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out areas for improvement, but the critic's goal is not to upset anyone. Because critics are not motivated by meanness, telling a critic you don't want his or her advice will generally stop that person from making any more comments on your writing, your web page, your photos, etc. Hence, if the comments of a critic truly bother you, it is usually easy to stop them. That being said, the best way to deal with a critic is to read his or her advice and take it with a grain of salt. Sometimes critics can help us improve our work, and sometimes ignoring their advice is the best call.

5. The basher.

Bashers generally have one or more pet peeves, which they will bring up in response to almost any topic. For example, a basher may blame everything from their personal problems to the weather on a particular politician or group of people. Their posts often stray off topic because they reach for any excuse to spout their negativity. If a basher's post truly is off topic, it is best to report it and hope it gets removed. Otherwise, remember that bashers are too opinionated to be reasoned with. Rather than arguing with their statements, simply ignore their posts.

Discourtesy on message boards is an unfortunate fact of life, but we can all do our part to minimize the problem. By reporting message board abuse, making sure our own posts are courteous, and not getting drawn into ugly exchanges, we can help make message boards what they were intended to be; a pleasant environment in which to exchange ideas.

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