It’s not you… it’s me

I’ve talked before in some other venues about how ‘neutral’ feedback or opinions seem to be considered ‘negative’ these days. I’m not sure when that started but it’s true now.

Let’s role-play a bit, shall we? I’m all about the role-playing.  You pretend to be someone who just created something – a photo, some virtual content, or I dunno… a sterling silver ring.  I will pretend to be well.. me. Ok now, you show me what you’ve made. Here’s how the conversation might play out:

You: “Hey.. look at this cool ring I made. Do you like it?”
Me: “Yeah, it’s ok.”
You: “Cool.”

Now, let’s replace this offline conversation with an online one and see if anyone notices.

You: “Hey.. I added you as a friend on twitter, but you didn’t add me back. You suck.”
Me: “Dude. It’s not YOU.. I just can’t follow a million people and feel like I’m getting anything from it. I’m just looking for specific content or connections with people that are in my local area or interested in the same things I am. I’m using twitter as professional development and to grow.  Nothing against you dude, I just consider who I add to my twitter stream.”
You: “You suck.”

See the differences? Michael Arrington blogged a bit about this today, but here’s some video that gives you my perspective as well.

Why is it bad/offensive/rude to be neutral these days? Why have we resorted to a bunch of people who are afraid to say what we’re feeling or feel like we have to explain or justify why we feel the way we do?  Dude. That sucks.