I just have to know...

[l33tmeatwad]

I've been known to troll now and again...

I think there's a problem, if you are known to troll people, they won't be able to take your "advice" seriously, because they won't be able to tell it's worth anything until someone who doesn't troll a lot basically repeats what you said. There are a lot of people that can't take critical feedback (or don't want it), but those that are after it generally like to get feedback from someone that seems trustworthy, not someone who is known for trolling.

[Skylark2]

I originally had posted my response on Animenation a while ago. I hope it's alright to share a copy of my response here.

Err . . . filtering back to Leader Desslock's questions:

I find the answer to understanding the negative and positive feedback freak-outs is to (hopefully) empathize with others because of my own experiences posting over the years, or from observing the experiences of others involved in give-and-take. I assume the creator gene is in all of us and so these questions can be generally directed at any musician, painter, baker, director, actor, writer, manga artist or, of course, the AMV creator. I find it natural and human, particularly when a person goes public with their ideas or creations for the first time, that there may be frustration when certain things don't fly with the reviewer or critics over the work put in display.

But that doesn't mean creators with years of experience and backbone may not freak-out once and a while in later years: some years ago, in a radio program I was listening to, I remember Frank Miller getting nasty at an innocent but honest reviewer that didn't like his version of Catwomen in the Batman Year One comic book.

Also, in another example, I recall the story given by a craftsman/teacher I knew -- an experienced character designer and animator I met -- that mentioned that he became visibly angry in front of a prospective client over the lack of a positive response to his pitch for a animated short. I take it that sometimes rejection can still be hard to take in any business or endeavor even if you are a production veteran. (But because of that experience, however, he went on to set up a successful animation school and had his students make the film with his own budget.)

What the **** is it with so many (in my person experience) AMV creators that: a) compels them to post their work publicly

Feeding the ego may not be the only lure, it also may be to share their experiences and the feelings evoked by their creation as something special, just like people post on AN to share their experiences and appreciation for great storytelling or great anime. At anime conventions I try to see fan art that are displayed – I try to see the emotion and passion in the work that the fan artists are able to convey (most times it doesn't matter to me what level of experience the artist may be nestled at).

Let me add too that some posters are not only looking for positive feedback, but they are probably also looking for positive or negative critiques that are useful feedback.

Along with other motivational factors, I sometimes post my own work to test audience response to my own ideas. In some cases, and if a person is really lucky, a person might post their creation online and find a career. See here.

b) compels them to ask for critical feedback

My guess is because it helps to have any feedback. By requesting it you may get someone to participate, whether the work may bring a negative response or a positive one.

c) causes them to freak the hell out when you find the tiniest fault with it?!

Because, damn it, it may still hurt anyway -- whether you're a experienced Frank Miller or an AMV creator like Mr. Sidney H. Flopgoblin.

I've had times defended my work from certain critiques and then later had second thoughts – often times I had come around the critic's perspective and made changes. An example of that is my student animated film titled Dead Banana. The instructor recommended that I flip a couple of scenes into a different order. Initially, after getting most of the work where I wanted it, my knee-jerk response was to defend what I had done so far and object to any changes. Weeks later I could see and understood the instructor's perspective and thought the instructor was right. I changed the scene. But that too is another thing, and a word of warning: in some cases the reviewer or critic better know their stuff or there will be skepticism. That instructor knew his stuff.

What is it about the AMV community that makes them proportionately less able to accept feedback, but still compelled to seek it?

See the last two lines above . . . that and the AMV community still sounds like lots of fun anyhow. Besides, who wants to really keep any of their films in the closet anyway.

[irriadin]

That sure is a whole lot of words to ask

"Why do some people take criticism poorly?"

x3

However, I will say that certain communities react to criticism differently. Every time I've made a critical comment on YouTube, people in the comments will do their best to make it seem like I don't know what I'm talking about. The video creator is usually receptive of what I have to say, but I've basically concluded that YouTube isn't the proper forum for real analysis and critique.

So I'll reiterate what others have said. 1. One individual isn't representative of the whole community. 2. Each community has its own accepted norms; YouTube comments are generally extremely polarizing ("I LOVE IT" vs "OMG THIS SHIT SUX"), so balanced criticism can be so far out of what's expected that a lot of people just don't know how to deal with it.

[Leader Desslock]

Wow. Didn't think this would actually get posted.

A couple of the replies are along the lines of what I'm looking for,and I'll reply later when I get a chance. Thanks for everyone's responses so far, though!

[BasharOfTheAges]

Wow. Didn't think this would actually get posted.

PHPBB has a last line of defense spam filter for sites that don't have the luxury of blanket banning regions of the globe where most spam bots operate (china, russia, etc). What it does is quarantines all posts by new users until mods actively verify you are not a spam bot. People were just busy this holiday weekend.

[Fall_Child42]

Wow. Didn't think this would actually get posted.

A couple of the replies are along the lines of what I'm looking for,and I'll reply later when I get a chance. Thanks for everyone's responses so far, though!

Why did you think this would not get posted?

[TritioAFB]

I love honest people when dealing with feedback. I always keep saying that IF I were in youtube, comments like: awesome! amazing! or stuff like that is accepted. It's youtube after all so I can't really ask for honest feedback.

Problem is like some editors that have spent all their life as editors in YouTube enters into a "Security Zone" so they keep editing the same, the same and the same. And if they make candypop effects, the viewers just get accostumed that even their bad clips are considered "awesomeness"

It will affect the way the editor takes the criticism. For me as an example:

It's good when I receive comments from people enjoying the vid, I mean, that's one of the best rewards an editor may receive. When I receive a comment that's based to improve facts for next vids, I always read them and keep them in mind next time I plan something similar. That's the way I've been improving this year, obviously I don't find something useful in comments like: Anime sucks! or you suck!

At Akross for example, I have to justify myself everytime I comment in a video saying if I like it or not. I don't believe in the perfect feedback, so as I will point positive points I will do the same with negative points, but I'll not bash an editor just because I don't like music selection or anime selection. That being said, for me you can be a famous editor as you can be a beginner. You may be my favorite editor or I might hate the way you are, but that doesn't give me the reason to give a poor feedback. It's about the clip I'm reviewing, not the author.

I always will to offer feedback, since I feel like that's my original purpose in the amv world. Watching generations of editors coming and leaving it's just something I always keep in mind before reviewing an amv, and like the rest I had my own experiences, training editors through the feedback, or just forgetting about the "failed-promises"

[Skylark2]

From the previous post by Skylark2 :

Along with other motivational factors, I sometimes post my own work to test audience response to my own ideas. In some cases, and if a person is really lucky, a person might post their creation online and find a career. See here.

The link in the words 'See here' wasn't transferred over. Here's that link:

http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/tintin-fan-job-spielberg/

[Tailmon]

There is criticism and there is advice. One needs to be more tactful about how you approach and talk to the person you are
trying to criticize or advise. Critics normally come off as assholes that pick apart anything they dislike. It can be so pointed and fine that they even dislike how someone writes. We all have a certain style when we do things. If one critic dislikes your style and everyone else loves it do you listen to the critic? If Mark Twain or Allen Poe listened to critics we would have lost great
classics. I've found that critics in many cases are people with no imagination and criticize others because they hate them.

Advice if done properly is not criticism. I've encouraged young people to write all the time. My family seems to have thing about writing. Now no one is perfect when they do things or put things together. It could be considered style a fault or in some cases mild dyslexia. I was never told I had it. Yet I managed to get past it and even through college. I was told by my teacher in an English lit class that I would never be able to write. I found out later after they fired her she was an opinionated critical ass. If it was not in a style like she had it was crap and given failing scores. I found out later that my technical writing teacher actually considered my writing one of the best he had encountered in years. Now who helped and encouraged me more? The Desslock style of criticism or the teacher that helped me and encouraged me?

People that call themselves "A troll now and then." And are known to troll several forums under the guise as a so called critic. Are noting but what most moderators call a "Super Troll." These people do nothing but bait and troll forums for their fun and even spend hours digging to bring up things on anyone that complains or tries to disrupt his trolling fun. In some cases these Super Trolls actually are a cause of many a forums decline by chasing others off the forums. They can call others to their bandwagon and chase off people under the guise of criticism.

[ZephyrStar]

This has been pretty well covered in the thread. I think one of the big reasons people can't handle constructive criticism is that we live in a very narcissistic society today, everyone wants to be a winner without doing the work to get there. More accurately, everyone thinks they already are a winner, so any attempt at pointing out things that might make their work better is automatically seen as flaming, or hating, or what have you. It takes an open mind to get used to constructive criticism. I don't know why it seems to be more the case with AMVs, but what was said previously about this site is very true, most of the people here can dish it out and take it, and we make good use of it.