Author Feedback on Changing The Way "Anonymous Feedback" Works?

[Manu]

We are looking for Lit author opinions on the way that the "Anonymous Feedback" setting works here at Literotica.

There has always been confusion about this feature. As we roll out the new interface and we see a lot more readers registering to use the new features, we thought it may be a good time to modify the way "Anonymous Feedback" works.

Currently, turning off anonymous feedback means:
◦ Unregistered users cannot comment on your story.
◦ Unregistered users can send you feedback on your story, but they must enter an email address into a form. That email address is not validated, so it can be fake.

Over the years, many authors have suggested that a clearer system would be to change "Anonymous" to "Unregistered" and make turning off anonymous feedback do the following:
◦ Unregistered users cannot comment on your story or send you feedback in any way.

What do you think?

 

[jaF0]

Will that stop votes also?

Is there a way to ensure voters are readers somehow? By that I mean they would have to read/view/scroll a certain percentage of a story to be able to vote on it. There seems to have been some mention of people bombing a story solely on the title or first few words alone. Maybe a time measure after first opening a story before a vote can be placed?

 

[lovecraft68]

I think what I'd like to see is for you to stop censoring our comments and feedback. Its not about spam its about blocking anything you don't agree with on a personal level.

This used to be a freedom of speech site and we, the creators of the stories that make you your money, had control over the comments we allowed or chose to delete, now you do.

Worth noting the venomous unadulterated vitriolic hate and threats of violence against women and the 'cucks' that abide them and the authors who write those stories still fly on through.

You suggesting this option actually makes it so you have less things to have to screen and censor is how I see it, its certainly not much of a benefit to us seeing we can just delete whatever we want....for now.

Maybe instead of spying on comments and feedback to prevent people from saying things YOU don't like, you could spend that time on actually enforcing the alleged rules you have here about rape and underage.

That's my feedback.

 

[manyeyedhydra]

Anonymous comments are fine in my view.

There's the odd dickhead comment for sure, but I find a I get a lot of constructive comments from people that wouldn't have commented otherwise because they value the need to be anonymous.

Authors can always delete the dickhead comments. Or leave them up for others to point and laugh at.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

I like this proposed change. If someone can’t be bothered to even put a (likely) fake name to their words, I don’t need to read them. Thank you for saving me some time.

 

[lovecraft68]

I like this proposed change. If someone can’t be bothered to even put a (likely) fake name to their words, I don’t need to read them. Thank you for saving me some time.

But you do realize that some of those words can be high praise of your story, right?

For all the bitching people do about anon, there is a ton of positive feedback and comments that comes from them.

This change goes through this forum will be filled with "Why aren't I getting as many comments?" threads.

Authors controlling their own comments is the best way to go. You can eliminate what you don't want, and keep the rest. The new change means a lot less comments, including positive ones.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Yes, the Unregistered option.

They should also not be able to vote. Though I can see where that might be harder to control, but maybe not. The rights an Unregistered reader should have is to read a story. Period.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think the site giving authors the ability to turn anonymous (or unregistered) comments or feedback on or off, together with the ability to delete comments, is enough.

Any move that might reduce the number of anon (or unregistered) comments would NOT get my support.

Similarly, any move to prevent anons from voting is not supported - although you're not suggesting this.

All you would be doing, by changing the title from anon to unregistered, is changing from red to pink. It's still a colour - I don't see the benefit of such a change, to be honest.

This comment is from someone who would never turn anons off, not in a million years.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

But you do realize that some of those words can be high praise of your story, right?

For all the bitching people do about anon, there is a ton of positive feedback and comments that comes from them.

This change goes through this forum will be filled with "Why aren't I getting as many comments?" threads.

Authors controlling their own comments is the best way to go. You can eliminate what you don't want, and keep the rest. The new change means a lot less comments, including positive ones.

Of course, but it takes five minutes to make an email address with a fake name and actually put some measure of meaning and ownership behind your words.

Also, I try to respond to the comments and feedback I get, but if it’s anonymous then that opportunity for engagement, to say my piece about their words, is gone.

I don’t care if it’s positive or negative. If there’s no ownership behind it, it’s just graffiti. Good riddance.

 

[lovecraft68]

Of course, but it takes five minutes to make an email address with a fake name and actually put some measure of meaning and ownership behind your words.

Also, I try to respond to the comments and feedback I get, but if it’s anonymous then that opportunity for engagement, to say my piece about their words, is gone.

I don’t care if it’s positive or negative. If there’s no ownership behind it, it’s just graffiti. Good riddance.

The way I see it, we're all still anonymous, these aren't are real names here. I do get your point, I don't know why someone is afraid to sign up as "Joeylovesboobs" and comment, and need that extra degree of anonymity so I'm not in total disagreement with you.

Maybe its people whose spouses don't know they come here so they want no chance of being caught, like leaving the e-mail account open? Some people unfortunately seem to have to worry about that.

In the past its been suggested to do away with anon completely. It would go a long way to stop nasty comments and also one bombs and other things, but the argument has always been what about all the good votes and good feedback?

Hell, if this were my site, I'd be charging $4.99 a month to read unlimited stories and authors of course pay nothing to post and read here if even 10k people paid...that's a hell of an income...heh...I'm a mercenary.

I'm not arguing over it, just stating I think people will be sorry

I also have learned the site does nothing that doesn't benefit itself.

 

[Gamina]

I have no issues with the anon comments, but yes when sending feedback it would be nice to be able to reply, so mandating an email address would be great.

Maybe also allowing the author to reply to an anonymous comment, but having that person get a notification about the comment would be nice. I understand some want to remain anonymous with their feedback, but this shouldn't stand in the way of having a back and forth about it

 

[MelissaBaby]

I get a good number of anonymous comments, and they are overwhelmingly positive, so I have no intention of turning off anonymous/unregistered comments in any case.

I promote my stories on Twitter, as do other authors. Why would we want someone to click through, read our story, and then not be able to comment or vote without going through a registration process?

What I would like to see change is the moderation. I want to read my comments when they are made, not when someone gets around to letting me see them.

 

[jaF0]

Tying in another thread:

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1545862

If voters/commenters were required to register and we could see their voting/commenting history like we can here on the forum, and could block/ignore like we can here, at least some of the one bombing might be thwarted.

 

[SimonDoom]

I am not clear on what Manu is saying.

Under the current system, "Anonymous" commenters can comprise two classes of people: those who have not registered, AND those who have registered but prefer to comment anonymously. Would this change under this system?

I do NOT support anything that makes it more difficult for Anonymous or Unregistered readers to give feedback. I prefer a system, like the current one, where an author can choose not to receive Anonymous feedback (whether from unregistered readers or registered readers who choose the Anonymous option).

Most Anonymous feedback is good, not bad. There are good reasons why some readers, even registered ones, don't want to give their names when they give feedback.

A crucial source of value for this Site is that it's free and it's relatively easy for a reader to use. The Site should do nothing that discourages readers or puts roadblocks in front of their ability to vote for and comment on stories.

Like some others, I'd like to see the Site do away with the comment pre-clearance feature. If authors don't like comments, they can get rid of them themselves. We're adults, and that's something we should be able to do for ourselves.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The way I see it, we're all still anonymous, these aren't are real names here. I do get your point, I don't know why someone is afraid to sign up as "Joeylovesboobs" and comment, and need that extra degree of anonymity so I'm not in total disagreement with you.

That’s why I like the toggle. People who feel like I do can flip that switch, and you can leave it alone. I just feel like this change makes that toggle more effective for the people like me who want it.

 

[jaF0]

Most Anonymous feedback is good, not bad. There are good reasons why some readers, even registered ones, don't want to give their names when they give feedback.

No one is saying they would have to give their names. But I don't see a problem with requiring people to show enough interest in the site to register an account.

 

[SimonDoom]

No one is saying they would have to give their names. But I don't see a problem with requiring people to show enough interest in the site to register an account.

Some people want to come to Literotica, read stories, and vote and give comments, without doing anything that they worry may compromise their anonymity. NOTHING should be done to take that ability away from them. It would reduce the total number of readers and voters and commenters on stories. That would be a terrible idea for the Site, for the readers, and, in my opinion, for me and for all of us as authors.

I think we just need to toughen up and stop complaining so much that some people don't like our stories and want to be able to express that. So what? That's the world of publishing. That's what it means to be an author and toss one's story out into the ocean of readers.

 

[moreandmore]

I have no problem with the feedback system as it exists today. My profile states that if I don't like your feedback, I'll delete it. I've personally extended it to arbitrarily remove feedback from those who really get pissed when I do that. You want to try and be a cyber bully, go elsewhere.

Another author and I kicked around the idea of limiting feedback to only those who voted a chosen level. E.g. on this story I'll accept feedback only if you voted 4 or higher.

 

[SimonDoom]

T I do get your point, I don't know why someone is afraid to sign up as "Joeylovesboobs" and comment, and need that extra degree of anonymity so I'm not in total disagreement with you.

.

But the FACT is, whether or not it makes any sense to any of us, many people probably DO think this way. Not all readers are rational. If you impose any extra requirements, even little ones, you are likely to lose some readers. The Site doesn't want to do that, and I don't want the Site to do that.

I want the maximum possible number of potential readers. That, to me, is what makes sense for readers, for the Site, and, if we are looking at things the sensible way, for us as Authors. I can delete feedback I don't like, and that's enough.

 

[astushkin]

Some people want to come to Literotica, read stories, and vote and give comments, without doing anything that they worry may compromise their anonymity. NOTHING should be done to take that ability away from them. It would reduce the total number of readers and voters and commenters on stories. That would be a terrible idea for the Site, for the readers, and, in my opinion, for me and for all of us as authors.

100% agree with this. The majority of my anonymous comments and emails have been positive, and a fair proportion of my comments are anonymous. Even though I often regret not being able to thank them, I would hate to lose this feedback. Just continue to permit authors to delete comments if they wish.

As for one bombing, I hate it too, but suspect that whatever obstacles are instituted to try to stop it --- minimum time requirement on story, minimum pages viewed, email address, etc --- the trolls will figure it out and jump through whatever hoops are necessary to continue. Just don't eliminate vote sweeps!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

First off, thanks to Manu for raising this. All too often, the site is excoriated for being stuck in the mud, unwilling to listen to the creators. Curtsies and bows your way, Manu.

The delay in comments was, so far as I understand it, put in place fairly recently to deal with a sudden spike in spam advertising. While I dislike the delays, I believe it was the right call and would not support reverting to the previous unmoderated system.

I think there are four ways for readers to express their opinions. 1) They can vote. 2) If they are registered, they can send a PM. 3) They can post a comment at the end of the story or 4) they can send written feedback, meaning an email to an author’s registered email account.

I think we are all in agreement that trolling and one-bombing are real and at times a serious irritation. My thoughts hereafter hinge on how to deal with this problem.

PMs are fine as is – we know who sends them. If there is a major problem, we can always complain to Laurel and have the site deal with the originator.

Comments and written feedback can sometimes be nasty, sometimes even disgusting. The thing is, authors already have ways to deal with them. We can block comments, simply ignore them or delete them if that suits us. Nobody knows who we are and any threats are essentially meaningless. For this reason, I really don’t care about limiting them to people who have registered. Perhaps it might be an option for each author, if Manu can do that without frying his brain or his computers.

So, we can handle nasty written feedback of these three kinds. They have no ability to actually affect us in any case.

What I would like to see is an end to anonymous voting. Yes, it might be petty to cherish high scores, but it’s real and we all know the sinking feeling of watching some troll erode the score of a good story either for spite or (possibly) to skew contest results. Unlike the written comments, authors have no way to deal with one-bombs except by asking for a sweep and that doesn't always work.

I recognize that some readers will be too timid to register – for good reasons of their own and I am not judging. I also recognize that it doesn’t take all that long for a troll to set up another fake account to continue their mud-flinging. Yet it would at least slow them down, give the site a way to identify and block identified trolls - and having to take the time to set up a new email account and register on Lit each time they wish to do harm would be a deterrent. Giving individual authors an on-off switch would be even better, but I’d settle for a system-wide requirement.

FWIW.

 

[8letters]

I'm fine with the current system

 

[AlinaX]

It would be nice for authors to be able to see pending comments and accept/reject. It's so annoying to reply to a comment and then wait 22 hours for it to go live.

 

[Blind_Justice]

It would be nice for authors to be able to see pending comments and accept/reject. It's so annoying to reply to a comment and then wait 22 hours for it to go live.

This times ten.

 

[lovecraft68]

First off, thanks to Manu for raising this. All too often, the site is excoriated for being stuck in the mud, unwilling to listen to the creators. Curtsies and bows your way, Manu.

The delay in comments was, so far as I understand it, put in place fairly recently to deal with a sudden spike in spam advertising. While I dislike the delays, I believe it was the right call and would not support reverting to the previous unmoderated system.

I think there are four ways for readers to express their opinions. 1) They can vote. 2) If they are registered, they can send a PM. 3) They can post a comment at the end of the story or 4) they can send written feedback, meaning an email to an author’s registered email account.

I think we are all in agreement that trolling and one-bombing are real and at times a serious irritation. My thoughts hereafter hinge on how to deal with this problem.

PMs are fine as is – we know who sends them. If there is a major problem, we can always complain to Laurel and have the site deal with the originator.

Comments and written feedback can sometimes be nasty, sometimes even disgusting. The thing is, authors already have ways to deal with them. We can block comments, simply ignore them or delete them if that suits us. Nobody knows who we are and any threats are essentially meaningless. For this reason, I really don’t care about limiting them to people who have registered. Perhaps it might be an option for each author, if Manu can do that without frying his brain or his computers.

So, we can handle nasty written feedback of these three kinds. They have no ability to actually affect us in any case.

What I would like to see is an end to anonymous voting. Yes, it might be petty to cherish high scores, but it’s real and we all know the sinking feeling of watching some troll erode the score of a good story either for spite or (possibly) to skew contest results. Unlike the written comments, authors have no way to deal with one-bombs except by asking for a sweep and that doesn't always work.

I recognize that some readers will be too timid to register – for good reasons of their own and I am not judging. I also recognize that it doesn’t take all that long for a troll to set up another fake account to continue their mud-flinging. Yet it would at least slow them down, give the site a way to identify and block identified trolls - and having to take the time to set up a new email account and register on Lit each time they wish to do harm would be a deterrent. Giving individual authors an on-off switch would be even better, but I’d settle for a system-wide requirement.

FWIW.

First off, you have something on your nose.

Second, you're another one who seems to think eliminating anon will do away with only bad voting...any idea how many anon voters give 5's? Enough that the median score on this site, despite people whining about trolls is around a 4, meaning the majority of votes are good and many of them come from anon.

As I told the other poster, if this were to be done-voting and comments-the AH will be filled with threads whining about lack of votes, lack of comments..

The sweeps help with anon bomb problem, they also help trim the anon multi vote cheerleader type voting.

They already have things in place for everything...so why change?

They'd be better off-we'd be better off-if they made an effort to fix what's broken, not what works fine as is.