Feedback Quality

[OVERLAND]

When oh when is the quality of feedback to be monitored properly?
I recently received an 'Anonymous' feedback from a 'reader(?)'. In it the writer said that he/she/it had only managed to read three pages before stopping. There was no sex in the first three pages.
The writer objected to the text, the theme and the content. The comment was mis-spelt, grammatically incorrect and appeared to be written by an American(?) with a poor command of his own language. Why are such morons allowed on Literotica? I am against censorship per se but to allowed such prats access to authors of any genre is rediculous!
Come on Literotica, get a grip of your site!!

 

[PoppingTom]

Man, be happy to get feedback that's on-topic anyway.

If you could understand German language and watch the German comment board, you would be surprised, how off-topic comments can be.

 

[LaRocha]

When oh when is the quality of feedback to be monitored properly?
I recently received an 'Anonymous' feedback from a 'reader(?)'. In it the writer said that he/she/it had only managed to read three pages before stopping. There was no sex in the first three pages.
The writer objected to the text, the theme and the content. The comment was mis-spelt, grammatically incorrect and appeared to be written by an American(?) with a poor command of his own language. Why are such morons allowed on Literotica? I am against censorship per se but to allowed such prats access to authors of any genre is rediculous!
Come on Literotica, get a grip of your site!!

Americans are the majority of readers. Quality of feedback monitoring makes no sense. Someone's going to sit and make sure you get properly written criticism and thank you notes? That's r(i)diculous. Turn off comments if you don't like 'em. Some of us have gotten death threats. It's the Internet etc.

 

[wet_special]

You have the power

With all due respect, this gripe is out of place. Literotica has granted authors (even noobs like me) the power to zap out of existence any feedback posted at the end of their works. So if someone who expected a bit of stroke smut reads 3 pages into your work and says "I have been robbed of 5 minutes of my life," you can make that comment go poof.

I think Lit's poobahs are doing everything to entreat people to partake in the community, which is an open environment that includes these forums. Some of these forums really delve into writing on serious level. There's an editor program and that's working out really well in fact, for me. But you can lead a horse to water, as they say. Some just won't get it, so direct your ire at them. :caning:

 

[sr71plt]

With all due respect, this gripe is out of place. Literotica has granted authors (even noobs like me) the power to zap out of existence any feedback posted at the end of their works. So if someone who expected a bit of stroke smut reads 3 pages into your work and says "I have been robbed of 5 minutes of my life," you can make that comment go poof.

Right. It's the only site I use that gives the authors that power. It's an open site; feedback isn't regulated by the site, although power to do so is given to the author him/herself.

Try other sites out and then perhaps you'll gain an appreciation for this one.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

OVERLAND, even wet, you miss the point. Lit has a fine tradition promoting free speech and complaining that comments are not of the quality you expect does rather go against the whole ethos of the site.

Yes, wet, you can vaporize any comment you like but can I ask why? If the comment attacks other authors, breaks Lit guidelines or is just a drunken rant, by all means get rid of it. If, however well or badly put, it is a criticism of the story, how do we have the moral right to censor it?

If you put yourself out there to be loved, you surely need a pretty thick skin to shrug off the negative stuff. We learn fairly early in life that not everybody swoons in our presence.

 

[Babeslady]

Be thankful for feedback

There are some people who post on this site as a way to improve their writing skills. They WANT feedback good or bad because it helps them to improve themselves.

Be thankful that you got feedback because there is nothing more frustrating than a whole lot of 'meh' when you actually do want to know what people think.

 

[wet_special]

OVERLAND, even wet, you miss the point. Lit has a fine tradition promoting free speech and complaining that comments are not of the quality you expect does rather go against the whole ethos of the site.

Yes, wet, you can vaporize any comment you like but can I ask why?

Ah, you make a good point. Now, Lit provides its own caveat when it comes to deleting comments. I think the author here in this case at least is smart enough to make his own judgment call at that point as to whether he really wants to delete the comment.

Your question of why is one I read as "in what circumstances would it be fitting for an author to delete a comment?" Very few, I would only delete URL's and other garbage personally. However, each author is different and can set their own standards for what type of commentary is okay, and what has to go.

This isn't to me a violation of the critic's freedom of speech. It preserves the author's artistic expression. He also has the option to turn off comments altogether.

The critic is free to hit up forums either way, and openly trash the story and author and the author's mom. But at least, on the very work that the author labored for who knows how long to produce, hours at least, days or weeks or months possibly -- they need not fear unwanted comments being left up there with nothing they can do about it. However getting valuable critiques, that is a different story.

 

[Experiencedguy]

Hey Overland, you missed the point entirely. We live in the United States of America, which gives everyone the First Amendment. Thankfully, literotica utilizes this as one of their member rights (unless it is illegal usage).

I have (very infrequently) used the ignore button. Works like a charm. Grow up, or go to another site.

And, you are posting this after only nine messages??

 

[OVERLAND]

Feedback quality.

I've read the comments posted to my original 'moan'. I think that I didn't express myself very well. My real complaint was that anyone could say anything that they like while hiding behind an 'Anonymous' tag. This seems to happen when it could be interesting to persue the comment to find out what the contributor really means.
I've had some good and bad feedback from members/readers who are quite happy to sign their names. This should be encouraged. I am quite happy to give my real name when the sender gives theirs. Otherwise the Penname qives adequate protection!

1) Really Experienced - We do not all live in the USA, although from my experience few Americans have much knowledge of the 'Rest of the World'!
2) elfin_odalisque - I never delete any Feedback but just wish it was more constructive, the use of the 'Anonymous' signature notwithstanding.
3) wet special - sorry but some of your words are not known to me. Are you American too?

I shall check for any more comments sometime during November. Have fun!

 

[elfin_odalisque]

OVERLAND, I understand your gripe about 'Anonymous' but I think you're wrong.

A load of people who are not members of Lit make comments on stories. Also, some members/writers are a tad concerned if they make a critical comment are concerned that they might be attacked. Again, not all of us are gifted enough to make incisive literary comments. You need to take the rough with the smooth.

To take the trouble to say whether the reader liked or didn't like the story is something the author should be really appreciative of, however it is worded.

Personally, I take pride if anyone takes the time and effort to comment on my writing. For good or bad I have stimulated a reaction.

If you put yourself out there you must have a thick enough skin to deal with the brickbats.

Elle

 

[HeyAll]

If you're talking about the feedback posted under your story, you can just delete it by going to your Lit story profile and looking around the delete comment button

 

[wet_special]

3) wet special - sorry but some of your words are not known to me. Are you American too?

Yes, but my coherence is inversely proportional to my beer count. I'm at 3 now so if I get wordy it's gonna be a mess.

 

[wet_special]

OVERLAND, I understand your gripe about 'Anonymous' but I think you're wrong.

A load of people who are not members of Lit make comments on stories. Also, some members/writers are a tad concerned if they make a critical comment are concerned that they might be attacked. Again, not all of us are gifted enough to make incisive literary comments. You need to take the rough with the smooth.

To take the trouble to say whether the reader liked or didn't like the story is something the author should be really appreciative of, however it is worded.

Personally, I take pride if anyone takes the time and effort to comment on my writing. For good or bad I have stimulated a reaction.

If you put yourself out there you must have a thick enough skin to deal with the brickbats.

Elle

Yup! I'm gonna keep this reply short due to 3 beers and also Holmes on Homes is on.

 

[TheGatekeeper953]

American

Your dig at Americans, while it hurts, is well taken. It seems like those of us with a brain have to keep apologizing for the "Ugly Americans" out there. God must love them because he made so many of them.

One of the great things about the Internet is the lack of censors. Even idiots have the right to be heard. If you start to deny these people this right, then you start down what they call "a very slippery slope". As much of a cliché as that is, nothing describes it better. Pretty soon you'll end up being the one censored and I'll bet you will not like that at all.

Anyone who posts on the Internet invites criticism. If you can't handle it then read, but don't post. Given the rumblings from various governments, we all have to defend the total freedom of speech that the Internet provides.

 

[wet_special]

Anyone who posts on the Internet invites criticism. If you can't handle it then read, but don't post. Given the rumblings from various governments, we all have to defend the total freedom of speech that the Internet provides.

YES!! DOWN WITH NET NEUTRALITY!!

 

[Guest]

great discussion

deleted

 

[KillerMuffin]

First, a word about how computers do things, in particular, alphabetical order. I found wading through the Fred & so on series incredibly painful because of the difference between the order they're supposed to be in and the order the server put them in, which can be blamed entirely on the titles. Special characters (punctuation, etc.) go first. Numbers go second. Capital letters from A to Z go third. Then lowercase letters from a to z go fourth. This has been protocol since the US military invented the internet. So, your Fred stories are out of order because the titles are inconsistently rendered. Fred & Mary - The Final Chapter comes after Fred & Mary but before Fred & Mary Again because according to protocol, nothing is higher ranked than blank space (so Fred & Mary are first), a hyphen is higher ranked than a Capital letter (so Fred & Mary - The Final Chapter) is second on the list, and then everything else is alphabetical. Consistent titling is key when dealing with a database, and story archives are databases. What helps readers helps writers! On another side note, I did notify the editor of some simple corrections to the submissions page that needed to be fixed, Like TThat Old House Ch. 04 and the funky apostrophes in A Model's Hectic Love Life. FYI: type the titles into the title box, don't copy and paste them from the word processor. The auto-formatting your word processor does to make stuff look all pretty when printed up gets all screwed up by most web-browsers that may not be able to translate word-processor speak into actual text. What you see printed on the screen is not the same thing the computer reads.

Now, on to your subject. I am an American, so please, allow your biases to fully permeate. After all, you are ever so much smarter and more informed than I am.

I looked through every story you've got for comments to see the comment that set you off. I did find an interesting one that examines why the whole chapter may not be read from Anonymous on Armitage Family Love Ch. 02. It appears to relate to your current anonymous's commentary, but no guarantees it's the same person.

Just as an aside, you can help your readers avoid kinks they dislike that show up in unexpected categories by putting a bit of warning at the top of the story, such as: Contains watersports!, but how you interact with the Lit Readership is totally your business.

Ahh, I found it! An anonymous American on That Old House Ch. 01. Now I understand the anti-American sentiment. I interpreted this person's comment differently than you did. I don't think s/he was strictly complaining because it took so long to get to the sex. I think s/he was complaining about your character development skills, indirectly. S/he has issues with your characters crudity and believing that they would behave the way they did in the story. This speaks to me of character development problems. If a character's behavior gives the reader enough clues that this character is like that, then the believability factor goes up. The willing suspension of disbelief, as Coleridge originally coined the concept, is really important. We all go into a porn story with certain expectations and will give leeway for some things (old men with perma-erections, all men with 9"+ dongs, all women with huge breasts, all women are raving nymphomaniacs, condoms are unnecessary) that would otherwise require the author to develop in order to get the reader to willingly suspend disbelief of such things. Of course, we do get tired of these cliches in porn, but we can over look them. Behavior, however, isn't so easy to overlook and just simple accept. Why would Gary's daughter suddenly start grinding against her father? Why would he be okay enough with it to not get totally uncomfortable with her? This is a kind of taboo that might require some character development before it occurs simply because you've put it in the Romance category. Normal people do not have sexual liasions with their relatives and think of it as part of a Romance. So, when it happens in a non-incest category story, some work to make it believable, that is, to make it easier for the average Romance category reader to suspend disbelief about the whole thing. It is what it is. Now, whether you find any use of this anonymous user's comment is up to you. You can believe that s/he represents a cross-section of Lit Readers that don't comment and just back-click for other fare that tempts their erotic palate, or you can believe s/he represent only him- or herself. Like all feedback, what you do with it is up to you.

So, my take on this particular piece of anonymous feedback wasn't that this person was a moron or expressing simply negative opinions that had no bearing on this story. It's a piece of feedback that is useful in developing writing skills because it tells you where the story went wrong, very specifically, for that particular reader. If there seems to be a pattern in comments or in how later chapters of a series are voted on or viewed, it might be far more helpful than any of the "Great story, keep it up!" variety of feedback people receive.

So, my two shillings worth of opinion.

 

[driphoney]

I've read the comments posted to my original 'moan'. I think that I didn't express myself very well. My real complaint was that anyone could say anything that they like while hiding behind an 'Anonymous' tag. This seems to happen when it could be interesting to persue the comment to find out what the contributor really means.
I've had some good and bad feedback from members/readers who are quite happy to sign their names. This should be encouraged. I am quite happy to give my real name when the sender gives theirs. Otherwise the Penname qives adequate protection!

1) Really Experienced - We do not all live in the USA, although from my experience few Americans have much knowledge of the 'Rest of the World'!
2) elfin_odalisque - I never delete any Feedback but just wish it was more constructive, the use of the 'Anonymous' signature notwithstanding.
3) wet special - sorry but some of your words are not known to me. Are you American too?

I shall check for any more comments sometime during November. Have fun!

Most of your readers are American, dumb or otherwise. You seem to appreciate, to a certain extent, the ability to freely post your writing on this American owned and run web-site, and you seem to appreciate the smart non-anonymous Americans who vote and comment on your story, but appear to have a major problem with the dumb Americans (I'm sure they all are, right?) who comment anonymously. For years I was a dumb American anonymous Lit voter and commenter, giving both positive and negative comments, and I'm sure little of it was of literary merit. I had no desire to become a member, perhaps I should have kept my votes and comments to myself?

Having said all that, I still get a chuckle over the one criticism I got about my "grammer".

It's hard, but try not to take it too seriously, write for yourself and try to find writers and editors you respect to give you sincere feedback from which you can develop as a writer. Even though I (attempt to) write, and do give sincere feedback when asked (and when I can), when I read for pleasure, I'm just enjoying the story, and I always assume that's what most of my (few!) readers are doing, too. Well, that's my hope anyway.

Welcome to Lit.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

When oh when is the quality of feedback to be monitored properly?
I recently received an 'Anonymous' feedback from a 'reader(?)'. In it the writer said that he/she/it had only managed to read three pages before stopping. There was no sex in the first three pages.
The writer objected to the text, the theme and the content. The comment was mis-spelt, grammatically incorrect and appeared to be written by an American(?) with a poor command of his own language. Why are such morons allowed on Literotica? I am against censorship per se but to allowed such prats access to authors of any genre is rediculous!
Come on Literotica, get a grip of your site!!

Sign up for the LIT Authors T-BALL Writing Team. You get a plastic trophy, an AT LEAST I TRIED certificate suitable for framing, and your choice of 10 #5 rated comments to post to your story page. If you act now we'll send you a coupon for a free ice cream cone.

 

[GinaTina]

Sign up for the LIT Authors T-BALL Writing Team. You get a plastic trophy, an AT LEAST I TRIED certificate suitable for framing, and your choice of 10 #5 rated comments to post to your story page. If you act now we'll send you a coupon for a free ice cream cone.

lololol - I like you. ^.^

 

[soflabbwlvr]

lololol - I like you. ^.^

First time that sentence has ever appeared on this forum.

 

[GinaTina]

Trolls amuse me to no end.

 

[sr71plt]

lololol - I like you. ^.^

Reverse psychology? I do believe that JBJ's skull will explode at the thought that he has an admirer in the AH.

 

[TheGatekeeper953]

Trolls amuse me to no end.

They are fun aren't they. We had a great time at the office this morning with some of JBJ's postings. Once removed from the scene of the attack they are hilarious. I don't have time to write it up tonight but will probably start a thread later.

BTW he had a post up detailing all his activities about canning food. I can't find it now, but JBJ apparently has a soft, domestic side. I'm sorta handy around the kitchen myself. Maybe he'll trade recipes with me.