Zen Garden > The UGLY Practice of Sniping - Some Personal Experiences I Have Had

Whenever anybody publishes anything on the internet they open themselves up to become the target of all sorts of abuse. I guess it comes with the territory. It took just 72 hours for the first bullet to come my way.

So, what was my motive to write such an article? To get people to visit my website? Not really. To "big-note" myself? No. To denote myself as an expert on the subject? No, though I do have extensive experience in it. To help people who are struggling to write articles? Yes. That was the main reason.

I wanted to let people know why, when a person starts to read their article they quickly tire, maybe scan to the bottom then click away before finishing. I find myself doing that. I know lots of others do too. So, I wanted to let aspiring authors know why that can happen. I wanted to give them some tips so they can improve their readership levels.

At the time of writing I was conscious that I was setting myself up as a target. I knew that. When I posted the article I wondered how long it would take before somebody would take a shot at me. You see, I know there are snipers on the rooftops. Make yourself a target and they will surely have a ping.

Well, it took just 72 hours for the first bullet to come my way. Some people just cannot help themselves!

Let me explain a little further:

At the time of writing this article I have well over 100 articles circulating around hundreds of sites on the web. For anybody who has written even one article you will know what a significant effort this is.

Many of the articles I have written have received very positive, complimentary comments and ratings. However, as soon as you stand up and say "this is how you do it" and give an example of your own success, out will come some anonymous person whose prime task is to shoot you down.

Well... Mr, Miss or Ms Sharpshooter why don't you have the gumption to identify yourself or go "head to head" with me? Put your long-range sniper rifle down for a while and let's duke it out. One on one. Your best versus my best. There's the challenge. Are you up to it?

Ooh. I can already hear the sound of running footsteps fading into the distance. Probably they will be running to the next target to fire off another volley at somebody else from a concealed position. What an existence!

I remember some years ago posting a self-help article on a very well known self-help site. I was trying to help a young lady overcome a drug addiction by giving her some encouragement. I figured that if she had the courage to make a public posting then I would help her. Several others did too. Except one - a fellow from New Zealand whose main aim was to lecture me on the concepts of "drug of choice" and "harm minimization" and my form of what he termed "mind bending."

I suffered this person's ridicule for weeks. Eventually, frustrated that his comments were largely ignored, he resorted to threats and all sorts of ugly abuse. Never once did he identify himself by anything except some strange pseudonym - another trait of a sniper - that I have long since forgotten. He existed only to ridicule, denigrate and criticize. How sad it is that there are people who do this sort of thing. It's a bit like spraying graffiti in the dead of night on somebody's lovely wall.

Whenever anybody publishes anything on the internet they open themselves up to become the target of all sorts of abuse. I guess it comes with the territory. In fact, I wrote another article about this sort of thing. It was called: "Understand That You Are Always Going to Attract Critics."

In many respects you have to feel some sort of pity for the snipers. To feel the way that they do, to harbor so much anger at their own inadequacy and to try to bring other people down is a truly awful way to eke out an existence.

You can take another shot sniper. Just have the courage to identify yourself. But I guess that would be just too much to ask.

Gary Simpson is a 7th Dan karate master who teaches self defense, motivation, self help and wealth building to students around the world through home study courses. You may reprint this article as you include this author credit and an active link to his web site. Finance - Self Help - Motivation - Self Defense - Personal Growth MotivationSelfEsteem.com