Comments on: Food Blogging: Good Manners Cost Nothing

By: cucina testa rossa

cucina testa rossa — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:34:00 +0000

I get those questions all the time. I am happy to share info and most of the time people are appreciative but every once in a while there is one that just gets me… I received a request a few weeks ago from someone who’d gone to my high school and was going to Paris for 2 weeks in April and could I tell them where to go, where to stay, where to eat, what to do, best chocolate, etc… I was happy to oblige, sending a 2 page list of my favorites and I have not heard a word. Not a thank you, thanks, thx, text, IM, or even a blank reply. Nada. Makes you wonder….

By: The Dude

The Dude — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:59:00 +0000

I’d like to thank you for actually blogging about food! Some bloggers think this is a good place to test their chops at satire.

I’m a writer and I’ve found myself viewed like a free utility, particularly when people get a hold of my e-mail. I try to be cordial; after all, I believe in building audience and a community of readers, but I often have to draw the line.

By: shuna fish lydon

shuna fish lydon — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:57:00 +0000

Here here, sister!

I have erased more emails this year than ever before because of this very issue. Oftentimes I think it has a lot do with people's ignorance about how blogging and bloggers work. And that we do work, and that most of us do not make a living from blogging and answering their questions.

Sometimes I play a little trick-- I answer their inquiry with a question instead of an answer to see if they're real people interested in having an exchange, if I have time.

Because, truth be said, some of those inquiries have turned into friendships.

By: jen maiser

jen maiser — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:11:00 +0000

Well said. The thing that’s always gotten to me is the sense of entitlement that some emailers feel — like we (bloggers) are there purely to answer their random queries.

By: Thy Tran

Thy Tran — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:52:00 +0000

When I worked at the Chronicle, we still received wonderful hand-written letters in response to columns and articles in the food section. As more readers transitioned to email, we received the occasional kooky note, but in general, I’ve found the anonymity and instant gratification of email and websites, especially in blog comments, to be much more flip, sarcastic or plain snarky.

I don’t think it’s anything new though. Emails and posts from the “old days” of the early 90s — remember alt.foodsoc.culture? — reveal even more extreme rudeness.

Apparently, the price of a first-class stamp is enough to filter out the haters.