Idea for new Forum: individual author forums

[AwkwardlySet]

The trouble with Discord is the same as with emails. No one wants to use their work or gaming Discord accounts to join NSFW servers. Many would fear embarrassment if found out, etc.

To promote feedback, you need to make it simple and quick, but also fully anonymous, even in the sense of not needing an account.

 

[Erozetta]

I've been a Discord user since a year after the dawn of the platform. I haven't witnessed personally because I stay out of public servers and NSFW servers, but I know some minors have been getting into NSFW servers with ease. In legit servers they are promptly reported, banned, or both, but there are servers in which they are exploited.

There's also another issue with NSFW servers on Discord: to avoid the problem above, some have a system of age verification in place, which is usually not safe. Most of these servers are ran by bad actors looking to steal anyone gullible enough to give them their personal information just to see naked e-girls. Other NSFW servers are simply scam servers, or servers that steal your account and add it to a botnet to spam other places.

All except the "nightshift workers" server are run by people I know.

I've never seen evidence of a minor joining my server, but if I did, they would be banned immediately. No age verification on mine. No nudity outside of the nsfw art channel (though I did let another writer link to their private server that is basically all porn all the time.) I have no idea if my server is searchable, but I doubt it. I'm pretty sure you have to join by invite. 90% of our discussions are about cooking and griping about writing hangups, giving each other feedback, or life in general. (And there's a fair bit about gaming. We have a few erotica game creators there as well.)

Like, other than the name, I don't think anyone would realize it's a server full of erotica writers unless they went to the venue specific channels that link out to the stories of the writers there. It's pretty chill.

We've been up for a few months and have 170 members, and I've only had to ban one person so far and that was last night, lol.

 

[Erozetta]

No one wants to use their work or gaming Discord accounts to join NSFW servers. Many would fear embarrassment if found out, etc.

I have two accounts only because it probably would be a bad look to play games with my husband and his boss under my erotica screen name. But my erotica screen name on Discord is linked to my gaming accounts, too.

 

[EmilyMiller]

@MythicMind this was my attempt to sort of do what you are suggesting, it was a resounding failure:

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/emily-miller’s-ask-me-anything-about-my-stories-thread.1599271/

 

[EmilyMiller]

@MythicMind this was my attempt to sort of do what you are suggesting, it was a resounding failure:

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/emily-miller’s-ask-me-anything-about-my-stories-thread.1599271/

And here’s a story where I linked to the above:

https://www.literotica.com/s/cocksuckers

 

[StillStunned]

@MythicMind this was my attempt to sort of do what you are suggesting, it was a resounding failure:

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/emily-miller’s-ask-me-anything-about-my-stories-thread.1599271/

Hampered, quite possibly, by it being the first of its kind and being posted here in the AH. Instead of a back-and-forth about your writing and your stories, you got the usual derailment, plus a dozen opinions about the concept and how undesirable it is to want to engage.

You might have had better luck with a WIWAW, ending it with something like, "If you have any questions about my writing, post a comment below. I'll check them regularly and try to reply to everyone, like an AMA."

 

[MythicMind]

@MythicMind this was my attempt to sort of do what you are suggesting, it was a resounding failure:

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/emily-miller’s-ask-me-anything-about-my-stories-thread.1599271/

Yes, this is something along the lines of what I'm talking about, including the link in your story. But I agree with StillStunned regarding (a) it being a first attempt and (b) it getting derailed by forum naysayers. This is why if we had a specific forum for this, where it is entirely the point, and had multiple writers trying it, maybe it could take off.

Or not, what do I know? All I know is that I find the current comment system frustrating and the email/feedback system useless. I would just like to have more real-time conversations with people who have something to say about my work. Alas, it was but a dream.

 

[MythicMind]

This is probably a reflection of my current mood, but this post just reads as

“Not enough can see how fantastic some people think I am. I need somewhere where people can tell me how fantastic they think I am, so everyone else can read it”

Thank you! The generous judgement of people like you is exactly what makes this such a supportive and engaging space. You are a credit to the site, sir! Indeed, a diplomat! Never change.

 

[EmilyMiller]

This is why if we had a specific forum for this, where it is entirely the point, and had multiple writers trying it, maybe it could take off.

I think a few people have said that a specific forum won’t really help. Let me add my voice to that. And the Story Feedback forum isn’t really what you want either, that’s more TikTok Review Central.

Threading of comments on stories and notifications to (named) commenters when the author (or someone else) has replied would be a boon, but that’s been on the wishlist for years.

I think you are bashing your head against a brick wall here. But that’s, of course, your prerogative.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Thank you! The generous judgement of people like you is exactly what makes this such a supportive and engaging space. You are a credit to the site, sir! Indeed, a diplomat! Never change.

You’ll get used to the negativity. It’s all some people have to contribute. Best to ignore it.

 

[MythicMind]

So my advice to you is to find a way to enjoy what Literotica already is and stop trying to change it. It's all futile anyway. If you find this insufficient, then there are a couple of other story sites, but they are generally worse, IMO.

While your comment is sad, I appreciate you taking the time to lay it all out. I'm starting to catch what you're talking about.

 

[MythicMind]

You’ll get used to the negativity. It’s all some people have to contribute. Best to ignore it.

People like that just bring out my snarky side. It's a weakness.

 

[MythicMind]

1. Because people have tried similar things here on the AH, on Story Feedback, on Twitter, on Bluesky, on Tumblr, on Reddit, on Discord, and their own sites and it never seems to amount to much.

2. Because personal author blogs are likely to turn into sources of drama. Arguments there will spill over on to the board. Gossip and criticism of other authors will proliferate. And they will surely become an organizing tool for ratfucking contests.

3. Because it's one more distraction from getting any writing done.

While cynical, you are probably right about all that. I keep forgetting that the world is populated by humans.

 

[MythicMind]

Threaded comments are on the to-do list, and so is enhanced communication through your profile. Some of the bits are on the profile now, but they're dummied out still.

This would certainly be much better than my suggestion, which was really just a hack to deal with the frustrating comment system.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Alas, for my 13 published stories, I've never gotten a DM about one of them. So this does not scratch my itch for more dynamic conversations.

I've been here over a decade and that's my first time.

 

[MythicMind]

I think you are bashing your head against a brick wall here. But that’s, of course, your prerogative.

That's the price I pay for optimism. At my age, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's the price I pay for optimism. At my age, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson.

I pay that price too, daily. A lot of people dislike optimism.

 

[StillStunned]

I pay that price too, daily. A lot of people dislike optimism.

Optimism? Sounds like it's doomed to failure.

 

[MelissaBaby]

@MythicMind this was my attempt to sort of do what you are suggesting, it was a resounding failure:

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/emily-miller’s-ask-me-anything-about-my-stories-thread.1599271/

All serious threads go meta eventually, some sooner than others.

 

[EmilyMiller]

All serious threads go meta eventually, some sooner than others.

Yeah - it was an experiment. I believe in trying stuff and then cutting your losses if it obviously fails. I guess it’s the scientific background.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Thank you! The generous judgement of people like you is exactly what makes this such a supportive and engaging space. You are a credit to the site, sir! Indeed, a diplomat! Never change.

This is not specifically about the response you got above, but a general point that certainly applies in some cases if not necessarily this one in particular.

When people call others out for things, it can be genuine. But it can also be what psychologists and psychiatrists call projection. Taking some aspect of yourself - one you are uncomfortable to acknowledge - and tagging it on to another person. Their ‘victim’ here is really an avatar for things they don’t like about themselves. It’s best not to take such ‘criticism’ overly seriously.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

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.

Or ones own personal blog, like I've got [almost completely] set up. At the end of the day, outside the forums, the story site really has one purpose, and it's the entertainment part. Although there was talk a few months ago about the possibility of threaded comments, like how AO3 or Lush uses. I was hoping that would happen. The sites a mix and mash of old and "newer" site designs, not counting the forum, which is a fairly new code. Lipstick Alley uses the same one, and it had it a few years before Lit switched to it.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Or ones own personal blog

Tried that as well. It doesn’t drive much conversation in my experience. I get quite a lot of comments - possibly as I tend to reply to them - and I’ve not seen massively greater interaction via any of blogs, other social media, or the OP’s suggestion.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I would just like to have more real-time conversations with people who have something to say about my work.

Yes, we all do. If you want it that badly, pay a professional editor.

 

[MythicMind]

But it can also be what psychologists and psychiatrists call projection. Taking some aspect of yourself - one you are uncomfortable to acknowledge - and tagging it on to another person. Their ‘victim’ here is really an avatar for things they don’t like about themselves. It’s best not to take such ‘criticism’ overly seriously.

Speaking as an actual psychologist, you are right

It can also be a way of assuaging a sense of inadequacy by assuming the worst in others and criticizing them for it. It's like a little dopamine hit to call out others, regardless if it makes any sense or is called for.

And of course you're right that calling people out is sometimes necessary. But there are constructive ways to do it—the post I responded to did not meet that standard, obviously. It only deserved snark.