Image by No One Nels

I really thought my days of Internet drama were over, but reading something posted on a recent article irritated me so much I felt the need to throw my own opinion into the mix, namely the comments posted [...]]]>

Image by No One Nels

I really thought my days of Internet drama were over, but reading something posted on a recent article irritated me so much I felt the need to throw my own opinion into the mix, namely the comments posted in response to this article about Gala Darling. Reading the article itself, my reaction was simply that it’s a nicely-written article and I think Gala should link it from her “about” page, since it would be a great read for anyone who wants to know more about the lady behind the blog. Others, however, had different ideas.

Before I go on I would like to state that when I refer to “comments” and “commenters” in a negative light here, I am referring only to the ones who were downright rude. There are some who read all the opinions and made their own balanced judgements and positive or negative, I have no problem with those who posted their concerns in a civil manner, just those who see fit to call Gala insulting names, belittle her fans and are generally disgustingly ill-mannered to everyone then wonder why they don’t get a detailed and reasoned explanation from the woman they just libelled.

The comments are arranged from the most recent down to the earliest, so you will need to scroll to the bottom of the page and work up to read them in order. The general gist however is that someone wrote a very negative opinion regarding Gala’s finances, but stated it as if it’s a definite fact rather than their own thoughts. Gala responded quite amicably at first, after which the commenter turned quite nasty. Gala’s reply to the nastiness was simply to say:

I don’t feel the need to explain the intricacies of my business to an anonymous commenter. What else can I say? If you believe me, you believe me. If you don’t, you don’t. Not really my issue!

Now, my issue with these comments is not one of the angry Gala fan, who is outraged that her heroine is being maligned in this way, yet I’m sure many of the people responding to that post would love to think it is. My issue is simply that why should anyone have to explain themselves to someone being so downright rude and nasty? Whatever happened to polite questions? Personally, if I really thought it was my business to know how Gala makes her money (and I don’t believe it’s anyone’s but her own), I think I’d ask her, politely, how much freelance writing she did on the side, whether she ever writes paid articles for others without a by-line, or even what percentage of her overall income comes from ad sales alone. I wouldn’t dream of asking anyone those questions however, as it’s really no concern of mine.

The comments on the post annoyed me. Not because they were aimed at Gala, not because they were questioning whether or not a blogger I follow is really making a career out of it, but because they felt they could be nasty, rude and insulting, then wondered why Gala didn’t feel the need to explain herself to them.

If Gala was smart, she’d read these comments and realize that some of her fans aren’t happy with her blog. But all she’ll do is go OH WELL NOT MY PROB and keep doing mediocre work. Her fans are all 15 anyway, so they won’t notice how lame the blog is getting. Shame, it actually used to be cool.

I recall there was some interesting dialogue in the comments on this article, regarding her interview with Bridget Marquardt. There’s a lot of criticism there, but the difference is that it’s constructive and polite, questioning as opposed to insulting, opinion without taking an “I’m right, you’re wrong” attitude. Her fans have the right idea when they’re not happy with something she’s posted. Many of the commenters on the Cut Out + Keep article do not.

Whatever your opinions on Gala and iCiNG, I’d love to know what others think about this.