Writer Derek Sivers posted a short video that contains an important reminder for all authors and readers online: “At the end of every computer is a real person.”

Over the past few months, the literary folks have argued about two basic questions: Are some online reviewers being too nice? Are other online reviewers being too mean? No matter what you think about the state of literary reviews, you need to watch this video (embedded above) before you send a nasty email or respond angrily to a negative review.
Here’s an excerpt from the video: “when we yell at a website or company, using our computer or phone appliance, we forget it’s not an appliance, but a person that’s affected. It’s dehumanizing to have thousands of people passing through our computer screens, so we do things we’d never do if they were sitting next to us. It’s too overwhelming to remember that at the end of every computer is a real person, a lot like you, whose birthday was last week, who has three best friends but nobody to spoon at night, and is personally affected by what you say. “