I apologize.

Classy response 🙏

If anything, none of your posts, despite how mean they might have looked, actually carried bad intent imo. Everything you've said/done was coming from a place you thought would be helpful. Very cool to see you taking acknowledging everything and taking accountability

Every time we’ve crossed paths, you’ve been full of energy, wisdom, kindness, and, yes, directness. I like that about you. I read your original post in that voice and believed that’s where it came from. If it landed differently for others, I think you’re handling that well.

Thank you, Matt.

@danmall you the man. I'll never forget when you answered a cold call email from a then 23-year-old looking for guidance on how to break into UI/UX design. You invited me into your literal home, your community, and gave me a private lesson on portfolio building. Thank you!

Appreciate you, Clay. Hope you’re doing well.

I have a lot of respect for Dan. I was fortunate to learn so much from his courses and from the time he took to answer some of my emails, asking for nothing in return. One mistake shouldn't define who he is or erase all he has meant to the design community.

Yeah the first part of your response didn’t sound nice, so it overshadowed the rest. And I guess that many didn’t get to that part, even though you had good intentions.

Community is beautiful, and in my culture it holds a central place in social life. But I think you’re misunderstanding the concept of community. If I help you because you need it and I’m able to, I do so in good faith & not because you owe me. I trust that if the roles are reversed and I’m the one in need, you’ll help me too. That’s the reciprocity and good faith that allows a community to function. Accountability matters, but public correction shouldn’t turn an innocent request for help into a reprimand simply because someone didn’t offer something in return. If the goal is to encourage better behavior, why not publicly applaud the behavior you want to see instead? When every act of generosity becomes an immediate transaction, we lose the trust that makes community possible.

Thanks for these comments. I agree. I think we’re saying the same thing in different words.

Grace for me and not for thee.... these people deserve nothing from you Dan. They just want to dunk. They're gone. Write them off. I wouldn't have even apologized.

You don’t need to apologize to anyone. You don’t need to do anything to please anyone. The people crying should apologize. I don’t even know what happened but I already know that. Seriously these people need to be stopped. Truly kind people don’t attack one another. So therefore anyone attacking you deserves zero apologies.

love the articulation here. i, for one, also didn't like the tone of the tweet, for whatever reason it might have been. but this explanation makes it a lot better. reminds me again why I started watching you all those year ago.

We still love you and want to learn more from your Dan💪🏾

Hey dude, I've seen you on Twitter a bunch and your portfolio post surprised me because I hadn't seen you come across like that before. My critique wasn't an attempt to "cancel" you, or make you look like a jerk and I hope you trust me when I say that. I responded because I was worried other junior designers would feel discouraged to ask for feedback online, especially because today’s market is really super tough. Sounds like you're turning this rough turn of events into helpful learnings. Hope you have a good rest of your week 🙌

you're learning 🫶

I have a ton of respect for people who can recognize where they went wrong and take accountability. You've done that, and I commend you. I watched all of it. I'm still here.

🫂🤍

Watched all 10:02! Vulnerability is becoming rare. Through it all, highs & lows, keep strengthening your values and being the example. Heavy is the head...

I had a negative response to the original post. But this reflection has a lot of integrity. Thanks Dan.

I was able to look through the full text to the lesson you failed to deliver. also the person of interest I feel got the message. your post actually made me follow you. and you need to look at the comments as more social media hate, it’s funny how the comments were mostly criticizing you not being nice while they were really not nice 😅.

It’s small stuff @danmall from day one We are all human and we all have emotions and they go up and down sometimes It’s all good , appreciate you for all your teachings and the value you create for the community You are the GOAT

Kind as always. Thank you Dan. Glad I'm not the only one learning how to get better each day, while also staying true and honest.

🤍🤍🤍

I don't think anyone needs to be nice to strangers on the internet, nor that your response to the guy was a moral failure. The time you spent to be direct and even correct was a gift to that guy, for which he was apparently grateful. He also got a lot of eyes on his work. I'm sure it was a win for him. I do disagree with the content of your advice, that offering something in return is actually better than just asking. If I was reaching out to a large account for a portfolio review, I would feel that offering to do something for them in return is actually minimizing their value because I know their worth is so much greater than what I can do for them realistically. So then it just becomes a game that you're playing to try to present yourself as a giver or something. It becomes moral posturing to me. I feel inauthentic and it's just not something that I want to do. It feels I'm trying to trick someone into helping me. That strategy is possibly more effective, but doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather just present it as what it is. "I know you're busy, but would you look at this? I would appreciate it." I think that's the main critique of the original person who asked the question; they didn't express their gratitude well. If you're going to request someone's time, express your gratitude clearly. The other piece I think can add to the conversation is that I don't believe it's unclear whether people asking for portfolio reviews from a popular account are asking for charity. To me, that's quite obvious. They haven't done anything to deserve or warrant that, but they're asking for a gift from you. Unless they're saying, "Hey, I'd like to pay you," then it's charity. And I think that everyone knows that. Again, the problem is: are they expressing gratitude or not?

I saw value in the original tweet, although I agree it could have been softer but great video with the apology Dan. Much Respect for you.

Fuck me, talk about backtracking and damage control 😂😂

Everyone makes mistakes Dan, it's what makes us human. Keep your head up and I think everyone in the community appreciates the apology. 🫂🤍

Im from East Cleveland…sounds like an ok week to me. Ive seen worse. There will be someone or something new to complain about soon for everyone to run with their pitchforks about. Keep ya head up!

It's not easy to apologize in such a public way. I commend you for doing so in a thoughtful, graceful way.

Regardless of what was said a response like this takes guts and deserves respect

You correlated someone asking you for critique and help is akin to rape. As someone on social with a voice, your asinine comments do more harm than good. You wrote the tweet so you obviously believed in it. Now you backpedal because your crazy comments got called out.

Didn’t see the tweet, but would never assume the worst from you- keep at it!

Bro I’m just glad you didn’t actually lose your mind. You’re all good with me, you’ve been immensely helpful to me personally.

i’ve never seen your content or anything so i say this completely as an outsider i saw your original post, when saying why wouldn’t review someone’s portfolio, and i completely understand why people are taken aback, let’s be honest, it does come off a bit “dick-ish” to be like “what’s in it for me”, but i also understand that your whole point is to make juniors understand they have to be more intentional with the way they ask for feedback, what to expect and how it’s good to always try to be of value. you know, feedback is in surplus on this bird app, but mos people are really bad at giving it and receiving it. feedback has to be intentional and actionable and most people fail at those two, at least that’s my takeaway from your post. i guess, it could have been worded in a less blunt-manner but a more constructive one, even if that was the underlying intention. respecting the cornell case, i am as outraged as you are, and i understand your frustration because i feel like tech/design spaces are overwhelmingly occupied by men, and men that more often that not (for different reasons) choose to come off as “apolitical”, and politics affect people whether they pay attention or not. i also understand there is time and place for everything but i am often frustrated with the disconnection of this bubble with the rest of the world, so if that is where you were coming from i also understand your frustration, i guess i’m more taken aback by people’s response to it, because even if the way it was phrased can come off as tone-deaf or “out of nowhere”, i feel like overall it is a positive thing to try to have these conversations in male-dominated fields. the thing is, it’s just not going to be something easy to do when it’s already so disjointed, and most people in this community either completely ignore these things, or don’t have the maturity to handle these topics. i think men need more positive figures that helps them reflect on these things and what things we can all do (as a community) to protect one another, and i think more men with a platform like yours should be leading these conversations in a positive direction, but i think there are perhaps other ways to go about it? if this is something you care about i don’t think you should be discouraged from speaking about it, even if if bothers people because this needs to be talked about, however i would be more cautious or even, following your own advice, intentional, not to not make people uncomfortable because it’s an uncomfortable topic (which is why most avoid it), but about the way you say it since, your words should be the vehicle to your message. we all make mistakes but i appreciate that seemingly your intentions were good so im just giving my two cents.

A+

Respect, Dan.