrounded himself with people who essentially agreed with whatever idea he had. "Yes, sir! Yes, sir! " Just take alll the names in the credits of those movies, and photoshop them with "Smithers" repeatedly.

Many people just do not go to the trouble to really challange themselves, especially if they do not have to.

The legendary Hollywood movie director Billy Wilder, rumor has it, always employed one special guy to be on the set of every film, and that guy's only job was to disagree with the boss. He was the "No" man.

Maybe this is just a made up story from long ago Hollywood, but it is useful. All business have big egos. Nobody likes to be told they are wrong. And it's very easy to only listen to what you want to hear.

Know anyone whose plunged into a relationship like that?

Steve

[maxpower]

I am really hoping to get some “real” feed back when I open my new site in a week or 2. But I am sure I will not see to much PR from some of you, after all the good thing about pissing some people off from time to time does allow for a more critical dialog :kelly:

[dial]

your reality is WAY off Lee, considering you find it all right to stiff people for design bills and steal vbulletin database info and spam it

[Sana Chan]

I know I've taken plenty of advice both personal and practical. Sometimes you don't have the personal experience to really see a situation in the light that will benefit you the most.

I did that with my writing. I got a Gay Man's perspective as I am neither a man nor a gay individual. So I took that in to get a new look on my stories and how the readers would react to things I wrote.