I called out a small YouTuber for spreading bad info on dog ear infections

Last month I commented on a video from a groomer with about 2,000 subscribers who was telling people to use apple cider vinegar straight on their dog's infected ears. I kept it polite, just said that undiluted vinegar can burn raw tissue and pointed them to the actual vet protocol. Well their fans flooded my shop's social media with 1-star reviews (I had maybe 12 reviews total before this) calling me a gatekeeper and saying I was trying to tear down a small creator. I learned that even a tiny community can turn on you fast when they think you're attacking their person. The weird part is I wasn't even trying to cancel anyone, I just wanted people to not hurt their dogs. Has anyone else gotten piled on just for correcting bad advice in a niche community?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_fisher1mo ago

Man, that's wild! A buddy of mine got roasted for saying power tools need safety guards on a woodworking group.

juliarodriguez1mo ago

Saw the same thing happen in a knitting group once. Someone mentioned that certain bulky yarns can mess up your tension gauge and people got really defensive, acting like it was an attack on their whole style. Wild how folks get attached to their methods, right?

sage_moore371mo ago

It's funny how even a small group can circle the wagons like that. I've noticed this pattern where people treat any correction like it's a personal attack, even if you're just trying to keep someone's pet from getting hurt. In my experience, it's like the smaller the community, the harder they defend their person because they feel like they're protecting a friend, not a creator. Take that with a grain of salt, but I've seen it in hobby groups and local forums too, it's never really about the facts themselves.