uber.la

In a random comment from a friend lately I was asked about my negative tone.

"Negative?" I asked.

Certainly we all have differing registers for what is negative and what is not. Sarcasm can cut either way and it is really a subjective opinion rather than a "positive" or "negative" tone. Still my friend's question has had me thinking about my "tone."

With that in mind I took a screen shot this morning of as many post titles as would fit on a single computer screen. And then I have overlayed my own tone ratings for each one.

+ Is POSITIVE. Def: Sentiment and tone of this post is UP. There may be some counterpoints, but even in the post about my father's day tennis loss, I was happy to report that my kids didn't even really ask or care if I WON or LOST.

- Is NEGATIVE. Def: Tone is spiky beyond mere humor. While I often use #fail as an iconic phrase for criticism it does not necessarily make it negative. However, for the purpose of comparison, I can see how "criticism" even done in the journalistic spirit can be seen as negative.

≠ Is NEUTRAL. Def: Tech reviews, tech opinions are neutral for the most part. And if I couldn't find the easy POS or NEG answer I put it in NEU.

And here's what I got:

So there you have it.

27% Negative.

And what I've said to some of my critics, who say I'm toooooo negative, or "over the top." You know, I don't get followers or readers by writing boring shite. If it needs an edge I'm gonna put it in there. I am comfortable with that. But I don't intentionally take a negative tone, and if my self-examination is accurate, I don't have an overly negative tone either.

In fact I'm 48% bubbly. (And if I add this post to make it 19 out of 38 then I've soared to 50% POSITIVE!)

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/defining-tone

A couple good examples of my bubbliness and self-examination:

• ReTweet Tweet Tweet – We Are What We Tweet: What Value Are You Giving Your Following?
• Behavioral Disorders As Currency In Social Media: Humor About Us
• Creative Process Has Many Interruptions: My Songwriting Self-Examination – Buzzie
• Three from AliveTribe.net: 1. an email mountain; 2. butt; 3. the global mind
• TimeShifting: Sleep Less, Rock More, Fire Everything and Be Everywhere
• Music Discovery and Community – a Sub-Semantic Connective Network

Tags: 27% negative, 37 posts, 48% bubbly, being a blogger, blog tips, blogging, computer screen, counterpoints, creative process, don't go negative, finding my voice, followers, go negative, gotta go negative sometimes, interruptions, media humor, negative tone, positive tone, registers, sarcasm, self-examination, sentiment, stay positive, subjective opinion, tone, writing style, writing tips, writing tone