Critic/Critique Blogs... Fit or Flop?

I've been a frequent peruser and not so frequent poster to many of the 'critic/critique' blogs that have cropped up in the past year and while I am at first entertained by the platform offerings in the beginning, it never fails that I find myself disappointed in the end. My disappointment usually stems from that hydra-esc question of the feasibility of the blog's existence. That question leads to whether the blog is serving as a critiquing platform or a critic's soapbox. Then comes the inquiry into what exactly it is that is being critiqued and worse yet, what credential do the critics bring to the arena. It never fails that I get tired of reading the blogs, particularly when they reduce themselves to nothing more than a run away train chocked full of vulgar language, incessant spam and overtly ridiculous stereotypical insults.

I know that for me, the critic/critique blogs served to fill a void, an empty space if you will. Or at least they did...now that space is filled with other hobbies and focuses. I was frustrated with the industry and my visits with the scrapbooking message boards only showed me a world full of people with blinders on. I wanted a place to go to voice my frustration with Heidi Swapp and the way that Advantus failed to handle my complaint about the non-rubons and adhesive-less adhesive chipboard. I took it to one of the message boards and got nothing but a poor attempt at a verbal spanking for daring to complain about something as minuscule as product quality. I wanted a place to ask about the feasibility of a person being on 10 or 15 design teams and I was smacked in the face with the jealously card and pretty much accused of being a talentless nobody who would never be allowed to play with the "elite". When I found my first critic/critique blog I felt like I'd been holding my breath for years and I'd finally been granted license to exhale. I had a voice for once...one that others could identify with and it felt good to just TALK about what was bugging me. I didn't need a fix for my problem (though one would've been nice), it was enough for me to know that I wasn't alone in my frustration and I certainly wasn't a pariah for daring to have expectations.

Then came the name calling. In walked the stereotypical statements. Someone left the door open and let the proverbial dogs in. My feelings of victory over my frustration with the industry was t-boned by my frustrations with the human condition. Suddenly, one's weight, how they dressed, looked, and talked became springboards for some of the most vicious character attacks that I'd ever seen. I knew that women could be catty, my husband informed me of that fact years before, I'd just never seen it with that type of in-your-face magnification. Freedom of speech took an extended field trip back to the school yard.

Then came the hand slappers, the envy abaters and the jealousy patrol. Suddenly every claim, factual, personal, or guerrilla in nature, was labeled as unvalidated and jealousy/inadequacy based. I found myself sitting on the sidelines in the same school yard, watching a battle of wills between guerrillas and the elitists. It was the best of times (?) ... it was the worst of times (!).

I've tried several blogs since the first one and they have all fallen just short of the 1/2 way mark because of these two oppressive groups. It's almost as if someone is bound and determined that intelligent discussion must be thwarted at all cost and the wheels of change must be slowed no matter what. Why?

• Why can't women manage to get together and discuss what grates on our nerves without resorting to behaviour that is stereotypically 'catty'? If anything, wouldn't it be in our best interest to discuss our craft without contributing to any negative stereotypes?
• Why is there this fear of disclosure amongst the bands of the 'elite'? Is is based on the fear of character defamation or is it just a case of not wanting the the getting that's been going so good to stop?
• Do we need critic/critique blogs? Particularly if they are falling short of the expectations of many?
• If the intent of the critic/critique blogs is to effect change then why is there so much focus on things that really shouldn't matter? (i.e., the fact that someone is fat, out of style, or in possession of unappealing DNA replicas are outside of the scope of effected change)