Are you affraid of critic of your doll?

That's debatable.

I've experienced it directed at someone else and, when I called the bully on it, at me. The mods did nothing. Whether through being too busy to notice the thread descend into flames, or through simply not caring, is anybody's guess. I suspect (but have no proof, so may be doing them a disservice) that any mods following that particular thread were friends with the clique who dominated it, so simply turned a blind eye, and "solved" the problem by just letting the bullied among us (and those sensible souls too timid to get involved) leave the thread. It left enough of a bad taste in my mouth that I've not looked at that thread since, and know several others who left it too.

So, sadly, even DoA is not the safe-haven it could be.

Teddy

 

Eh. They just might not have thought that it crossed the line between actual bullying and simple disagreement, too... People's definitions for that kind of thing can vary a lot. For one person it might not cross a line until threats of violence are involved. For others? Any disagreement at all might do it.

 

Possibly. Being told by multiple clique members that I had no right to even address a comment to an established member of the ruling clique, let alone call her out for a nasty comment to someone, certainly felt like bullying to me.

Teddy

 

There’s no rule that says you have to post photos of your doll to be part of the hobby. If you feel uncomfortable to post, I agree with the other poster who suggested taking photos for a scrapbook or other way for you to enjoy them. You could always upload your favorites to Imgur in a private album so they can be available to post if you feel like it.

As someone who often doesn’t post photos because I don’t want potentially bad comments, I have had good experiences posting here. People are generally nice and even when they give criticism, it tends to be more of the tone of advice rather than being mean.

 

Not really. I think my dolls are pretty enough, so I don't really care about other's opinions. XD The dolls are there to please the owner, not the Internet at large. Some people may find my dolls ugly, and it's fine, because it's not theirs. Heck, I don't like a lot of dolls I see but I am happy to see the owner happy, and I would still compliment things I like about that doll (and keeping silent about things I don't like).

I do post pictures, mainly of my crafts, and I am aware that I am not that good, but it's nice to have some feedback sometimes and to look at older pictures and see that I have improved. But in the see of crafters here, I am not that good but it won't stop me posting pictures if I want. It's not like you ever become good at anything without sucking at it before.

I have not experienced bullying on DoA (but I am a fairly recent member), just a bit of rudeness directed to the novel I am writing. I would say you are fairly safe here.

That said, it may not be bad to develop a bit of a thicker skin for things like this. While people are more free in their opinions on the Internet, and so more vicious, people just talk behind your back more IRL. Whatever you do, you will have your detractors and if most can be polite about it, there will always be some who think their opinion is law or something. It's best to know how to handle detractors on and out of the Internet, lest you miss a lof of things, avoid opportunities, etc.

 

I used to be afraid of what people would say. But now i just feel like if someone were to say something bad about my dolls I would not care. Everybody likes different things and if someone feels the need to critique how my dolls look they are just wasting their time. Because I like them and that's all that matters.

 

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I have a doll with a very ugly faceup - I haven’t gotten mean comments, but I sure have gotten damnation by faint praise compared to my prettier boys and girls! But to me, I love her and I love her faceup, so it doesn’t bother me. I’m not obligated to change my doll because other people aren’t a fan, and other people aren’t obligated to like my doll just because I do.

I do think sometimes people cross the line from personal opinions into rudeness, but I haven’t seen a ton of that here on the forum, or in the Facebook groups I frequent. I think it’s more of a trouble in groups that mix different kinds of doll fans, or doll fans and non doll fans.

 

Not to justify anything, just so I understand this better - and you are sure there were mods reading that thread, and for some reason or other tolerating it? I guess I don't have to state the obvious, but it's impossible that every thread gets read by a mod, due to the sheer volume of threads and the mods' limited time. Which is why there is a report button, to bring things to their notice, so then they have to react somehow. But that means one of the bullied parties would have to take action first. I'm asking for clarification because this being a safe haven is in all our interest, isn't it.

 

No - as I said:

At least one mod had been posting on the thread, but whether any were reading it at the time is something I have no way of proving.

Teddy

 

There’s critique and then what you’re describing, OP, which is just unnecessary rudeness. On the one hand I’d say that it’s best to try not to care about what anyone else thinks. On the other… you shouldn’t have to take that kind of negativity because you posted a harmless doll photo.

I’d recommend 1) use that block button when it happens and 2) post in spaces that are filled with other doll collectors, because non-collectors are the ones that tend to be all “CREEPY DOLL OH NO.”

I say this as someone who once had to report a stolen photo of my Fairyland F60 Chloe (who is the most innocuous big eyed doll) to Tumblr when I found it on someone’s ALL DOLLS ARE TERRIFYING OMG blog. No doll is to everyone’s taste. Those people should learn to keep their mouths shut, but when they don’t, we have a block button. (And a report button. So many buttons.)

 

Nasty, unprompted comments like that say a lot more about the person posting them than your doll.