Anonymous feedback

I got tired of reading negative feedback from anonymous posters. I've turned it off. It didnt' seem quite fair to not be able to respond to it. How do you all feel about it? It's hard for me to give any credence to an anonymous poster....

i did the same thing, for the same reason. i wouldn't have minded if i had been getting constructive criticism but what i was getting was off the wall.

heywood26 said:

I got tired of reading negative feedback from anonymous posters. I've turned it off. It didnt' seem quite fair to not be able to respond to it. How do you all feel about it? It's hard for me to give any credence to an anonymous poster....

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Some of the best comments I receive are from anon - they far outweigh the crapola for me. I wouldn't turn anon feedback off.

I just delete inane or obviously trolling comments. If someone doesn't like something but is courteous with their feedback, I'll usually leave it. I've deleted two or three comments that I later regretted doing, but gone is gone. I give anons their say, because it's up to me to keep it or delete it.

I had some moronic comments from anon that I deleted. Stuff saying this wouldn't have happened, and comments supposedly criticising my grammar which were just incorrect. There seem to be a few idiots who post very similar comments on lots of different stories.

I allow anonymous comments, and have very few that I thought were in any way out of line.

Sometimes I am frustrated by an anonymous comment that shows that the reader just missed a plot point or did not get a reference. I want to reply and explain to them, but then I realize that it really isn't that important to them and I just let it go.

The only trouble I have with anonymous feedback is when they ask questions that without them providing their email I can't respond to.

Anonymous comments I take with a grain of salt because, as had been stated, a lot of it is just dumb. Example: 1 star. I don't like the tense you use.

Anon Feedback

Yes there are some moronic comments posted and I simply delete them. That said there are also some very constructive comments and encouragement to keep writing. I think the latter currently outweighs the former so I keep them turned on. It is a shame though that you cannot respond as there have been a few comments where I really would like to follow up for positive reasons, but hey ho that's the beauty of being anonymous I guess.

Keeping Anon Happy

Almost all of the Anon comments are worth having. As the others have said, if they're not, delete. Some of the most insulting or inane comments I've received, most of which have been deleted, come from named people. I do dislike anon comments that ask questions, such as when is your next story in series "Y" coming out. How can you answer?
By the way, if the comment is bad enough, you can have a little fun by lodging a complaint instead of a simple deletion. I did that with one that said all Brits are assholes, or something equivalent. Not being a Brit (though lots think I am) I wasn't particularly offended so I complained of it as being racist and lo and behold it disappeared.

Anon comments

As a volunteer editor I sometimes look at the comments made on a story I've edited. Since I edit a lot of interracial and incest stories, I see a lot of anon responses that are negative. It never ceases to amaze me how Anons will read the entire story only to grip about its contents.

Sometimes I'll post a comment as an anon on a story I've edited. When I do this it's because I finally got to read the story for enjoyment rather than work.

Tigersman said:

As a volunteer editor I sometimes look at the comments made on a story I've edited. Since I edit a lot of interracial and incest stories, I see a lot of anon responses that are negative. It never ceases to amaze me how Anons will read the entire story only to grip about its contents.

Sometimes I'll post a comment as an anon on a story I've edited. When I do this it's because I finally got to read the story for enjoyment rather than work.

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That's my only gripe about comments on this site in general. I've run into too many people who completely ignore the story tags, the content warnings I put up, or even the entire category it is posted in only to gripe about all the things they were totally warned about ahead of time. Some of the things I've written are a bit niche, but when an author goes out of their way to warn potential readers, I don't think it's asking that much for them to head off and find other stories more suited to their tastes.

All that said, I've still found that the positives of allowing anon comments easily outweighs the negatives. It's easy enough to delete the bad ones, but there's no way to get back a comment that was prevented in the first place by throwing up a roadblock.

ImperatorMentus said:

All that said, I've still found that the positives of allowing anon comments easily outweighs the negatives. It's easy enough to delete the bad ones, but there's no way to get back a comment that was prevented in the first place by throwing up a roadblock.

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Totally agree. The drive-by slaggings you can delete with a quick trip to your control panel, and the good ones can stay. The most recent comment on one of my stories was anonymous and not only was it lovely, but whoever it was delivered the most well-mannered burn I've ever read to a couple of confused anons from earlier. I'm just jealous cuz I didn't think of it first.

ImperatorMentus said:

All that said, I've still found that the positives of allowing anon comments easily outweighs the negatives. It's easy enough to delete the bad ones, but there's no way to get back a comment that was prevented in the first place by throwing up a roadblock.

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I like your way of thinking.

Agree

I agree with ImperatorMentus and MelissaBaby.

The ones I find frustrating aren't the hateful ones. I don't like when there is a good or helpful comment and there's no way to contact the guy or gal. Sometimes I'd like to clarify or thank, and I doubt many Anonymous commentators come back to see if I've responded to theirs in the comments pages.

I leave all anon comments in place, unless they're obviously trolliish in nature, and I delete any comments that are inane, obscene, moronic, or psychotic; if people just want to moan about a particular point, or my vocab, or how unrealistic parts of the story are I just remind them that it's a story, if they want reality, pick up a newspaper or switch on the TV, or else exercise rheir right to choose and go elsewhere.

The 'I hope you get cancer and die, you Brit asshole' type comments I delete without comment, life's too short to pander to ignorami by returning fire. I do appreciate the majority of anon comments, as they usually point out something I missed that I should have seen, or query how such and such could have happened because blah blah happened earlier in the narrative, so to me, they're a very useful tool to sharpen up my laughable writing 'skills'. I like having anonymous comments, and I wouldn't turn them off at all.

Personally I don't let them bother me. If someone's life is so pathetic they have to spew hate behind the safety of anon to feel better then in the end all I do is shake my head and feel bad for them.

Electricblue made a good point. There is a lot of good anon feedback, in fact the majority is good so you are losing out on that now.

I'll waste words and say again what others have also said. If the site did away with anon it would be a much better place for writers and readers as well because anon will attack other comments as well as the author.

But the site has proven time and again they are not interested in making this place a better experience for people and continue to enable the lowest common denominator of trolls.

lovecraft68 said:

If the site did away with anon it would be a much better place for writers and readers as well because anon will attack other comments as well as the author.

But the site has proven time and again they are not interested in making this place a better experience for people and continue to enable the lowest common denominator of trolls.

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Eliminating anonymous comments would result in a significant drop in comments overall, and, possibly, a drop in readers. Given that good anonymous comments outweigh bad ones, eliminating anonymous comments would hurt the site, not help it.

The fact is that people like anonymity on the Internet. It allows some to act badly, true, but most just want privacy while they enjoy the site.

Got to remember that trolls can get user names, too, and many do. Nowhere near all the anonymous commenters are trolls; some just have a problem signing in, others can't be bothered, others prefer not to tag a story one way or another with their karma, good or bad.

I am too

Given that I'm anonymous myself, I'm not going to stop some other anonymous person to comment. It's annoying to get critiqued for things that aren't even true, and you want to be able to at least get back to the troll to explain, but in the end if you rise to their bait they've accomplished what they wanted. At least they read your story (maybe).

depends on the nature of the comment. sift through the dickheads' BS and grab the constructive stuff.

some of the ANGRY, misspelled rants can be amusing however.

Anonymous comments have been 99% positive and %1 offering constructive criticism for me, but you’d have to consider the categories I post in: TG/CD, Sci- Fi, and Non Human.

When I first started posting stories a couple of years ago, the needless bullshit bothered me and I deleted a couple of ‘bad’ comments; however, as I matured as a writer and my fan base grew, I stopped worrying about it.

Everyone wants to hear some form of praise for what they’re posting on a free erotica site. Honestly, as of late, the anonymous comments being posted to my stories are just as positive as those using their screen/profile nameKant

Here’s a tid bit.

I’ve read some select stories from most of the authors here in the AH that post links to their stories. I’m not ashamed to use my screen/profile name when I post a comment, letting them know I stopped by to read one of their stories that interested me.

A few of the authors here are nice enough to send a thank you back, but even fewer will return the favor and read one of my stories in return, but that doesn’t really bother me. To this day, there is only one author here in the AH that lists in those following my stories and he deserves to remain anonymousKant

SimonDoom said:

Eliminating anonymous comments would result in a significant drop in comments overall, and, possibly, a drop in readers. Given that good anonymous comments outweigh bad ones, eliminating anonymous comments would hurt the site, not help it.

The fact is that people like anonymity on the Internet. It allows some to act badly, true, but most just want privacy while they enjoy the site.

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Because a user ID like "Joeylovesboobs' isn't anonymous?

if creating a fake name to comment is daunting to someone, there's a reason.

Also its an assumption the site would lose readers as it hasn't been tried.

You could still read anonymously, just not comment. The people who are the 'good anon' would most likely take the step of a user id. The majority of lost readers would be the assholes.

The only real affect it would have on the site is the loving wives comments would drop drastically as they are comprised of about 85% percent trolls.

But I get it, lit could never risk losing comments in the most abusive hate spewing sexist racist homophobic category on the site.

Universally eliminating the ability to comment without a screen name would undoubtedly decrease the already plunging amount of feedback authors receive.

What people don't consider when they suggest this is that it creates an avenue for positive commenters to be attacked and harassed by the trolls. Suddenly, there's a line for anyone to send them nastiness through PMs and emails because they dared to leave a positive comment on a story some troll finds offensive. The positive commenter then has to take steps to block the fools themselves, putting them in the same boat as authors, and we already know how we feel about trolls.

This already happens to people who comment with a screen name now.

That is where the loss of traffic going to come from. It may not be a significant portion in the grand scheme of things, but where feedback is concerned, it's going to cause a dramatic shift toward scumbags. That would be doubly true in categories such as LW where the balance is already out of kilter.

Yes, it would make the assholes easier to track and discipline if necessary. Of course, that assumes that people are going to report these attacks, and not simply walk away from commenting, which is just as — if not more — likely. Unfortunately, it's the internet. Even a mildly savvy person can have a new account up and running within a minute or two, allowing them to return to business as usual, and there's little to nothing that can be done about it beyond playing whack-a-mole.

It's also going to lead to an imbalance between casuals and the dedicated. You're going to have a peanut gallery of the most devoted followers and the most tenacious ( and nastiest ) trolls. Those heavily devoted followers can be as much of a problem as the trolls if not actively discouraged by the author from engaging in questionable "help".

Categories such as Incest, T&CD, GM, etc. would also experience a dramatic plunge in feedback because people don't want to leave a paper trail — even with a made-up screen name — to their dirty kink.

The major missing tool we need to deal with anonymous trolling is the ability to disable anonymous commenting on a story-by-story basis. When combined with the tools already available, it gives authors maximum control over their own feedback preferences without imposing them on anyone else.

Secondarily, having a delete button appear on each comment when the author is viewing it from the story file rather than their CP would probably be helpful.

Oh, please. Seriously, stop. People are abused now, readers and authors so what's the difference?

As for being reached by e-mail most readers register at lit with e-mails they rarely use. You can test that by e-mailing readers through feedback who comment on your stories and seeing how few, if any, get back to you.

And has has it occurred to you that comments are dropping now because people are sick and tired of taking anon's abuse? So by eliminating anon what is there to lose?

The reason this site is losing comments and other traffic is because its a cesspool of abuse and where other sites work hard to make their sites welcoming this one makes it welcoming and easy for the trolls and does nothing to protect the authors and decent readers.

But go ahead and keep being the site spin doctor. For anyone who has ever spent time over in the GB its made pretty obvious trolls are fed, encouraged and appreciated here.

Now try reporting abuse and issues and you'll find out you're the troll.

The sites decrease in readership, comments etc is on them and well deserved. Soon it will belong to the trolls who will be arguing among themselves as everyone else will go to sites that give a shit.

Writers should know how to assess their wares. Readers are only necessary to measure the effect of the writing. And lemur the responses to WOW, HOHUM, and BORING.