Anonymous Feedback

[dirtylittlejo]

I have to say, I am increasingly irritated by the number of people who want to leave anonymous negative feedback which is publicly viewable, or send anonymous messages slamming someone's work. How cowardly is it to talk a good game, but then sign it as Anonymous because heaven forbid that person want to discuss the matter further with you or maybe contact you in order to learn before writing another story? My advice to you is....if you have something to say...stand by it. Otherwise, don't say it at all. Grow some balls, people.

 

[EllaRegina]

I absolutely agree with you, dirtylittlejo, but there could be other things happening besides not wanting to discuss the matter further or stand behind a negative comment. Many people who leave such feedback obviously don't care to enter into a dialogue with the author and also, to leave feedback other than anonymously one would have to register and even though it's free and anonymous itself (although you can engage in an email back and forth) it's perhaps a step some people don't want to take for a variety of reasons including being lazy.

By the way, you can delete any offensive feedback from your Public Comment area. Excuse me if you already know this.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

In a Perfect World

Welcome to Lit, the world of sexual satisfaction for the ungrateful mindless masses and a source of great source of frustration for the writers in the world who devote so much of their time and energy writing such stories.

Not meaning to be cynical, but get used to it. Reality sucks... fulfill your assigned part in this play of misery. It helps to listen to music when you write and the votes come rolling in. Oh, and drugs help, too. A little Kentuky bourbon ain't half bad, either.

If you can, run! Run!

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I don't know. I've come to rather like the annon trolls. I figure if my writing pisses them off enough to get them off their asses long enough to tell me to fuck off, I've done a good job

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I don't know. I've come to rather like the annon trolls. I figure if my writing pisses them off enough to get them off their asses long enough to tell me to fuck off, I've done a good job

Girl done good.

If your writing stimulates someone to make a reply, you have won - A nonny mouse has read you. They have given up ten say fifteen minutes of their precious life to you. They could have clicked back as soon as they knew they didn't like it - but they didn't.

My personal view is to leave anonymous public comments that are sensible and don't insult other authors or editors (or my parentage) but to immediately delete any mails that are not constructive but just offensive.

 

[nici]

My greatest fear, in posting a story, is to have no comments. I think, I'd rather have a mouse living in my kitchen, spiders in my bedroom, than to have my baby, my story ignored.

Trolls can actually be fun. Sometimes they write some of the funniest stuff. It's really amazing.

Of course, it's not fun to be flamed by a group of Trolls. That can get ugly. I've learned that if you do write a controversal story, expect the anon ugly comments. Delete them then as fast as they post them. That's about the only way to insure that other don't follow their tone, creating a mob mentality.

Sad is though that as a newie writer, you then have no idea just how good or bad your story was, only that it was controversal. It's also hard then to judge if someone is being helpful or is just on the sly trying to cut you.

I've also noticed a few writers that post anon comments so not to suffer retaliations. They should be careful though, some of them have very unique writing styles that show through fairly easily.

 

[LOAnnie]

yeah

Yeah, so I got trolled both by someone who left a comment on my story and then sent me feedback. Just cause they don't like the category of the story... if they don't like it, why read it? And really, most of the comments aren't even useful, it's not like others who you'd want to reply and say thanks and talk with them more...

But I figure if I did it with first story, I'm getting somewhere

 

[Vagina_Monologue]

What about troll votes?

You're all talking about feedback. If I get anonymous hateful irrelevant feedback I can remove it (or leave it up if I want a good laugh and to have evidence that there are pure idiots in the world) and go on with my business with little harm done.

What about being troll-bombed? Unless Literotica does troll sweeps there you are: Your stories have been decimated, the rating is not really an accurate refection of the stories' worth and you, the writer, are helpless.

If you happened to have had a high rating for a piece just one or two strategically dumped troll bombs would bring that number down so low you would need many many many 5s just to get back to where you were before the troll dropped his/her ammunition.

I would imagine the majority of writers here put their work up seriously for an honest evaluation, and also to share their stories/poems with others, all in good faith. Troll bombing spoils all of that and then some.

 

[nici]

You're all talking about feedback. If I get anonymous hateful irrelevant feedback I can remove it (or leave it up if I want a good laugh and to have evidence that there are pure idiots in the world) and go on with my business with little harm done.

What about being troll-bombed? Unless Literotica does troll sweeps there you are: Your stories have been decimated, the rating is not really an accurate refection of the stories' worth and you, the writer, are helpless.

If you happened to have had a high rating for a piece just one or two strategically dumped troll bombs would bring that number down so low you would need many many many 5s just to get back to where you were before the troll dropped his/her ammunition.

I would imagine the majority of writers here put their work up seriously for an honest evaluation, and also to share their stories/poems with others, all in good faith. Troll bombing spoils all of that and then some.

A single Troll can only vote once. Even if the Troll votes more than once, after a sweep, the Troll only has one vote posted.

Different is when you've posted a story that is confrontational. Then "the" Trolls pack up and of course down goes the rating on your story. That's what I was saying about not knowing if your story was written well or not.

Voting is nothing more than a popularity contest. Having always the highest scores means first that you're writing what people want to read. Literary finesse is not always a requirment for a red H on your story. Literary finesse alone will not get you a red H either.

 

[Osa32]

but why use such a worthless measure like voting to begin with...?

the concept of writing means the art of pure expression -

meaning that when one sits down to write, one writes as a means to express how they feel regarding a particular concept, thought, ideal, and reason for being inspired. my personal thoughts about the whole voting scheme used by literotica would be that voting means nothing at all really, and that the system of voting needs to be removed and a system of writer and reader interaction should be encouraged.

because if a writer sits down to write to their 'fan-base' - i believe they are cheating both themself and their audience. the concept of writing should be allowed to reach levels of pure expression. if i am a reader, i do not want to be catered to like i am trapped in grade school and i need to be told how to act and how to think.

if i am being challenged by a writer, then i am going to want to sit down and continue reading more and more and more of their works. as such though - too many writers seem to not be writing for themselves but have fallen into that dog-show mentality when they submit their stories to literotica for the general public, and are attempting to garner high votes in order to be numero uno of the heap -

why i despise oprah so much, and her god damn awful book of the month club selections......

writers are meant to write, and not cater to some 'fan-base'. regardless of the 'genre' they choose to write about.



Osa.

 

[dirtylittlejo]

Good Points, Thanks

You all have made excellent points, and I'm glad that I am not alone in my frustrations. Just hearing this already makes me feel better because...you're right. They did read it all the way through. Now, thanks to all of you, I will simply laugh at the losers! lol

Nonetheless, I do agree it is a shame that authors who want honest feedback are at the mercy of these people and may never truly receive it. I also think it is interesting for people on a site as varied and open-minded such as this...to throw comments around about how something may not follow a 'textbook' type of dom/sub relationship or try to discern what the feelings of characters should be. I agree that we should write for ourselves, Osa, and if it is something that turns us on....who cares what other people have to say about it.

I am now tempted to turn off public comments on my stories...for that is the reason I turned them on initially...to put myself out there and learn...but all I've learned is that some people have nothing better to do than put others down with no valid argument behind it.

Thanks to you all for commenting back! I guess we all grow thick skin together, huh?

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Public comments are a fairly recent innovation and, IMHO, a great step forward. Whilst you have every right to turn off public comment, it seems a tad hypocritical for us authors who demand the right of free speech and expression for ourselves to then censor the rights of others - even Anonymous.

If you delete a critical message - however misinformed or silly - you are tiptoeing into a dangerous area. The only messages that deserve to be deleted are drunken ramblings and personal attacks.

For the rest, a bit of unfair criticism often creates a backlash in support of an author. There is no such thing as bad publicity.

Roll with the punches.

 

[darkangelgabriella]

Glad to Know Everyone Has those pesky Trolls from time to time.

I had my first story posted today, and got my first anon, negative email. I got a good laugh out of it...the person called me a fuckwit for using 'baited' breath...rather than 'bated' breath.

I took it as a compliment. If that was the worst mistake I made, I can live with that...to bad the coward who sent the anon email in the first place has such deep issues.

The one thing that DID bother me--I submitted the story as a BDSM one, and it was changed to the Incest/Taboo category...Is this common?

 

[nici]

I have not decided exactly my feelings about public comments.

In my first LW story, I did have to delete around 36 of 315 comments made to the four parts. I deleted only those comments that were solely slanderous in nature. If they were simply derogatory, I left them up. Most of the 36 comments were also, obviously written by one or two people.

My next story I have left open to public comments. I want to see if the comments become political again. If so, I will block public comments on stories unless there is some reason for debate, and I want to read that debate.

In other genre, I’ll most likely keep comments open, because each genre has different readers with different outlooks.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Yeah, so I got trolled both by someone who left a comment on my story and then sent me feedback. Just cause they don't like the category of the story... if they don't like it, why read it? And really, most of the comments aren't even useful, it's not like others who you'd want to reply and say thanks and talk with them more...

But I figure if I did it with first story, I'm getting somewhere

Don't sweat it Annie. According to one troll, I'm a black, bitch, slut ho who should be banned from the internet.

He was really fucked up. I'm not black at all

 

[LB_2006]

Yeah, so I got trolled both by someone who left a comment on my story and then sent me feedback. Just cause they don't like the category of the story... if they don't like it, why read it? And really, most of the comments aren't even useful, it's not like others who you'd want to reply and say thanks and talk with them more...

But I figure if I did it with first story, I'm getting somewhere

Ditto here, for my third story (which was kind of between categories, but I though fit best in T&M).

I don't mind negative feedback from readers or authors, but the anonymous rants do piss me off. If you don't like my stuff, don't read it.

 

[nici]

Don't sweat it Annie. According to one troll, I'm a black, bitch, slut ho who should be banned from the internet.

He was really fucked up. I'm not black at all

Who does he think he is, saying you should be banned from the Net?

 

[__misty__]

Troll Bombed

You're all talking about feedback. If I get anonymous hateful irrelevant feedback I can remove it (or leave it up if I want a good laugh and to have evidence that there are pure idiots in the world) and go on with my business with little harm done.

What about being troll-bombed? Unless Literotica does troll sweeps there you are: Your stories have been decimated, the rating is not really an accurate refection of the stories' worth and you, the writer, are helpless.

If you happened to have had a high rating for a piece just one or two strategically dumped troll bombs would bring that number down so low you would need many many many 5s just to get back to where you were before the troll dropped his/her ammunition.

I would imagine the majority of writers here put their work up seriously for an honest evaluation, and also to share their stories/poems with others, all in good faith. Troll bombing spoils all of that and then some.

EXACTLY!!!

Yesterday, a troll who didn't prefer to remain anonymous, posted the same hateful and threatening comment 3 times. I'm assuming he voted all three times as well. I deleted it. But he left his mark in the ratings. If he's gonna post the same comment 3 times, I'm sure he voted many times more.

I also don't understand how someone can be on this site or any like it and complain about a fictional story containing some other element they are personally affronted by. It's hypocritical, isn't it?

It's one thing for honest criticism, another to rain down judgement and bomb a writer's work.

Misty

 

[Harrowborg]

Public comments are a fairly recent innovation and, IMHO, a great step forward. Whilst you have every right to turn off public comment, it seems a tad hypocritical for us authors who demand the right of free speech and expression for ourselves to then censor the rights of others - even Anonymous.

If you delete a critical message - however misinformed or silly - you are tiptoeing into a dangerous area. The only messages that deserve to be deleted are drunken ramblings and personal attacks.

For the rest, a bit of unfair criticism often creates a backlash in support of an author. There is no such thing as bad publicity.

Roll with the punches.

To an extent I agree with this however I just dislike criticism hidden behind anonymity. I do tend to delete the anonymous critical comments but where the person has left an identity I leave them up. I'm not adverse to criticism, one of my early stories got slated by someone leaving feedback and for the most part I agreed with what they said and left it there for others to read. However, anonymous comments just smack of cowardis and get treated as such. With the delete button.

 

[kandie]

the concept of writing means the art of pure expression -
meaning that when one sits down to write, one writes as a means to express how they feel regarding a particular concept, thought, ideal, and reason for being inspired. my personal thoughts about the whole voting scheme used by literotica would be that voting means nothing at all really, and that the system of voting needs to be removed and a system of writer and reader interaction should be encouraged. because if a writer sits down to write to their 'fan-base' - i believe they are cheating both themself and their audience. the concept of writing should be allowed to reach levels of pure expression. if i am a reader, i do not want to be catered to like i am trapped in grade school and i need to be told how to act and how to think. if i am being challenged by a writer, then i am going to want to sit down and continue reading more and more and more of their works. as such though - too many writers seem to not be writing for themselves but have fallen into that dog-show mentality when they submit their stories to literotica for the general public, and are attempting to garner high votes in order to be numero uno of the heap -

why i despise oprah so much, and her god damn awful book of the month club selections......

writers are meant to write, and not cater to some 'fan-base'. regardless of the 'genre' they choose to write about.


Osa.

I agree with you! I write for the pleasure of writing! I love to write and turn people on and provoke their deepest emotions. Or just to make them laugh or smile making their day less boring. Sometime, I want my story to lift their spirit and let them know that life goes on even after abuse. I won't give up writing or change a anything just because an annon troll don't like it. TSK TSK, I say, don't like it don't read it, and if you give me a comment whether good or bad have the balls to give me your ID. Thanks for letting me add my two cents.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=296108
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=297044
http://www.literotica.com:81/stories/showstory.php?id=297879

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=295483

 

[starrkers]

To be fair, if you delete nasty anonymous comments, you should also delete the nice ones.
I've had quite a few of those, and the nasty ones too. I've only deleted one. It was a duplicate rant. Everything else stays up.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

The only comment I ever deleted was my own. That sounds strange, I know. But I was so incensed by a story comment left by Anonymous that I felt I had to answer, so I commented to my own story (and took a hit, as a "2" vote is registered if no vote is selected, I later discovered). In hindsight that was ridiculous, as whoever actually took the time to write the comment was not likely to revisit the story.

I could have deleted the inflammatory comment, but I left it there. In my mind I didn't feel it was right to delete something that was asked for, regardless of the content.

 

[jomar]

I don't know. I've come to rather like the annon trolls. I figure if my writing pisses them off enough to get them off their asses long enough to tell me to fuck off, I've done a good job

I like the trolls myself. They often don't even "get" the stories. In fact, I wrote a troll based story that was rejected with the suggestion it was better suited for the Author's Hangout.

Here's the link if your interested.

Morality

 

[Osa32]

ratings are moronic -

no one can truly 'rate' a story -

stories are designed to inspired the reader on a personal level. 'rating' a story seems both moronic and antiquated.

if an individual becomes moved, aroused, or inspired - that individual has made a connection to a particular story based upon personal points of references. however - the ongoing problem with many internet sites such as literotica.com would be an unwillingness to abolish the 'rating system' in favor of a more productive and more connective system that links writers and readers into a true and flourish cyber-community, designed and designated to enhance the experiences of writing and reading....

instead: there exists derision and division among the rank and file. and 'trolls' are often individuals offended by the perceived appearance of the cliques that do exist on websites like literotica.com. however, i feel the 'rating' system does nothing at all to forward erotic writings but creates the common popularity contest and therefore, creates diluted and often times uninspired erotica.....


Osa.

 

[Danyea11e]

it's even worse when they give a fake e-mail addy once they slam you-and it isn't usually at all constructive-so they can gt in their jabs and you can't reply.