Comments that are just someone else's story

[SamanthaBehgs]

I am sorry if this has been covered but I have searched and cannot seem to find it. I wrote my first story (well "How To" essay, but still) and was excited to see I had two comments. One was the sort I expected (okay, it was more positive than I expected, but that was awesome!) but the other was just...someone's story? They haven't published it or tried to, it seems. It's just their kink seems to share a word with my "How To" so they decided to post it in the comments, I guess?

How would you generally go about this? Do you leave the comment because it's just good to have more comments? I am not the sort to delete negative comments (though I do wish I could respond to all comments just because I appreciate feedback of all sorts), but this one just seems...like someone trying to use my "How To" to get off without really adding anything. Heck, they even failed to follow some of the "rules" outlined in my essay!

So what would you do? Have you had this happen before? I can't seem to find anything about it one way or the other in the comment guidelines but perhaps there is something I'm missing?

Thanks!

 

[StillStunned]

Depending on how much I liked the story, I might or might not delete the comment. I also might report the commenter if I thought it violated Lit's terms of publication.

 

[TheLobster]

It's odd when people do that, but I just choose to believe that my story resonated with them enough to post theirs. If they're not an asshole about it ("See, what you should've written is..."), then I see no reason to remove such comments.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

Depending on how much I liked the story, I might or might not delete the comment. I also might report the commenter if I thought it violated Lit's terms of publication.

I must admit, I do not enjoy the story and do believe it misunderstood the core elements of my How To. However, I assume that there are many who do enjoy the story and don't believe it violates any site rules. I just don't understand why they don't just publish it. If I could reply directly to them, that's what I'd ultimately suggest.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

It's odd when people do that, but I just choose to believe that my story resonated with them enough to post theirs. If they're not an asshole about it ("See, what you should've written is..."), then I see no reason to remove such comments.

I hope you're right that my essay resonated with them. It's my first and knowing that I can write something that interests someone enough to spark their creativity is gratifying. They didn't tell me what I should have written at all, in fact, there was no reference to my writing so much as they used the same word (with a very different meaning) in their writing as I did in mine. I like that way of thinking of it!

 

[PennyThompson]

I sometimes get really lovely story comments where my story resonated with a reader and they wanted to share how it reminded them of their own experience, and those can be wonderful.

But I think a significant number of people who come to Lit simply want to share their particular kink with other people, and will try to use any plausible opportunities to do so. Chat, forum posts, replies to other people's forum posts, private messages, story comments, they're all potential vectors to share their fantasies.

They don't want to engage in a conversation, they don't necessarily want to read or understand your story, they just want to talk about their own thing.

I don't think it really matters one way or the other to the commenter if you delete, keep, or reply to their story, the act of posting it is what they enjoyed

 

[CalBishForNow]

I've had at least one of those, maybe more depending on what you want to count. They were on LW stories and I thought it was just one more example of the weirdness of that audience. Maybe not, though.

 

[TheLobster]

I've had at least one of those, maybe more depending on what you want to count. They were on LW stories and I thought it was just one more example of the weirdness of that audience. Maybe not, though.

I had them in I/T and pretty much nowhere else. It might be a function of traffic, since incest and LW are the most popular categories and so you are more likely to encounter, uhm, let's say a wide spectrum of readers

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

I have had creative narrative-type suggestions on how a story could have been improved, but I don't think I've ever gotten exactly what the OP said. I've also had a number of those who said one of my stories reminded them of something in their own lives, which they've then shared (anywhere from short to fairly long). Like someone said, if such a personal tale doesn't violate the Lit TOS and isn't just gross, I smile and leave it, happy the story sparked a memory and hopeful that others might enjoy it, too.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I sometimes get really lovely story comments where my story resonated with a reader and they wanted to share how it reminded them of their own experience, and those can be wonderful.

But I think a significant number of people who come to Lit simply want to share their particular kink with other people, and will try to use any plausible opportunities to do so. Chat, forum posts, replies to other people's forum posts, private messages, story comments, they're all potential vectors to share their fantasies.

They don't want to engage in a conversation, they don't necessarily want to read or understand your story, they just want to talk about their own thing.

I don't think it really matters one way or the other to the commenter if you delete, keep, or reply to their story, the act of posting it is what they enjoyed

My first comment was like the "really lovely" comments you mentioned. My essay reminded someone of how much they like having a sub in their life. I thought that was fantastic!

I agree, though, that I think the one I'm talking about wasn't really interested in even reading or engaging with my story. So, perhaps they did get some enjoyment, though, in the posting. So long as leaving it there isn't really violating any policies or general practices of active authors on the site, then I feel much better.

Do you happen to know if people are notified if their comments are removed anyway? I'd hate for someone to feel the need to poorly rate all of my future writing out of anger for me deciding to remove the comment, which is one of the other reasons I've left it for so long and keep going back and forth on it.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I've had at least one of those, maybe more depending on what you want to count. They were on LW stories and I thought it was just one more example of the weirdness of that audience. Maybe not, though.

I had them in I/T and pretty much nowhere else. It might be a function of traffic, since incest and LW are the most popular categories and so you are more likely to encounter, uhm, let's say a wide spectrum of readers

This one was in the How To category (is that abbreviated HT on the forums?) - so I think it's not the unique audience of LW or the traffic found in I/T. I thought I saw someone on previous posts here talking about how "How To" was not one of the high traffic categories. Am I misremembering?

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I have had creative narrative-type suggestions on how a story could have been improved, but I don't think I've ever gotten exactly what the OP said. I've also had a number of those who said one of my stories reminded them of something in their own lives, which they've then shared (anywhere from short to fairly long). Like someone said, if such a personal tale doesn't violate the Lit TOS and isn't just gross, I smile and leave it, happy the story sparked a memory and hopeful that others might enjoy it, too.

Is there a way for a new writer to request a review just to be certain there isn't a TOS violation in there that I'm not aware of? I don't think there is but I'd hate for my account to be locked because of someone else's work.

 

[PennyThompson]

Is there a way for a new writer to request a review just to be certain there isn't a TOS violation in there that I'm not aware of? I don't think there is but I'd hate for my account to be locked because of someone else's work.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Comments are moderated and approved by the site admin before being posted, unless the commenter account is established and "trusted" by the site, so to speak.

(it's not clear what makes a commenter trusted or not, we just know that if someone makes a lot of non-problematic story comments they eventually stop going into the comment moderation queue and can comment instantly.)

But if something inappropriate were posted in a comment and if someone reported the comment as inappropriate, the site admin would simply delete the comment, it wouldn't negatively affect you in any way!

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Comments are moderated and approved by the site admin before being posted, unless the commenter account is established and "trusted" by the site, so to speak.

(it's not clear what makes a commenter trusted or not, we just know that if someone makes a lot of non-problematic story comments they eventually stop going into the comment moderation queue and can comment instantly.)

But if something inappropriate were posted in a comment and if someone reported the comment as inappropriate, the site admin would simply delete the comment, it wouldn't negatively affect you in any way!

That is such a relief! Thank you so much for all of your help <3

 

[Actingup]

It’s your story, not theirs, so ultimately you can do what you like. I think that you could consider how other readers / commentators might respond to the comment. If it’s a distraction from your ‘how-to’ intent, you could delete it. If it’s harmless, you could simply add your own comment suggesting that they could be submitting it as a story.

Concerning retribution.. check whether they are ‘following’ you. If they’re not, you can probably relax.

 

[dirk2024]

So what would you do? Have you had this happen before? I can't seem to find anything about it one way or the other in the comment guidelines but perhaps there is something I'm missing?

Thanks!

I read the comment. Frankly, I feel like it detracts from your story, but that's my personal opinion. It woudn't matter to readers who don't look at comments. But if a potential reader were to look at comments first, they might leave your story unread. So if it were me, I would delete it.

 

[iwatchus]

It is really unrelated to your story, delete it.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I’d just delete it.

 

[Cagivagurl]

I am sorry if this has been covered but I have searched and cannot seem to find it. I wrote my first story (well "How To" essay, but still) and was excited to see I had two comments. One was the sort I expected (okay, it was more positive than I expected, but that was awesome!) but the other was just...someone's story? They haven't published it or tried to, it seems. It's just their kink seems to share a word with my "How To" so they decided to post it in the comments, I guess?

How would you generally go about this? Do you leave the comment because it's just good to have more comments? I am not the sort to delete negative comments (though I do wish I could respond to all comments just because I appreciate feedback of all sorts), but this one just seems...like someone trying to use my "How To" to get off without really adding anything. Heck, they even failed to follow some of the "rules" outlined in my essay!

So what would you do? Have you had this happen before? I can't seem to find anything about it one way or the other in the comment guidelines but perhaps there is something I'm missing?

Thanks!

I would delete it...
It adds no value, and it is not a comment....
You're right, if they feels strongly, they should post it as a story.

Cagivagurl

 

[ElectricBlue]

So what would you do? Have you had this happen before? I can't seem to find anything about it one way or the other in the comment guidelines but perhaps there is something I'm missing?

They're dodging the site's guidelines for submitting content which hasn't been reviewed. It's your call, but I'd delete the comment. It doesn't sound like it's relevant to your story at all. You're under no obligation to anyone to keep comments if you don't want to.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I am sorry if this has been covered but I have searched and cannot seem to find it. I wrote my first story (well "How To" essay, but still) and was excited to see I had two comments. One was the sort I expected (okay, it was more positive than I expected, but that was awesome!) but the other was just...someone's story? They haven't published it or tried to, it seems. It's just their kink seems to share a word with my "How To" so they decided to post it in the comments, I guess?

How would you generally go about this? Do you leave the comment because it's just good to have more comments? I am not the sort to delete negative comments (though I do wish I could respond to all comments just because I appreciate feedback of all sorts), but this one just seems...like someone trying to use my "How To" to get off without really adding anything. Heck, they even failed to follow some of the "rules" outlined in my essay!

So what would you do? Have you had this happen before? I can't seem to find anything about it one way or the other in the comment guidelines but perhaps there is something I'm missing?

I consider that kind of thing to be verging on low-level spam. The comments space is there for responding to the story somebody posted, not for people to hitch a ride with stories/essays/etc. that they couldn't be bothered to put through the submission process. If it bothers you you'd be within your rights to delete it.

(Unless it's breaking Lit rules, in which case it would be better to report rather than deleting.)

 

[Paul_Chance]

Out of curiosity, for those who you had, this happened to you, did the person who ever did it ever explain why?

 

[Statius]

I would delete it...
It adds no value, and it is not a comment....
You're right, if they feels strongly, they should post it as a story.

Cagivagurl

Consistently one of the most common sense posters on LitE. I swear almost any comment you post could end a conversation in any thread. Kudos to you.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I really want to thank everyone who commented with advice and thoughts on this even though I'm just a newbie here who you don't know. This is such an awesome group of supportive authors and it's a comfort to know y'all are here.

They're dodging the site's guidelines for submitting content which hasn't been reviewed. It's your call, but I'd delete the comment. It doesn't sound like it's relevant to your story at all. You're under no obligation to anyone to keep comments if you don't want to.

I hadn't even thought of it like that but you're absolutely right. It's a story, but it underwent no moderation.

I consider that kind of thing to be verging on low-level spam.

Would that mean I should report instead of just delete it? Or is it on the "not a violation" side of that fence?


And please, forgive me for asking so many questions. I suspect you've guessed already, but following the rules is really important to me and you have all been great with helping me learn them!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Would that mean I should report instead of just delete it? Or is it on the "not a violation" side of that fence?

I would be inclined to report it if it has content that would be against Lit rules (e.g. under-age), but otherwise I'd just delete.