Due to a person or persons at work consistently giving me a 1 star rating on everything I write (the IP belongs to Avalanche Studios, but that’s about all I know), I’ve decided to remove the ratings on my blog.
1. I think it would be nice to keep them, they actually do help in deciding what people are interested in. I also feel that there are better ways of showing displeasure than giving me a consistent 1 star rating no matter what I write. One would be to actually TALK to me. I’m at work every day. If you want to talk about equality, I’m here. If you want to talk about games, I’m here. I’ve no idea who you are, but still.
2. I get uneasy knowing that someone at the company I work for find everything I say useless. Frankly, I get stressed about it, especially when I have NO IDEA who it is. It’s difficult enough trying to navigate my working day, I don’t need passive aggression to top it off. I don’t want that stress, and so, if I remove the ratings, at least I won’t actively be exposed to my anonymous co-worker’s opinion of me.
So anonymous co-worker, consider this a win. You won. You’ve made me feel insecure and slightly threatened. Not enough to stop writing on my blog, but enough to make me remove a feature that actually helped me decide what to write next. Personally, I think it would have been better just to talk, but unfortunately I don’t have the tools to find out who you are and ask you what brought this on.
EDIT: Okay, so to spare you scrolling down the comments, I did go to HR, but there is nothing they can do, since this incident has taken place outside of work and the sender is anonymous. I understand their viewpoint. I am not upset or unhappy about this decision.
2013-09-11 at 10:51
This sucks, I find it very disheartening that there are morons like that out there. Well, I will do what I can to write more comments to make up for the inability to rate posts.
Rating: scary, depressing, necessary.
2013-09-11 at 11:04
So. Cowardy. Of that co-worker.
Agreeing with Mikael, let’s try to rate-throught-comments.
2013-09-11 at 11:05
Wow Åsa I am really sad to read this post! I sincerely hope that whoever was doing that actually sits down with you and has a real conversation instead of just cyber-bullying (which is what giving consistently low ratings without giving a reason amounts to). Dear one-star rater(s), what are your reasons for giving Åsa consistently low ratings? Do you disagree with what she’s writing,and if so, why?
2013-09-11 at 11:08
Sorry to hear that someone would be so petty and cowardly to anonymously just rate down everything rather than actually comment on the content. I for one enjoy your posts, whenever I do find my way here. 🙂
2013-09-11 at 12:00
Mikael – I doubt it’s a moron. There are very few morons at Avalanche. However, I am disappointed that we couldn’t have a normal conversation rather than this crap.
Maria – I welcome it 🙂
Alice – I agree. I’d also like to know what the reasoning is.
Konc – Thank you for the support. I’m not sure about the pettiness and cowardice though. Maybe I’m intimidating? 🙂
2013-09-11 at 12:01
Sad, but understandable. Like the other Mikael, I will try to be more supportive through comments instead.
GO ÅSA!
2013-09-11 at 12:03
(Just to be clear: It’s the removal of comments that’s sad but understandable. Not that your coworker is being a first-class coward and an asshat)
2013-09-11 at 13:20
Given that it’s a kind of cyber-bullying and it’s by someone at Avalanche, I think it should be brought up with HR. So I would talk to them first, and if they think it’s a good idea, it’s probably easy for the IT folks to figure out the person behind the IP, and then you can have a face-to-face discussion with this person.
2013-09-11 at 13:26
I actually brought something similar up at a previous HR meeting, but then it was about the policing of my views on twitter by various people from the office. Those were easier to deal with because it was twitter and we could have a conversation about it there. But I guess you are right. I should perhaps do that.
It feels a bit “not that serious” though. It’s only ratings, not like someone has been harassing me for real.
2013-09-11 at 13:39
Ah whiny boy-men who get so huffy when someone threatens their sit on the throne but without the common decency to protest openly.
This could be a form of “win” to though – its just another bit of proof that the “anti-human movement” (the so called “antifeminists” or “equalists”) are nowadays made up of the same sniveling lackeys that make up the ranks of any group who’s main goal is to hammer out some sense of control from anyone they can in any way dominate no matter what the consequences.
They’ll go the way of similar groups like the KKK – just a bunch of sad mental-castaways chiseling out some kind of identity out of their self-isolation.
2013-09-11 at 13:44
I hope that the perosn that gives you the rating reads this and the response so that he or she understands what a cowrad he or she is.
2013-09-11 at 14:46
Ta upp det med HR direkt.
2013-09-11 at 15:20
Jag håller med ovanstående talare som rekommenderar att samtal med HR.
2013-09-11 at 19:40
THIS IS NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOUR! Nobody keeps going back to a site to rate content if they dislike everything – unless something is terribly wrong. It’s NOT normal.
2013-09-11 at 20:44
I agree with Frances, this isn’t normal behaviour. I imagine it would be pretty easy to make a more of less qualified guess as to who it is. Of course that won’t matter since it wouldn’t be a good idea to just confront the person. And even if that happened, the person would deny it, and then what? But it’s not normal socially healthy behaviour, and one could imagine the person is showcasing abnormal social behaviour within other areas of social interactivity as well. -_-
2013-09-11 at 20:57
Jag är väldigt glad att jag jobbar på den arbetsplats jag jobbar på.
Men gör vad du vill för att fortsätta skriva, även om det innebär att betygen försvinner…
2013-09-11 at 22:07
I have a meeting with HR tomorrow, I’ll bring it up then. Thank you all for your support and understanding.
2013-09-12 at 12:39
Sorry to hear about this, Åsa. But you should be proud of yourself. You turn mirrors into windows, while this guy is both a coward and a conformist. And we should all know that even a dead fish can go with the flow but never change anything.
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” (Winston Churchill)
2013-09-12 at 13:08
I agree, this is passive aggressivity, not a moron. Consider this comment a rating.
2013-09-12 at 14:06
Glad to hear that you’re bringing HR into this, Åsa. Bullying in any form is unacceptable, and HR can help support you in this situation and help figure out the next steps. Especially since you weren’t given the chance to confront the person yourself. Good work!
2013-09-12 at 20:37
I’ve spoken to HR but they felt there was nothing they could do to help, since this incident has taken place outside of work, and there is no way for them to know who is behind it.
I understand their viewpoint. It’s not something that happened at work, this is my own personal space, and I’ll just have to protect myself by other means.
I also want to point out that I am not upset or unhappy about this decision. I get it. It’s not that easy to act on it. Perhaps I should have been quiet and just removed the ratings, I don’t know.
2013-09-12 at 21:17
I can see the point why your employer can’t force the issue. However, you did the right thing going public about it on your blog, your personal side on the internet. There are a lot of people out here listening to your experiences and thoughts as well as taking action against the stereotyping you write so well against. Even if you (we) get tired and put down by the stupidity and hostility sometimes, like now for instance…
I wonder how much human energy is wasted on these matters, globally, when we all should know that we all really would prefer to think ahead on paths in unknown regions, other issues, to unexpected meetings, to days in quiet and mornings by the sea… After all, we are all humans, even though some of us is more concerned than others… Sorry about this little outburst, Åsa. 🙂
2013-09-12 at 21:22
“…[are] more concerned…” A propos more important issues, like grammar… 😉
2013-09-15 at 22:27
A couple of thoughts..
1. Had it been an occasional downrating it could be a person who is actually just scared of speaking their opinion because they think they will get whailed on by everyone who disagree with them, perhaps the person is not very assure of their own ability to debate. However to consistently downrate everything is clearly bullying as you already have figured out, and bullies are mostly cowards as this coward has confirmed themself to be.
2. I disagree that this is something that has happened outside of work however. The person has done it from an IP belonging to Avalanche and that makes it work related. Of course, I do not know how the company policies are formulated in detail so it may or may not be relevant. But it’s definately work related and I would personally argue that.
In closing I wish you the best in shaking off the stress that this has been, and I know how hard that can be. It’s one thing to think it but to tell your body to stop releasing hormones is a bit trickier. It can be done though, and you’re strong enough to do it. Therefor it’s debatable whether the downrater “won” anything. They’ll still be a coward and a bully and that’s a pretty miserable excuse for a life. Not really a win in my opinion.