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I used to blog in German for a relatively large German portal and stopped because I couldn't stand the commenting behaviour by Germans - where in US/English sit

I used to blog in German for a relatively large German portal and stopped because I couldn't stand the commenting behaviour by Germans - where in US/English sites you get 50% joking, 49% niceness, and 1% insight in German you get > 80% nitpicking and complaining, especially hard when we played around and experimented with (un)gendered nouns in German. Killed all the fun for me, Germans are strange.

coldcode 12y ago
As a child of German parents I understand completely :-) Even they thought Germans could be a hard bunch.
k__ 12y ago
True. Because of this I stopped visiting german websites like Heise or Golem.
Svip 12y ago
> where in US/English sites you get 50% joking, 49% niceness, and 1% insight Please show me this alternate internet!
- stdbrouw 12y ago
  I think we're talking about professional blogs and niche content in particular, not news sites or Reddit. I've also noticed that Americans are generally more encouraging of new ideas, even if they're not fully thought out and a bit wacky, whereas when I used to write similar stuff in Dutch, I always got a collective "meh". Part of it is just the fact that more readers almost automatically equals more encouragement and sharing, but I can't help but think culture has something to do with it too. Of course, Germanic nitpicking can have its benefits too: there's not as much irrational exuberance about everything that's new.
  - mercer 12y ago
    A very common cause of conflict in multi-cultural groups that I've been part of, professional or otherwise, has been the German and Dutch tendency to nit-pick and the particularly Dutch tendency to give advice and criticism whether it's asked for or not. I think there's definitely a cultural component to it.
    - Mithaldu 12y ago
      As a german and a programmer, i have to say: You call us nitpicky. We see people as inattentive and lacking courtesy to the world around them due to all the mistakes they let themselves make. It's absolutely cultural. Americans need praise or they won't be able to feel good about what they're doing, but they fear criticism because they feel it devalues them. Germans of a certain education level are mostly neutral to praise, because it just confirms that they did the work right; and value criticism because it helps them. When you see a german being nitpicky, chances are they're either genuinely trying to help, or think the person they're sending the message to was impolite to the rest of humanity in their lack of care. ---- Edit: Thanks for the downvote. Really setting an example of the cultural differences here.* :) * And yes, this is me being truly grateful. I'm not being sarcastic. (This is me being sarcastic: I love how i need to point this out when talking to english people.)
      - mercer 12y ago
        Just to be clear, I did not mean 'nitpicky' as an insult, in the same way I don't (always) consider the Dutch tendency to speak our minds even when not asked a bad thing. One of the reasons I like living in different cultures is that they show me different ways to do thing, and I've come to greatly appreciate many of the more 'typical' German things.
mironathetin 12y ago
I think every audience has its peculiarities. What I discovered in an english spoken environment: if you write something destructive, not positive or cheerful (there are situations when this is appropriate), you are almost certainly ignored. Germans do this a lot. Positive stuff is noticed without comment and secretly nodded to. What germans like is to point at problems. Do that with an english audience and you are dead. Nobody shouts at you (don't misinterpret that as niceness), but you are downvoted, if possible.

coldcode 12y ago

As a child of German parents I understand completely :-) Even they thought Germans could be a hard bunch.

k__ 12y ago

True. Because of this I stopped visiting german websites like Heise or Golem.

Svip 12y ago

> where in US/English sites you get 50% joking, 49% niceness, and 1% insight Please show me this alternate internet!

stdbrouw 12y ago
I think we're talking about professional blogs and niche content in particular, not news sites or Reddit. I've also noticed that Americans are generally more encouraging of new ideas, even if they're not fully thought out and a bit wacky, whereas when I used to write similar stuff in Dutch, I always got a collective "meh". Part of it is just the fact that more readers almost automatically equals more encouragement and sharing, but I can't help but think culture has something to do with it too. Of course, Germanic nitpicking can have its benefits too: there's not as much irrational exuberance about everything that's new.
- mercer 12y ago
  A very common cause of conflict in multi-cultural groups that I've been part of, professional or otherwise, has been the German and Dutch tendency to nit-pick and the particularly Dutch tendency to give advice and criticism whether it's asked for or not. I think there's definitely a cultural component to it.
  - Mithaldu 12y ago
    As a german and a programmer, i have to say: You call us nitpicky. We see people as inattentive and lacking courtesy to the world around them due to all the mistakes they let themselves make. It's absolutely cultural. Americans need praise or they won't be able to feel good about what they're doing, but they fear criticism because they feel it devalues them. Germans of a certain education level are mostly neutral to praise, because it just confirms that they did the work right; and value criticism because it helps them. When you see a german being nitpicky, chances are they're either genuinely trying to help, or think the person they're sending the message to was impolite to the rest of humanity in their lack of care. ---- Edit: Thanks for the downvote. Really setting an example of the cultural differences here.* :) * And yes, this is me being truly grateful. I'm not being sarcastic. (This is me being sarcastic: I love how i need to point this out when talking to english people.)
    - mercer 12y ago
      Just to be clear, I did not mean 'nitpicky' as an insult, in the same way I don't (always) consider the Dutch tendency to speak our minds even when not asked a bad thing. One of the reasons I like living in different cultures is that they show me different ways to do thing, and I've come to greatly appreciate many of the more 'typical' German things.

mironathetin 12y ago

I think every audience has its peculiarities. What I discovered in an english spoken environment: if you write something destructive, not positive or cheerful (there are situations when this is appropriate), you are almost certainly ignored. Germans do this a lot. Positive stuff is noticed without comment and secretly nodded to. What germans like is to point at problems. Do that with an english audience and you are dead. Nobody shouts at you (don't misinterpret that as niceness), but you are downvoted, if possible.