Anonymous feedback

[MelissaBaby]

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.

To the best of my knowledge, I have not yet had any lemurs respond to my stories.

 

[RejectReality]

The feedback is dying because of two things:

There's a demonstrable effect that correlates directly with the introduction of favorites. As the number of favorites increased, the number of comments decreased in almost direct relation. A lot of people obviously prefer to demonstrate their appreciation with a simple button tap, rather than trying to come up with the words for a comment. It also provides the benefit of being able to bookmark the story for repeated reading.

It also most likely reflects the abuse directed by trolls at people commenting with an ID, which you want to force on everyone.

Then there's the drought of comments coming from what was traditionally the largest and most useful source: The AH. The constant sneering about incestuous backscratching and the accusations of cheating have killed what was once a supportive and encouraged practice of reading and commenting on each other's stories, often including the most elusive of feedback nowadays — constructive criticism.

RVC. Read, Vote, Comment. It used to be something you saw several times a day on the AH. That's dead and buried under more concrete than Lincoln.

The suggestion that the traffic is decreasing is also hogwash, and easily demonstrated by a quick search on any traffic site such as Alexa. Lit's traffic ranking is steady and virtually unchanged, as it has always been.

The reason Lit retains that dominance is anonymity. While removing the ability to comment anonymously might not have any significant effect on the overall traffic, it is part of the whole. The more you remove the ability to remain anonymous on a porn site, the more people will find somewhere else to go.

The solution isn't to force everyone to accept your feedback preferences, it's providing the final tool in an already extensive toolbox to control your own preferences, for your own stories.

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.

 

[SimonDoom]

The solution isn't to force everyone to accept your feedback preferences, it's providing the final tool in an already extensive toolbox to control your own preferences, for your own stories.

I agree with this. It would be foolish to shut off anonymous comments for everyone. I would be very unhappy about that, and plenty of other authors would be, too. The answer, as you say, is tools that enable authors to customize their experience. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to do.

Regarding the dearth of criticism on the AH -- isn't that what the story feedback forum is for? Threads are posted there regularly to elicit feedback, and it's regularly given. I've contributed to it. Was this something that was done a lot more in the past?

 

[Handley_Page]

To the best of my knowledge, I have not yet had any lemurs respond to my stories.

I didn't know lemurs could write. . . .

 

[SimonDoom]

To the best of my knowledge, I have not yet had any lemurs respond to my stories.

They're an unusually sneaky bunch. You probably wouldn't know if they had.

 

[RejectReality]

We used to have our own daily review thread, with multiple volunteers taking on several stories a day. Granted, that faded away before the attacks on people started due to burnout, time constraints, and life in general, but it's still an example of the AH at its best.

Every contest, you had a good number of people who read, voted, and commented on every story they could. Private feedback with constructive criticism was common. It was a constant refrain in the contest threads to RVC. People felt bad when they couldn't make it through everything. Vets and Noobs alike could almost always count on at least a few AH comments on their stories, whether they visited the threads or not.

People who were struggling to meet the minimum vote threshold were highlighted, and the AH made special effort to jump to their story next, and try to push them over the top so they'd be qualified.

It wasn't just the contests, either. The type of threads mentioning favorite stories and such typically resulted in new feedback as well. People read reviews, and in turn read the stories themselves, often adding their own comments.

Commenting was a virtue. Now, it's setting yourself up to be attacked.

I agree with this. It would be foolish to shut off anonymous comments for everyone. I would be very unhappy about that, and plenty of other authors would be, too. The answer, as you say, is tools that enable authors to customize their experience. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to do.

Regarding the dearth of criticism on the AH -- isn't that what the story feedback forum is for? Threads are posted there regularly to elicit feedback, and it's regularly given. I've contributed to it. Was this something that was done a lot more in the past?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Commenting was a virtue. Now, it's setting yourself up to be attacked.

I don't see this. My working ratio of one comment per thousand views has hardly changed over fifty plus stories over 3-4 years. I know a story has done very well when there's a rush of comments; and the negatives are always down in the noise (five percent maybe, that's hardly annoying, and 'delete' is so easy).

Who are all these writers getting deluged with negativity?

As for AH, it's way more civilised than it was when I first wandered by, that's for sure. There's a bit of ancient history pops up from time to time, but it's more, "I remember the old days" - J J Cale and Mark Knofler on the porch, that nostalgia thing.

 

[JasonClearwater]

The suggestion that the traffic is decreasing is also hogwash, and easily demonstrated by a quick search on any traffic site such as Alexa. Lit's traffic ranking is steady and virtually unchanged, as it has always been.

If it is steady and unchanged, all that means is that the number of readers to authors ratio has drastically changed. It means where once there were only a thousand dirty stories for all those people to read, now there are 100,000 (number pulled out of my arse). That means a smaller audience for each author's work, which would account for lower views and feedback in general.

If you were here when the place only had a (comparatively) small number of authors, chances are you built your following in those early days, and have had your views boosted by it since.

I like the idea of the AH being a more supportive forum for feedback. Whenever I come across an author whose kink tickles my fancy, I make sure I rate and leave a comment, even if all I can offer is 'Loved this, please write more'. [I have no abilities in literary criticism]

 

[RejectReality]

That might be true if 90% of the action most stories will ever get didn't happen in the first week or so.

Once it's off the new story list, it's essentially dead barring a toplist showing, contest win, new stories attracting readers to your work, the odd keyword search, etc.

The new stories are where the action is. If someone is delving back into the dusty shelves, they've probably exhausted everything new they're interested in.

If it is steady and unchanged, all that means is that the number of readers to authors ratio has drastically changed. It means where once there were only a thousand dirty stories for all those people to read, now there are 100,000 (number pulled out of my arse). That means a smaller audience for each author's work, which would account for lower views and feedback in general.

 

[RejectReality]

Mine's dropped to about half what it was in 2010. My favorite average is up by double over the same period ( through 2016. Haven't tracked since then )

Go back farther than that, when the AH was really active and favorites hadn't been introduced yet, and the average was double what it was in 2010.

Lots of other factors, but I found the same when tracking the contests. As favorites climbed, comments declined. That's a much wider range of data, which smoothes out the individual factors of my falling production and such.

It might be possible to revive the full strength of the culture of support that used to exist, but there's nobody who was here then who could do it. Everybody's been burned more than a blacksmith's apron. Those who weren't tossed into the forge and incinerated, anyway.

Some of the worst elements aren't around much any longer, and the B.S. tends to get shut down thanks to moderation, but I'm sure there are sleepers from the flamethrower acolytes who are only a "stolen victory" away from putting up the big tent for a revival.

Feel free to try to bring it back, but better get yourself some asbestos longjohns, just in case.

I don't see this. My working ratio of one comment per thousand views has hardly changed over fifty plus stories over 3-4 years. I know a story has done very well when there's a rush of comments; and the negatives are always down in the noise (five percent maybe, that's hardly annoying, and 'delete' is so easy).

Who are all these writers getting deluged with negativity?

As for AH, it's way more civilised than it was when I first wandered by, that's for sure. There's a bit of ancient history pops up from time to time, but it's more, "I remember the old days" - J J Cale and Mark Knofler on the porch, that nostalgia thing.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Some of the worst elements aren't around much any longer, and the B.S. tends to get shut down thanks to moderation, but I'm sure there are sleepers from the flamethrower acolytes who are only a "stolen victory" away from putting up the big tent for a revival.

Yeah, you've got a much longer history here than I have. 2015 is my frame of reference for the last of the contest wars - my first year here. That was feral, the place an abyss. It's definitely better now, there's been a changing of the guard.