Praise of my site makes my day, and any random troll's "you are teh sux" crushes me. I'm working on getting a thicker skin, but it's hard.
The advice in the article is pretty good, though, and it highlights the main issue that negative criticism usually contains the most helpful information.
Praise keeps you going, while criticism keeps you on the right track.
The important differentiator is this: why are you so reliant on the opinions of others to keep afloat?
This was a problem I had for a long time. A part of it, I think, was that I didn't really feel like I was contributing anything new - and, in fact, I wasn't. Once I started pruning myself, revising things, focusing on really creating meaningful stuff, then I found that I didn't care so much about comments: I started to make things for the sake of those things rather than for personal vanity.
I think that's a big part of things too. Criticism can get you on the right track. Once you're there, if you don't leave the track criticism stops mattering. I don't know if it's a matter of thick skin - I'm a fairly sensitive person in many ways. It's more a matter of your realizing that some critics are wrong, and ignoring them to continue what you do best.
The advice in the article is pretty good, though, and it highlights the main issue that negative criticism usually contains the most helpful information.
Praise keeps you going, while criticism keeps you on the right track.