Do you 'Accept Anonymous Feedback' on your stories?

[OddLove]

Every since I've been getting hit with 'Please no Gay Stuff.' in my ongoing Femdom story(That's definitely going to have beta on alpha gay stuff) I've been considering turning off anonymous feedback.

About 4 out of every 5 comments I get are anonymous, so it would drastically cut down the number of comments I get. But I suspect a lot of those comments that are making requests and trying to steer the story into a different direction are coming from the same person anyways. So it would be interesting to see if they stop commenting once they can't be anonymous, or if they continue marching forward with their 'No Gay' campaign.

I'm fairly sure I'm going to turn off anonymous feedback before I drop part 8, but I wanted to hear how other people felt about turning it off before I actually do it.

Did you turn of Anonymous Feedback? Or do you allow it?

And Why'd you go with whichever option you chose?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I allow it. On occasion, I learn something (even though I might not like it). Comments which are pointless, personal attacks or ‘knuckle-dragging’ get deleted without comment or worry.

 

[Euphony]

I understand the myriad of reasons (non-nefarious) why people might not want to identify themselves through comments.

Of course, plenty of aholes exist that will be a touch more emboldened to be shit heels b/c of the extra layer of anonymity but there are more than enough aholes ready to ruin your day under their identifiable pseudonyms.

If negativity is a problem (and there's zero wrong with anyone feeling that way in relation to their work tho it likely comes at the cost of improvement) then just turn comments off completely.

Committed trolls will find ways to F with you if they want. (and the policing here is, more of an afterthought than priority) so I'm not sure what the minimal extra layer really does to slow up any of the trolls.

 

[PapaRomantic]

I do, mainly because I'm not afraid to show that anybody can say anything as they comment on my stories. I've never deleted a comment either - some of the ones that I think are deletion candidates stay just because I find the really stupid and degrading comments funny, and I think other people might like to be entertained by them as well.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Most lit users don't post under there IRL names, making pretty much all my comments anonymous, to one extent or another. I allow all comments.

For me, the desire to share a story here doesn't go with a desire to restrict people from sharing their thoughts on my story. I leave comments on. I haven't deleted any comments, and would only delete ones which were harmful, eg doxing attempts. If an American reader wants to mock me because I had my Brittish character refer to their underpants as "pants" then I'll laugh right back at them.

Some of this sites biggest trolls post under a username anyway. By trolls, I mean people who are not a genuine reader and comment to attack the author. A genuine reader expressing their dislike of an aspect of a story is probably not what I'd consider a troll. Besides, a lot of trolls comments are funny. Turning off comments would remove my ability to laugh at the trolls, as well as preventing genuine readers from commenting.

If I were getting repeated "No gay stuff" comments, I would check that my story was appropriately tagged and categorised though, and if it wasn't then I'd consider letting the reader/s know out of consideration to their time.

 

[PennyThompson]

I accept anonymous comments, most of them have been positive or at least useful. A few have pretty clearly been from the same reader who for whatever reason doesn't want to put a username on their comments.

A few have been negative for more or less understandable reasons, sometimes I can glean useful feedback from that, sometimes I just try to shrug and ignore them.

The handful that I've deleted were just genuinely nonsensical or abusive, and I don't have time for those

 

[Bamagan]

Every since I've been getting hit with 'Please no Gay Stuff.' in my ongoing Femdom story(That's definitely going to have beta on alpha gay stuff) I've been considering turning off anonymous feedback.

About 4 out of every 5 comments I get are anonymous, so it would drastically cut down the number of comments I get. But I suspect a lot of those comments that are making requests and trying to steer the story into a different direction are coming from the same person anyways. So it would be interesting to see if they stop commenting once they can't be anonymous, or if they continue marching forward with their 'No Gay' campaign.

I'm fairly sure I'm going to turn off anonymous feedback before I drop part 8, but I wanted to hear how other people felt about turning it off before I actually do it.

Did you turn of Anonymous Feedback? Or do you allow it?

And Why'd you go with whichever option you chose?

Oddly enough, I just replied to you in another thread with an answer that is somewhat germane to this question.
I turned off all feedback, not just anonymous. Most of the handful of comments I received were nice or neutral, but reading them does not seem to give me satisfaction like many other authors here express. I had a few persistent trolls who liked to harass me (or one with a couple of alts, maybe), and denying them an audience is satisfying. I had very few comments that would count as critiques of my style or story choices; they were kind of interesting, but not enough to leave the door open for.
The only kind of comment I have some regrets about blocking are the people who asked questions about something they didn't get. A small number of them sent emails through the site, though, so I guess that's still an option if their yearning for a 'canon' answer is strong enough.

 

[ItsJustMeApathy]

When I still had stuff posted here I allowed all comments. I chose that because I figured I needed all the comments I could get

 

[lc69hunter]

Every since I've been getting hit with 'Please no Gay Stuff.' in my ongoing Femdom story(That's definitely going to have beta on alpha gay stuff) I've been considering turning off anonymous feedback.

About 4 out of every 5 comments I get are anonymous, so it would drastically cut down the number of comments I get. But I suspect a lot of those comments that are making requests and trying to steer the story into a different direction are coming from the same person anyways. So it would be interesting to see if they stop commenting once they can't be anonymous, or if they continue marching forward with their 'No Gay' campaign.

I'm fairly sure I'm going to turn off anonymous feedback before I drop part 8, but I wanted to hear how other people felt about turning it off before I actually do it.

Did you turn of Anonymous Feedback? Or do you allow it?

And Why'd you go with whichever option you chose?

One my first five stories, yes. On this last one I did not, because I already knew that attacks from the rest of the incels would be enough

 

[OddLove]

Oddly enough, I just replied to you in another thread with an answer that is somewhat germane to this question.
I turned off all feedback, not just anonymous. Most of the handful of comments I received were nice or neutral, but reading them does not seem to give me satisfaction like many other authors here express. I had a few persistent trolls who liked to harass me (or one with a couple of alts, maybe), and denying them an audience is satisfying. I had very few comments that would count as critiques of my style or story choices; they were kind of interesting, but not enough to leave the door open for.
The only kind of comment I have some regrets about blocking are the people who asked questions about something they didn't get. A small number of them sent emails through the site, though, so I guess that's still an option if their yearning for a 'canon' answer is strong enough.

I feel like I'm in a similar boat in the sense that I would find it extremely satisfying to deny the Don't Do Gay Stuff people the opportunity to leave instructions under my story. Luckily, I haven't gotten any serious harassment like you or others have. At least not yet.

But I just don't think co-writing in the comments of other peoples stories serves as 'critique' or 'feedback'. If they don't like my story, they can just go take the parts they do like, cut out the stuff they don't, and craft their own perfect little story.

Turning comments off completely and just focusing on writing seems like a more enjoyable way to go about things, so I'm gonna have to consider that too. And like you mentioned, people still have options to message authors if comments are off. So turning off comments wouldn't make offering feedback or asking questions impossible. It would just require a couple extra clicks.

When I still had stuff posted here I allowed all comments. I chose that because I figured I needed all the comments I could get

That's actually one of the reasons I been hesitating. But it might not be as important as I thought. I know if you turn comments off on a YouTube video for example, engagement goes way down. The thing is, I don't think I'm on Literotica to farm or maximize engagement. I'm a very amateur write. I'm just making stories that I find hot and interesting.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Turning comments off completely and just focusing on writing seems like a more enjoyable way to go about things, so I'm gonna have to consider that too. And like you mentioned, people still have options to message authors if comments are off. So turning off comments wouldn't make offering feedback or asking questions impossible. It would just require a couple extra clicks.

You could that, but why would you? Feedback is rare at the best of times, and comments can be very intelligent. Depending which category you're writing in...

 

[Cagivagurl]

I choose to accept comments from Mr Anon...
Why, when so many are negative???
Because I think if you post something, then it should be open to criticism...
I've had my share, but feel it's fair. They don't like it. Fair enough...
Many anon comments come from unregistered readers... So block them, and you lose them.
So, I take my bruises in the hope of getting an even spread of comments.
I'm not vain enough to think everybody has to love it...
You hate it... Say so...
Fair enough. IMO

Cagivagurl

 

[ICantLeafYou]

I allow anonymous comments. I will only remove comments if they're spam, trolling, etc.

I've only had one bad anon comment, some guy saw my pics on the forum and then commented on a story that I'm too fat to fuck even with a bag over my ugly head. Deleted.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I wouldn't turn off any feedback. I would not discourage any feedback in any way. Feedback is gold.

So there's some moron who doesn't like gay who is reading your gay series. What a putz. Who cares? If he doesn't like gay, he can stop reading.

As for any readers steering the series, I'm going to write the story the way that I want and/or feel anyways. No reader is going to influence that. Besides, I never publish anything until the entire work is complete from beginning to end, so by the time the readers read it, there is nothing to steer. It's done. If more writers did this, there would be a whole lot less meandering bleh series out there that peter out and left hanging when the readership drops.

 

[LucieLou007]

I allow anonymous comments. I will only remove comments if they're spam, trolling, etc.

I've only had one bad anon comment, some guy saw my pics on the forum and then commented on a story that I'm too fat to fuck even with a bag over my ugly head. Deleted.

I am totally the same, they are not all bad i would sayy a fair few are trolls

 

[OddLove]

I had no idea you can just delete individual comments until I saw people on here mention that today. So that kind of seems like a good option too. It's the 'still have cake after eating it' cliche, right? Delete all backseat-writing comments that are making 'do this' and 'stop that' request, but it's also not restricting anyone from offering valuable feedback or critiques or just saying 'cool story bro' or 'this sucks' type stuff.

Still on the fence about it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I had no idea you can just delete individual comments until I saw people on here mention that today. So that kind of seems like a good option too. It's the 'still have cake after eating it' cliche, right? Delete all backseat-writing comments that are making 'do this' and 'stop that' request, but it's also not restricting anyone from offering valuable feedback or critiques or just saying 'cool story bro' or 'this sucks' type stuff.

Still on the fence about it.

Allow comments, delete the stupid ones, using whatever criteria you choose. There's no shame in deleting stupidity.

 

[Bazzle]

Sometimes good ol Anon is a useful critic. So don't get rid of them.

 

[alohadave]

Sometimes good ol Anon is a useful critic. So don't get rid of them.

If we're being honest, I'll leave an anon comment when I want to point out a glaring mistake, but otherwise don't have anything to say about the story.

 

[Voboy]

I was a Lit reader for decades before I was a Lit writer, and it never once occurred to me to make an account just to read free stories.

Not all anons are thoughtless, witless trolls. Disabling anon comments would deprive me of their views. Fuck that.

 

[SimonDoom]

I allow all comments. In almost nine years here, I think I've deleted one, maybe two comments, because they were so vulgar. The Site has deleted more comments to my stories than I have.

A significant percentage of my comments are from anonymous readers (I suppose in a sense almost all of them are, if you count pseudonymous as anonymous) and most of them are just as reasonable/kind/intelligent as the non-anonymous ones are. I like getting feedback, and I support making it as easy as possible for readers to interact with the content at this site, so I've always supported anonymous comments.

I have received plenty of critical feedback from anonymous and non-anonymous readers. Some of it is intelligent and makes me think about what they're saying. Some of it is ridiculous, and I just shrug and ignore it.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I honestly don't see the harm in allowing comments anonymous or otherwise.

There has been one attempt at an abusive comment (the only one I've ever deleted) but otherwise if the site allows it I do too.
People will try and steer a series for whatever reason, but it's your series so don't worry about it if that's not the direction you want to go.
I've got some readers who are very interested in seeing some of my FMCs getting pregnant. It's not something I'd planned on, so it likely won't happen. But I may give it a go in a future story.

 

[Writer61]

When I still had stuff posted here I allowed all comments. I chose that because I figured I needed all the comments I could get

I still post here. Othewise 100% agree.

 

[TheLobster]

People will try and steer a series for whatever reason, but it's your series so don't worry about it if that's not the direction you want to go.

Pretty much. People are just vocal about their kinks and want to see them represented in your stories; doesn't mean you have to cater to them.

I mean, if I were to do what anon commenters want me to do, all me female characters would be getting pregnant while already being pregnant.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I don't delete any comments.

People are who they are and those who post shitty comments will always do so.

It's the readers who judge what they read. Allow them to read those shitty comments too.

If a threatening or abusive anon comment changes their opinion of your story, hopefully they will change in a more positive way to not look as stupid.