Idea for new Forum: individual author forums

[AwkwardMD]

The response you're getting, from everyone here, is the cycle repeating itself. "I'm new, and I have big ideas none of you have considered before."

Okay. Stick around for 2 weeks. You'll be right there with us the next time it happens.

 

[Bamagan]

You can create a forum thread and link to it in your profile, and probably even in your story since it's in the same domain as the story. As stated above, however, anyone who wishes to communicate with you through the forums must sign up for it, or sign in. Many users, probably at least a plurality and perhaps a majority, do not use a profile to access Literotica; if they vote or comment at all, they do it anonymously, and would not be able to do that in the forums. So, for those users, it is not an attractive alternative.

I think what people are trying to tell you, OP, is that having a dedicated forum for author-reader interactions is unlikely to increase the number of those interactions. Few readers want to interact beyond leaving a comment; if they did, they would probably use one of the existing methods to contact an author unless those have been disabled (and if that were true, why would the author want to bother with a forum?).

As a final note, there are sites like Discord that offer the functionality you seem to desire, and some authors use that site or similar ones to interact with the readers who care to do so.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I was you 11 years ago. My big idea was to get rid of Lit's categorization system and replace it with an improved tagging system. Then, users could just choose from whatever tags they wanted to see. Other sites I used to post on do that, so it can't be that hard, right?

Just change the entire site to do the thing I think is better. Easy peasy.

 

[AwkwardMD]

As a final note, there are sites like Discord that offer the functionality you seem to desire, and some authors use that site or similar ones to interact with the readers who care to do so.

Discord and Patreon.

 

[MythicMind]

Other authors are telling you that they've tried that with limited to little success.

Well, to be fair, only one person here has actually said that (EmilyMiller). And if you look at my suggestion, it was to advocate for a new specific forum for exactly this purpose, which might have more success, especially if it could be linked to automatically from stories. I get this probably won't happen, but things won't change if we don't ask for them.

 

[MythicMind]

The response you're getting, from everyone here, is the cycle repeating itself. "I'm new, and I have big ideas none of you have considered before."

Okay. Stick around for 2 weeks. You'll be right there with us the next time it happens.

I'm not that new, and I have a small idea that would piggy back on an existing system on the site. Again, why such strong pushback? I'm genuinely confused.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Well, to be fair, only one person here has actually said that (EmilyMiller). And if you look at my suggestion, it was to advocate for a new specific forum for exactly this purpose, which might have more success, especially if it could be linked to automatically from stories. I get this probably won't happen, but things won't change if we don't ask for them.

Our resident plagiarist does this same thing (or used to). He's a big deal in I/T, but the threads here don't get much traction.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I'm not that new, and I have a small idea that would piggy back on an existing system on the site. Again, why such strong pushback? I'm genuinely confused.

My brother in Christ, this is not a strong pushback.

 

[MythicMind]

You can create a forum thread and link to it in your profile, and probably even in your story since it's in the same domain as the story. As stated above, however, anyone who wishes to communicate with you through the forums must sign up for it, or sign in. Many users, probably at least a plurality and perhaps a majority, do not use a profile to access Literotica; if they vote or comment at all, they do it anonymously, and would not be able to do that in the forums. So, for those users, it is not an attractive alternative.

But for the few who would like a back and forth with the author, it could be attractive. And it's better than the "feedback system", which is really just email, which fewer and fewer people use nowadays.

I think what people are trying to tell you, OP, is that having a dedicated forum for author-reader interactions is unlikely to increase the number of those interactions. Few readers want to interact beyond leaving a comment; if they did, they would probably use one of the existing methods to contact an author unless those have been disabled (and if that were true, why would the author want to bother with a forum?).

Or it might. Why is everyone so convinced it wouldn't?

As a final note, there are sites like Discord that offer the functionality you seem to desire, and some authors use that site or similar ones to interact with the readers who care to do so.

We can't link to off-site sites I believe.

 

[MythicMind]

My brother in Christ, this is not a strong pushback.

Maybe that's the problem—I'm an atheist!

 

[Bamagan]

But for the few who would like a back and forth with the author, it could be attractive. And it's better than the "feedback system", which is really just email, which fewer and fewer people use nowadays.
Or it might. Why is everyone so convinced it wouldn't? 1
We can't link to off-site sites I believe. 2

1. Because the 'it might' hypothesis has been tested by a number of users over the last couple of decades, and no one found it worthwhile. If they had, you'd be able to find active threads dedicated to author interaction. Trust me, there are enough authors here who love to talk about their stories that you would be able to find their threads easily if they'd managed to attract much interest from outside the rather small community of forum regulars.
2. You can't create hyperlinks, but you can provide the URL or other identifying features in your profile, or add a hyperlink to your signature here in the forums. In the case of Patreon (and a couple of others), the site has a 'Support Author' feature that authors can opt-in to that puts a link at the end of stories.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

@MythicMind Hmm, sounds like you want folks to agree that your idea would improve the status quo.

Well, in a vacuum, your idea would be a neat supplement for engagement! I'm sure many authors would use it, if it were ever implemented. It reminds me of the early days of Facebook, when it was all the rage to post on someone's wall.

 

[DeMont]

Story feedback is nowhere near enough. I have found it useless in fact. I've literally gotten three letters of feedback, mostly useless insults. And I've left feedback letters and never gotten a response. I think the dynamic nature of the forums could fix this problem.

@MythicMind,
Good evening my dear colleague, a sound idea and although it is one already served in "Story Feedback" I see you point in wanting an individual forum that simply represents your own work and comments made there.

Two difficulties I can foresee, one being a literal flood of "hate mail" when we already have to deal with enough of that in the story "Comments" section.
Secondly, how long do you allow a discussion on a specific piece go on before shutting it off, and how do you shut it off?

The "Story Feedback" forum allows for linking to individual stories and I have one, almost complete now which I intend to take there and link to to invite individual commentary and/or critique (as long as there's something useful included in the feedback even if the responder didn't particularly like the result as a whole)

I think the "Individual Response" forums may well be "re-inventing" a wheel that can be easily utilised already.
Deepest respects,
D.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

At time of posting, you've got 144 followers. Of those, I suspect that the number who are even aware of Lit's forum is less than 10. There is a disconnect between the story side and the forum side. This is a thing that is, and must be accepted.

However, there are a fair number of readers in chat. I've had more people talk to me about my stories in chat than I have on the forum or in my comments. It's not a flood of fans but it's pretty cool every few weeks when someone pops into your chat and says, "Hey, I just read your story and wanted to say how much I liked it." And then you have a detailed conversation about it all.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm curious, when you say "it didn't work", do you mean technically it didn't work or it didn't get the response you were expecting or wanting?

I get above average comments, and frequent PMs. When I set up an AMA thread here, and linked to it at then end of a handful of stories, crickets.

 

[MythicMind]

@MythicMind Hmm, sounds like you want folks to agree that your idea would improve the status quo.

Well, in a vacuum, your idea would be a neat supplement for engagement! I'm sure many authors would use it, if it were ever implemented. It reminds me of the early days of Facebook, when it was all the rage to post on someone's wall.

Why only in a vacuum? I'll be honest, no one has given me a good reason why my suggestion wouldn't work or wouldn't be worth it.

 

[MythicMind]

I get above average comments, and frequent PMs. When I set up an AMA thread here, and linked to it at then end of a handful of stories, crickets.

Ok, this is helpful information. Maybe when I have 100+ stories I'll get more engagement. But it just seems to me like we could set up some kind of system that would make engagement easier without needing to be so prolific. And also, keep in mind one of my goals—to be able to engage in more real time conversations. Neither the comment section nor PMs do this, at least not nearly as well as, say, you and I are engaging right now. It seems like everyone is saying I'm a crazy dreamer to think that anyone would use the forum to communicate with a writer as a reader, and that I'm somehow being unreasonable.

 

[PennyThompson]

Ok, this is helpful information. Maybe when I have 100+ stories I'll get more engagement. But it just seems to me like we could set up some kind of system that would make engagement easier without needing to be so prolific.

There are (of course) many different threads about how to improve engagement, and (of course) competing opinions over what kind of engagement is meaningful or that you should care about.

I've only been on here for less than a year, but some things that seem to help:

• Post your new stories in the What Have You Posted Recently thread and the New Story Advertisements threads
• Put a direct link to your author profile or stories page in your forum signature
• Be thoughtful and intentional about your story titles, descriptions, and story tags
• Include an author's note at the top or the bottom of your stories that welcome feedback and comments
• Participate in writing challenges and contests, which both tend to get a lot of new eyes on your stories and can lead to new followers
• Try to write interesting stories that make your readers feel more emotions than just "horny"

 

[MythicMind]

Good evening my dear colleague, a sound idea and although it is one already served in "Story Feedback" I see you point in wanting an individual forum that simply represents your own work and comments made there.

Two difficulties I can foresee, one being a literal flood of "hate mail" when we already have to deal with enough of that in the story "Comments" section.
Secondly, how long do you allow a discussion on a specific piece go on before shutting it off, and how do you shut it off?

The "Story Feedback" forum allows for linking to individual stories and I have one, almost complete now which I intend to take there and link to to invite individual commentary and/or critique (as long as there's something useful included in the feedback even if the responder didn't particularly like the result as a whole)

I think the "Individual Response" forums may well be "re-inventing" a wheel that can be easily utilised already.
Deepest respects,
D.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Alas, the Story Feedback system (i.e. email) doesn't solve the problem I'm having, which is lacking a real time, on-site platform to exchange comments, feedback, or just ideas.

Sure, there will be "hate mail", but we can just "ignore" the people without anything constructive to say. We don't have that same power in the comment section, where we have to endure hate comments forever.

But if you are saying there IS a real-time, on-site system for an exchange of comments, please tell me. It's possible I'm not aware of it.

 

[DeMont]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Alas, the Story Feedback system (i.e. email) doesn't solve the problem I'm having, which is lacking a real time, on-site platform to exchange comments, feedback, or just ideas.

Sure, there will be "hate mail", but we can just "ignore" the people without anything constructive to say. We don't have that same power in the comment section, where we have to endure hate comments forever.

But if you are saying there IS a real-time, on-site system for an exchange of comments, please tell me. It's possible I'm not aware of it.

@MythicMind,
The only REAL time interactive section on the site, as far as I'm aware, is direct messaging and that only applies if you have a name to go with your reader. Unfortunately, "anonymous" comments can't be addressed there but what I have done, in the event I get an "anonymous" comment/feedback is I "comment" on my own story and address their messages there.

It's a tricky one but there are "workarounds".
Respectfully,
D.

P.S. I would be positively inclined to attempt an "Authors Interactive Forum" system with you if you decided to try... in the spirit of experimentation.

 

[MythicMind]

There are (of course) many different threads about how to improve engagement, and (of course) competing opinions over what kind of engagement is meaningful or that you should care about.

I've only been on here for less than a year, but some things that seem to help:

• Post your new stories in the What Have You Posted Recently thread and the New Story Advertisements threads
• Put a direct link to your author profile or stories page in your forum signature
• Be thoughtful and intentional about your story titles, descriptions, and story tags
• Include an author's note at the top or the bottom of your stories that welcome feedback and comments
• Participate in writing challenges and contests, which both tend to get a lot of new eyes on your stories and can lead to new followers
• Try to write interesting stories that make your readers feel more emotions than just "horny"

You are welcome to check out my stories to see if they meet these standards. I believe they do, but I'm always open to feedback (which is kinda the point of this entire thread). That said, I haven't posted about my stories in any of those forums. But again, the problem I'm trying to solve is wanting to have real-time conversations with people about my stories, or about stories that I read, linked from the story itself.

But I'm getting the impression I might as well ask for a million dollars for every published story, since both ideas merely reveal me as a thick-headed noob.

 

[DeMont]

You are welcome to check out my stories to see if they meet these standards. I believe they do, but I'm always open to feedback (which is kinda the point of this entire thread). That said, I haven't posted about my stories in any of those forums. But again, the problem I'm trying to solve is wanting to have real-time conversations with people about my stories, or about stories that I read, linked from the story itself.

But I'm getting the impression I might as well ask for a million dollars for every published story, since both ideas merely reveal me as a thick-headed noob.

@MythicMind,
A "Thick-headed noob", my dear colleague, we all started somewhere with different expectations of what we might encounter here. I joined in 2019 and spent from then to early this year reading. Then I got the courage up to actually submit a piece. Therefore call me a "Cowardly Noob" if you wish. The point is that we can either fall in with what has been "the norm" for the history of Literotica" or we can try something new that may improve things somewhat. We won't know unless we give it a go.

@PennyThompson laid out a quite feasible set of guidelines that could form a basis, and she's no slouch.

As I say, as a lifelong "life" rebel I'm not above taking a chance!
Deepest respects, always,
D.

 

[THBGato]

https://forum.literotica.com/thread...een-by-waxphilosophic.1623426/#post-100060075

Here's a forum thread WaxPhilosophic started about one of her longer stories.

Now Wax has over a 1,000 followers and the 26 chapter series is pretty much all Red Hs. However, look at how few people engaged with the thread. And guess what? They were all users who had already commented on the story. The thread didn't entice anyone new to engage with it. That, despite links from her profile and the later chapters.

By all means give this a go. More power to you. But I don't think it will be the solution you are looking for.

 

[DeMont]

https://forum.literotica.com/thread...een-by-waxphilosophic.1623426/#post-100060075

Here's a forum thread WaxPhilosophic started about one of her longer stories.

Now Wax has over a 1,000 followers and the 26 chapter series is pretty much all Red Hs. However, look at how few people engaged with the thread. And guess what? They were all users who had already commented on the story. The thread didn't entice anyone new to engage with it. That, despite links from her profile and the later chapters.

By all means give this a go. More power to you. But I don't think it will be the solution you are looking for.

@THBGato,
Thank you my dear colleague, that's the sort of feedback we need to assess whether this is a "pie in the sky" idea or a viable alternative.
Respectfully, as always,
D.

 

[MythicMind]

https://forum.literotica.com/thread...een-by-waxphilosophic.1623426/#post-100060075

Here's a forum thread WaxPhilosophic started about one of her longer stories.

Now Wax has over a 1,000 followers and the 26 chapter series is pretty much all Red Hs. However, look at how few people engaged with the thread. And guess what? They were all users who had already commented on the story. The thread didn't entice anyone new to engage with it. That, despite links from her profile and the later chapters.

By all means give this a go. More power to you. But I don't think it will be the solution you are looking for.

Actually, this would be expected, if the thread is merely a single post in a larger sub-forum. But this is not what I suggested. I suggested:

(1) An entirely new top-level forum (alongside Story Feedback, Authors' Hangout, etc) wherein writers could create their own unique threads for story discussion. Right now, that doesn't exist (as far as I can tell; correct me if I'm wrong).
(2) An ability to link to a story thread from the published stories themselves
(3) with the purpose of having real-time conversations with anyone who wants one

So far, all the examples people have given have not matched these things. So I think well-meaning folks are comparing apples and oranges here. And then others are making suggestions regarding how to drive engagement to the stories, which is a great thing to talk about, but not what this suggestion is about at all. So when people say, "We've tried that and it didn't work", my reply is, "No, you didn't try it because what I'm talking about doesn't seem to actually exist on this site. So maybe we can discuss the possibility of asking for it to exist." But then people seem to imply that I'm asking for the impossible. But is it?