Criticism has a peculiar social advantage: it can make the critic look intelligent almost immediately.
The position is comfortable. The work is public, imperfect, and exposed. The critic can stand outside it and point to what should have been done differently without carrying any of the uncertainty involved in making the thing in the first place.
None of this makes criticism bad. Good criticism is one of the quickest ways to improve. The trouble is that useful criticism and casual dismissal are often treated as if they were the same activity.
They are not.
A useful critic stays close to the work. They can say what is wrong, why it matters, and what might make it better. They are willing to spend enough attention to separate a weak idea from a good idea that is badly executed. That takes more care than simply announcing that something is terrible.
Support costs more still. Sometimes it means reading the draft properly. Sometimes it is an introduction, a purchase, a thoughtful message, money, time, or putting your name beside somebody before the outcome is certain.
That is probably one reason criticism travels so well online. A dismissive sentence takes seconds and can be entertaining. Real support is usually less visible. It may be a private call, a careful edit, a product test, or helping somebody through the unglamorous middle after everyone else has lost interest.
Praise is not automatically support either. Empty encouragement can be as useless as empty criticism. Somebody who genuinely wants you to succeed may be the person willing to tell you that the work is not ready or that you are avoiding the obvious problem.
The distinction I find useful is responsibility. Does the judgement carry any?
Before criticising something, it is worth asking whether the observation can improve the work. If it cannot, perhaps the pleasure is simply in being on the safer side of somebody else's imperfection.
And before praising something, there is another question: is there a practical way to help the person who made it?
The world is not short of opinions. What is scarce is attention that stays around long enough to become useful.
Criticism can identify the gap. Support is what helps somebody cross it.