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| Photo by energepic.com |
"I think this is a great podcast, well put together and cases I hadn’t heard of! Although I would like it a little more if she didn’t talk about herself so much. We are here for the story of the victims . . . not the story of the author/narrator’s life. Great narration and still listening for a reason."
This person left a three-star review. A three-star review? I thought to myself. They said it was a great podcast and featured case they hadn’t heard of. The narration is good. Still listening. So why the three-star review? Because the podcast host occasionally talks about herself?
I’d be lying if I said the review didn’t give me whiplash. It felt like a backhanded compliment. Why did they even bother? I felt like one of those pro athletes who are told to “shut up and just play sports” when they courageously decide to take a stand on something. Then I began racking my brain on when I’ve talked about myself on the podcast. I do it in my sponsor messages, but almost every podcaster I know does it and you can easily skip past those. If I’ve lived in a place where there is a missing person or a crime, I will mention my connection or tie to it. I feel as a podcaster that gives me credibility when discussing certain places. Why should Renee Roberson be the one to talk about a crime in Western North Carolina? Maybe because she grew up there, went to high school and college there, and knows about the area and media coverage of the case.
I spent the morning in a dark fog, all the joy I had felt hours earlier dissipated over one review. For three years I’ve produced the podcast all on my own, with no corporate sponsors or podcasting networks, from my guest room in our house with limited recording equipment, yet I’m being told “not to talk about myself too much.”
I took to social media, venting about my experience. And there, fortunately, my friends, many of whom are writers, provided voices of reason.
"Unfortunately people love to show their dominance on social media by bringing other's down. Consider the source and move on. "
"I’m not sure if this will make you feel better, but reviews don’t matter at all for most podcasts. They’re great for social proof and it’s nice to share wonderful ones but 99% of people don’t find podcasts through ratings & reviews. If it’s constructive, take it to heart and improve - if it’s not, keep moving on!"
"We all tend to focus on the one single bad comment and not all the good ones. Keep “well put together” and “new cases” and pitch the rest. (Advice I try to give myself and often can’t hear.)"
I took another look at my reviews. Out of twelve, two mentioned me talking about myself too much and gave me three stars. The other ten were overwhelmingly positive. Why do we always take the negative criticism to heart, even when we know it doesn’t have much merit? I guess it’s the way our brains our wired. These days I still scowl when I see that review on my app, but I tell myself they can always unsubscribe from my free podcast whenever they want to.
Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and host/creator of the true crime podcast, "Missing in the Podcast," which is approaching 150,000 downloads. Learn more at www.missinginthecarolinas.com.
