After 3.5 years I finally had a post that resulted in a negative reaction from a fair number of people. The morning after the .NET Parameterized Queries Issues with SQL Server Temp Tables post went live I woke up with 4 comments waiting for approval. Before I read them this was exciting. I thought that I had hit on an issue that a lot of people had faced. I was wrong.
The Negative
Three of the four comments were about that specific person’s view of best practices and how my post was a poor example and something that any seasoned developer would ever dare use.
I replied to all the comments and tried to clarify the points of misunderstanding. The post was based on a real issue we faced and something that was not at all clear on why. The post was meant to be simple in order to show the point and I did my best to communicate these points to the commenters. To say the least this was a hard day for me.
The post now has something like 33 comments, which is way more than any of my other posts. I think that for the most part, the commenters are more clear on what I was going for. The straight up negativity around the post in question is something I hope to avoid for the most part.
The Positive
On the plus side on the day in question, I hit a new record for single-day views on my blog. The previous record was from 3 years ago when I had a post featured on the ASP.NET homepage.
While less visible on my blog I also got a lot of support from people letting me know that they understood my point and through it was clear. The post has also appeared in a blog and newsletter that I highly respect. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to reach out and remind me that this type of thing will happen and to stay positive.
Future Strategies
If something like this happens again I will do my best to keep it in perspective. I want honest feedback on my posts. I welcome people posting issues and us working through them. It results in better information for my readers which at the end of the day is why I spend so much time doing this blog every week.
I think it is human nature for negative comments to stand out. It will be important for me to temper that initial negative reaction with the positive side of things.
Also published on Medium.