Is anyone else sick and tired of negative people leaving nasty, rude pointless reviews and comments all the time?  I have been using VegWeb for a long time, around 3 years, but only became a member a little while ago, and I have noticed over time that the same mean people keep leaving opinions and comments that no one wants to hear. 

It is one thing to leave a bad review for a recipe - when a recipe doesn't work for you, its a great idea to let people know why it didn't work for you and the changes that you made to the recipe for it not to work, that way they won't make the same mistakes.  It is totally possible to leave an honest but polite 'bad' review that doesn't hurt the feelings of the person that posted the recipe, or turn anyone else off making the recipe. 

However, it is another thing to come along and leave reviews that are mean and hurtful, especially when they have nothing to do with the recipe itself and are just a personal attack on the people who write or review the recipes. 

It is always the same few people who do this, today has been a particularly bad day for these types of reviews and that's what prompted me to post this discussion. 

The most common negative messages that I have seen are some particular 'holier than thou' VegWebbers who go into recipes that they never intend on cooking, usually for cakes, desserts, etc, and leave reviews that the recipe is just crap because it has sugar, flour, oil, etc in it and that it's just junk food and that THEY wouldn't eat it because THEY are so pure and fabulous and only eat pure fabulous things.  I don't understand why they review recipes that they will never cook anyway just so they can share their negativity and spiteful comments.  The hardest thing about being a vegan sometimes is trying to find yummy alternatives for things we used to love, so when someone comes up with a great recipe for some naughty pie or cake or cookie, it is an absolute Godsend!  When someone comes along and chastises everyone for eating 'junk food', frankly it just makes us all feel like crap!  Why should we feel bad for eating something 'naughty' every now and then?  As long as we eat properly most of the time, then we are all entitled to treats!  I say, BRING ON THE CHOCOLATE CAKE!  :D

The reason we are all members of VegWeb is because we are part of a minority group in society who have decided to stop eating animals and animal by-products for the welfare of animals and for our health and wellbeing.  Being a vegan or vegetarian is hard work because people who don't choose this lifestyle have trouble understanding why we choose to go down this path.  It takes a lot of patience to continually explain to people why you don't eat meat or animal products without being 'preachy'.  That's why we all need to stick together.  Whether you're vegetarian, vegan, a raw foodist, fruitarian, WHATEVER, we need to support each other and respect each other's ideas and opinions without getting rude and nasty if your opinion differs. 

Now that I've got all the negatives out, I can focus on the positives.  There are some awesome VegWebbers who always stick up for other people who have had their recipes and reviews attacked.  Thank you for having the courage to stand up to these bullies!  There are people on here who's posts and reviews I absolutely love to read, who contribute so much to the site in the form of recipes, posts, photos, ideas........I truly value and appreciate your contributions to VegWeb, and love trying your recipes, reading your reviews and looking at your fab photos, there are so many inspiring people on here who make being vegan just that little bit easier!!  ;)b

PHEW!!!  Feels good to get that all out in the open. 

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!!!  :-*