Is winning contests greed? Should I stop competing because I have won few contes
Finally after few hate mails I got hate comment on my blog today.... This is what it says---
You seem to write only for contests and winning prizes. Your greed is making me respect you less and less with each passing day.Write your heart out just for the sake of venting out someday. That feels good too.
The much learned coward did not leave a name behind though. I would love somebody to come forward and tell it out in open so that I can answer that individual.
I have 200 posts on my blog, who could claim they were done for contests? If I win a contest and lose the anonymous respect, I would sure lose the respect rather than the contest . Somehow I thought it was contrary, you win and you win respect.
Competitions and contest are for showing your worth and winning. I do not relate to all the contests, but when I do, I write for them. Blogging is what I do; if I get recognized and appreciated in it, I feel happy and proud. Where does greed come in here? I am not stealing food being distributed for free.
I don't go around begging for votes or comments for my blog. One of the reason why my top voted post on Indivine is not from blogging contest. It is about my experience of going through cancer.
I have written in competitions where there are no prizes to be won on different platforms and won them too. Just because money is invovled here it doesn't change anything for me.. it may change something for those who are greedy. I try to win because I love to win. Be it blogging competition, my exams, cancer, quizzes, sudoku and any other challenge. My aim is to try my best and leave the results to God. I don't go around judging the judges and winners if I lose.
If my tiny winning of few blogs points to greed than what would the great great achievements of Sachin, Lata, Amitabh and many such great personalities be dubbed as?
People don't stop and let you win Anonymous, you need to prove your worth and achieve something.
You have to know that when they don't win, good people become better, unworthy people become bitter.
winning or loosing is another aspect, i have participated in all contests since I joined, and I admit, I am greedy, let people think what they want, let them burn, I care nuts.I think you should pay no heed to that, and keep writing great posts. cheers.
I really appreciate your response towards other bloggers Pramod. Not many people are like you. You are very supportive of others always. Thanks
Don't worry. Being hated comes as a part of success. Out of many, only one can win. The ones who do not win, will obviously feel disappointed and show their negative feelings towards the winner. There was no one worthwhile in this world who was not hated by anyone. As my late mother used to say, only a living vegetable will be hated by none.
Your mother was a wise woman. I already feel better after reading these response. As The Sorcerer says, I should not have felt bad in the first place.
Farida ji, one of my friends used to tell me, "Neenu nin style al bari. Nin heart inda bari. Yaar yen ankondru, nin heartey sari." (In mixed Kannada and English, it means Write from your heart, in your style, no matter who thinks what, your heart is right.)
I don't write for contests usually.. I've started writing for them, and stopped midway into a write because it at times feels unconsciously un-me-ish somehow u know?! But I agree with Sorc when he says, if you're on a roll, I'd never say you to give up on it coz some eyebrows are being raised at your excelling in the contests. It's almost like saying, Tendulkar should retire now because the Kohlis and Rainas aren't getting the spotlight otherwise. Don't stop writing what means a lot to you personally, win or lose, loved or hated by others.. Can't please every reader we get anyways, anonymous or not.
Naanu nanage sari annisodanne bariteeni... ellavannu helalikke aaguvudilla anta bareyodu.. :)
For it is quite easy to write for contest other than a few like, Master chef, I am not one of those food bloggers and I don't know how to go about with writing recipe's though I cook well. Also the diesel and petrol did not suite my blog because I don't even own any vehicle.
Most of them do not ask you to write about product, it is just a topic they want you to write about. Many of the contest posts which has won prizes on Indiblogger do not even mention the product in their story. What does real beauty mean to you, Flight with colors and most of them were such topics which anyone can relate to in their own style.
No way I am going to stop writing LOL. Not an anonymous will ever stop me, but I wanted to know from Indibloggers whether I should step back a little in contests.
Step back? No ways. Speed on and dash past the finish line already Farida ji.. leave that loser commenter choking on the dust y u even thinking of stopping? no way.
Farida dont just be bothered about negative remarks from a jealous blogger. It is all intrinsic part of virtual world that some are definitely jealous beacuse they don t gather sufficient votes or win any prize in contest. I believe Indiblogger provides opportunity not only to win prizes in contest, but by responding to various companies like HUL, KFC, Samsung, who given freebies without any contest. I rarely participate in contests which requires praising a product without even testing or experiencing it. I am sure you will overcome this minor irritant when you have scaled the Mount Everest itself after winning the battle against cancer. Good luck and God bless you
I myself do not gather enough votes Umesh. I know what you mean by praising a product without testing it. The Sorcerer had explained it in detail. We can never stoop low and tell lies just to win contests. When I wrote for the 3G, I had no clue what it was about and that is what I said in my post. Also I made it clear that I have not seen the Samsung Galaxy tab but found the information on net. It was the Intel Appups that impressed me and deserved the praise. I still play with those free ups. Though I use Surf, love KFC, I still do not praise them on my post. I don't want my posts to waver away from 'The Chapters Of My Life'.
When we are a part of group, we all love the attention when it is positive. Indiblogger means a lot to me, I would not like to be in the bad books of indibloggers. One of the reason why the irritant affected me.
You know now what I was talking about in the mail ... :) Keep writing is what I can do, winning cannot be assured.
I wish somebody wrote me a hate mail... at least then I'd know what success is
But seriously Farida ji,
- for the record, even though it may not be the emotion driving you, Greed is good - as it can be a strong driving force....
- for the record, don't really bother bout it as its just a (negetive) confirmation of ur success....
- for the record, just keep writing...
So like a great Greek philosopher once said, "Blog likhwanu, juice pivanu, Majja ni Life...."
Keep writing, winning, succeeding.
Oh! So the Greek philosophers spoke that language LOL
haha.. good one Raj..
The missing courage to put his actual name behind that comment talks how badly he/she feel dejected. Appreciate if that person can take that on as a challenge and move on in life in a positive way than venting on someone like you. Disgusting character!
At least the comment got to back to forum. I don't see much posts from you on indiblogger anymore. What happened?
Why should you be punished for being good :P
Good question, who will answer it?
Thank you friends. Your support has meant a lot to me. I was kind of feeling down and regretted submitting another post for the contest. Now I don't.
I have seen that comment, if there was any rationale behind that statement that person would have revealed his or her identity at least. i come across numerous such anonymous comments on various blogs.
i absolutely admire ur writing and wud love to see u winning lots of contests
Thank you for the compliments.. Actually the freak got me few good comments over here ;)
I know you've been through a lot but you should stop using it as bait. Your daughter seems to be a lovely child, but you mention her special needs way too many times than they should be.
Now this is the latest accusation from the freak anonymous. I don't even know why I am answering the freak but I did
I don't use what I have been through as a bait. Did you not see the labels I have on my blog? My blog is about my cancer, kids and relationships. Just because there is contest, I cannot change my blog. Judges give my post the attention they need because I write from my heart and it reaches to people. No one is going to give me points for having been through much. Having a special needs child or a child makes them a part of our life; as my blog is about my life it is going to be about what I have been through. If you feel you are right in what you are saying you would not be anonymous. It is the shame of your act that makes you hide your name. Join the discussion on Indiblogger forum where I have opened this topic you mentioned, talk like a Man/Woman without hiding".
Your contest entries always raise the bar, Farida ji and you are wonderfully talented person. Dont bother about such cheap,hate comments. It just shows that the person is jealous and has very low ethics. Keep writing, keep winning :)
Thanks Abhi, that is such an wonderful compliment. Keep writing is possible, but keep winning is left up to fate and judges.
halo mam,
I can understand the effects of that comment, certainly i appreciate you for creating the forum to make it clear...
1) people will always find mistakes, they see in that perspective to spot mistakes..
2)Others opinion will certainly have an effect on us, since we need some readers and some commentators to appreciate and correct us, we have to hear all those, be it appreciations or such strong contempts
3) i have also envied you for winning all the contests but i feel we should and we must have a STRONG competition, we should never let that envy spoil the relation and spopil our ethics.
No worries mam, even if you do good people will find mistakes and similarly for bad, i can personally tell that you do what you wish to... people will yell and curse us for different things :( we have to move on right ?You have talents and which gives you prizes as gifts, dont bother about negative comments mam :)
You are so right. It is nice to know how young and upcoming bloggers feel about us oldies. Thanks for the support.
You seriously shouldn't have felt bad about in the first place Farida ji :)
Its good that you opened this discussion :)
It is not only about me, there has been the ill-feelings and critizing of the winning blogs too on the forums. They could not find fault with my posts, and may be have stooped low to pick up my situation. I cannot become a anonymous person without cancer tag or special needs child for the sake of contest. That is what I am everyday and that is what I am on blog. Indibloggers should stop being bad losers.
Now this was kind of Hilarious people. The anonymous commentor wanted me to earn his/her respect by losing a contest. Even Sheldon cannot beat that for sure... Here is the comment-
"You'd rather lose somebody's respect than the contest. There, you said it yourself.Anyways, I'm not a bad person, I respected you and your life a lot. But off late these contests are all that I see on your page.I don't like the fact that a person who I thought of so highly is so materialistic.That's it.Love to Rayyan and Farheena :)Take care :)I shall not bother anymore and may you win many more contests to come :)"
I thought may be I should answer and calm his/her nerves which seems to be on edge. Kind of feeling sorry for the person. So here is my reply
You need to earn respect yourself if you have to give it to someone. Do you have it? I wouldn't lose a contest to win your respect for sure. SNORT!
Why would I do that?
Accepted you are not a bad person. Just a bit immature.
I am sorry that you got to see a lot of contests posts on my page- blame the platforms hosting the contests. I usually write just one post for one topic, the recent contest has something which suits me. I am a fierce person with lots of incidents matching the topic in my life, so I had tough time choosing one ;).
What you like and do not like is solely your problem. Do you expect me to change for you? or change because you think I am materialistic? How many days will a contest win sustain us?
Thank you for all those good wishes.. contests come and go. I may win or not but I know I have it in me to compete and lose with a heart. Like DS said, I may lose contests but not my dignity by being anonymous hater of winner.
There was no issue in the first place. May be I was a bit insecure or something to be bothered by it.
Anyway I feel it is mean to say I bait my daughter; even if the person confesses to be a good human being, I seriously doubt it. I write a lot about my son, especially most of my contest posts feature him. Why is that not bait? Just because he has no special needs? It is kind of discrimination running in blood. It has been a terrible struggle for me to make 'my society' treat my daughter with respect and love. Just because one loses a contest, one cannot touch that territory.
I hope bloggers understand that behind every blog there is an ordinary human being with a heart.
Sour grapes I think. I had read somewhere that "if you don't want people to hate you don't win anything".
You are an inspiration to us. Your posts are well deserved wins. You have won so many contests so if you can share the secret of your writing winning posts all of us would benefit.
Thanks Bemoneyware. I will write a blog about it someday, but believe me it will be really stupid. I am an ordinary person with limited abilities, may be that makes me genuine.
I have my own inhibitions about the judging and the winning streaks, however, hate mails is something sickening.
Dhirubhai said : Hate mails is a sign of success. Jab aapki tarakki ho rahi ho, tabhi aapko kuch log hate karenge!
So keep blogging.
Varun, thanks for the encouragement. It is different thing when you question judging, or criticize a blog post. That is always acceptable to me. Anyone is welcome to go ahead and criticize my style, grammar or post. But judging 'me' for just competing in contest is something abhorable for anyone. There is lot more underneath my survival then what comes out on my blog. If only the anonymous could visit me once, s/he would know then.
No matter how much the person will say "I am not a bad person", telling me I bait my child to win contests is not a sign of good person. What do you say? As I mentioned earlier, I do include my son more than my daughter in my contest posts. My life revolves around my kids, how can I write without mentioning them?
We only need a computer to type out anonymous messages, a heart is optional.
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