[sensitivity] of testimonials and insults

The Golden Greek made the point: I'd actually been toying with the idea of dropping the testimonials from my sidebar at some point - feeling that they shout "me me me" a bit too loudly.

I would suggest that this is a retrograde step. Of course, when a blogger emblazons eulogies in his header, they do have a habit of convincing people, that's undoubtedly true. Maybe I should write: 'James Higham knows Voodoo economics' or 'Make him a Life Peer - fast'. Then I'll make up some name for the ones who said them, e.g. Hugh Jensen [Houston Times] or Nitwan Purlwan [Lhasa Chronicle] and no one's ever going to bother to check.

No, the solution seems to be this: perhaps if a blogger were to run a special page, linked from the sidebar, in which all testimonials and negative comments were listed together, maybe in chronological order, as and when they come up and with brutal honesty, this would give people a better view of us. For example, Cityunslicker said : "ill-informed" amongst the positives and that's good - it's more convincing.

Which brings me to what would insult us and what wouldn't. People have generally found that it's hard to insult me - 'balding git' does nothing, 'opinionated bore' is a compliment and I thrive on 'curmudgeon'. I was called a 'bastard' and immediately thanked the girl and looked on her more kindly after that. It's not everyday one is complimented in the heat of battle.

Perhaps if it's something we really value and have worked for and it's dismissed, that would hurt. Stand by for a moment whilst I try it. 'Woeful traffic.' Nope. 'No one's interested in your crappy little blog' [from Australia]. That's getting warmer. 'Tosser.' Nope, getting cold again.

Wonder how you'd feel insulted.