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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 e

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.

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.