Should bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 be banned?

[Tw0Cr0ws]

bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 (probably the same person using multiple ID's) are constantly making insulting comments and claiming that they voted 5 stars on stories.

The comments made by bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 usually show that they did not read the story.

The problem for authors is that several others are now following them and claim that they are voting 1 star on anything that bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 say they voted 5 stars for.

None of these reflect on the stories themselves, just trolls and the reactions they provoke.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Turn off comments and voting...that's the ignore button on the story side.

 

[lovecraft68]

Simply click on the report function on one of their comments and explain what you think is going on.

The site administrator can decide if they are doing anything wrong.

 

[NotWise]

I can't think of any site rule that is violated by the behavior you describe.

 

[Hypoxia]

Options:

* skin-thickening
* live in a bubble
* turn off comments
* seek revenge
* leave

LIT authors post stories here for no payment but brownie points (votes & faves) and reactions (comments & feedback). Readers consume stories here at no cost but their wasted time and sanity. LIT readership is diverse enough that some will always love your / our writings, some will always hate, and most won't give a shit. Nobody forces authors to post here. Nobody forces audiences to read and (maybe) react. And nobody cares about your / our authorial pain. Write and be damned. I sure am.

 

[PennLady]

bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 (probably the same person using multiple ID's) are constantly making insulting comments and claiming that they voted 5 stars on stories.

The comments made by bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 usually show that they did not read the story.

The problem for authors is that several others are now following them and claim that they are voting 1 star on anything that bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 say they voted 5 stars for.

None of these reflect on the stories themselves, just trolls and the reactions they provoke.

If they are voting/commenting on your stories, you can disable voting and/or delete their comments. You can't control what anyone does on anyone else's story.

Trolls are unfortunately part of the internet and always have been, back to the days of dial-up. Best bet is to develop a strategy that you can use to ignore or avoid them without a lot of hassle.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I can't think of any site rule that is violated by the behavior you describe.

That's actually a problem. It's absurd that the site can't harvest the votes, detect that IP address X always votes 1 or 2 on author Y, and make that IP address incapable of voting on anyone.

Yes, the person at X can get around this by using an anonymizer. But Lit shouldn't be taking votes from known Anonymizers. (Comments, sure. Not votes).

The site could be tightened up; it's just clearly not a priority. Which is why the OP needs to realise that rankings, contests, etc. here are just not meaningful enough to take seriously.

 

[sr71plt]

That's actually a problem. It's absurd that the site can't harvest the votes, detect that IP address X always votes 1 or 2 on author Y, and make that IP address incapable of voting on anyone.

Yes, the person at X can get around this by using an anonymizer. But Lit shouldn't be taking votes from known Anonymizers. (Comments, sure. Not votes).

The site could be tightened up; it's just clearly not a priority. Which is why the OP needs to realise that rankings, contests, etc. here are just not meaningful enough to take seriously.

Is there any evidence that the Web site has even been apprised of this yet?

 

[legerdemer]

That's actually a problem. It's absurd that the site can't harvest the votes, detect that IP address X always votes 1 or 2 on author Y, and make that IP address incapable of voting on anyone.

Yes, the person at X can get around this by using an anonymizer. But Lit shouldn't be taking votes from known Anonymizers. (Comments, sure. Not votes).

The site could be tightened up; it's just clearly not a priority. Which is why the OP needs to realise that rankings, contests, etc. here are just not meaningful enough to take seriously.

I frequently use a Tor-enabled browser to access Lit, for several personal reasons. Now, there may not be many who are quite as obsessive about keeping their access private. I am fairly sure you'd consider me a legit voter, and authors would lose a few good votes if Lit swept mine away.

I think the point made that no measure is perfect at ensuring honest voting is the key point here. The site owners draw a line at what is reasonable for them to do, weighing pros and cons. Mostly it works, most of the time.

This is another one of those topics that keeps coming up over and over again.

 

[CharlieB4]

Chicken or Egg?

bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 (probably the same person using multiple ID's) are constantly making insulting comments and claiming that they voted 5 stars on stories.

The comments made by bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 usually show that they did not read the story.

The problem for authors is that several others are now following them and claim that they are voting 1 star on anything that bonnietaylor2 and vastiesmith2 say they voted 5 stars for.

None of these reflect on the stories themselves, just trolls and the reactions they provoke.

Which came first? Bonnietaylor2/vastiesmith2 or the Anon voting 1.

From my reading on the LV portal I'd say the Anon 1 voters start trolling bragging about voting 1 without reading and they are followed by Bt2/vs2.

Either way they are both annoying but to my way of thinking they cancel each other out. From what I understand the Amin of the site has a program that sweeps out the dodgy scores anyway.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I frequently use a Tor-enabled browser to access Lit, for several personal reasons. Now, there may not be many who are quite as obsessive about keeping their access private. I am fairly sure you'd consider me a legit voter, and authors would lose a few good votes if Lit swept mine away.

I think the point made that no measure is perfect at ensuring honest voting is the key point here. The site owners draw a line at what is reasonable for them to do, weighing pros and cons. Mostly it works, most of the time.

This is another one of those topics that keeps coming up over and over again.

Can't blame you for using an anonymous browser; I've considered it myself. But I'd instantly claim that by doing so we lose the right to vote. I think of votes as opinions, and people should be willing to put their names (or at least longstanding handles) to their opinions. They're meaningless otherwise, and that's Lit's problem - there is lots of meaningless noise in the data they provide.

I just had a new chapter in a story get a 3.7. I yelled for a sweep and now it's hovering around 4.8, with the rest of the series. Damage done, though - it showed up on the New list with a crappy score, and hundreds of people who might have been curious, didn't open it. That's mostly why one bombs are used. It's pure cockblocking (well, in my readership, most likely clitblocking, bu whatever, an organ's an organ.) What Lit does today is good enough for Lit - because Lit doesn't have strong incentive to do better, and doing the kind of things that Amazon does to keep trash out of ratings is hard. But in the constant presence of a few hostile regulars, it's not good enough for their bread-and-butter, the authors.

It keeps coming up? Yeah. The part that keeps on squeaking is generally the part that needs fixing.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I treat LIT like AMERICAN IDOL when Reuben won all the votes and Clay sold all the CDs. No one's seen Reuben since he won. Real talent wins in the end.

 

[sr71plt]

I treat LIT like AMERICAN IDOL when Reuben won all the votes and Clay sold all the CDs. No one's seen Reuben since he won. Real talent wins in the end.

Reuben (as is Clay) is prominently shown in the current American Idol series (used as an initial screener), but otherwise I agree with your characterization of the voting there and here (and the author obsession with it). I sort of enjoy receiving the "I just discovered your story file and can't believe why it's so buried in the ratings" e-mails. And I don't bother to ask for scans of my ratings.

 

[lovecraft68]

Never mind Whobin and Clay, all anyone needs to know as to whether AI was judged on actual talent or rigged is that Fantasia Barrino was the winner on season that Jennifer Hudson didn't even make the final three.

Also Taylor Hicks...yeah, forget Fantasia, Taylor Hicks won that's all anyone needs as an indicator of that show.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

I treat LIT like AMERICAN IDOL when Reuben won all the votes and Clay sold all the CDs. No one's seen Reuben since he won. Real talent wins in the end.

Reuben was on, and lost on The Biggest Loser a couple years ago.

 

[DeYaKen]

I have my own little Cyber stalker who writes in my comments and admits that he/she has not read the story. In short they are just trying to start a flame war with other readers. It seems obvious to me that this character is just an immature attention seeker. My solution is to delete all comments that have no bearing on the story. That way the person doesn't get the attention they so desperately seek.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Most flamers will post and maybe check back twice, unless there is a rebuttal post to theirs, they move on to the next thing they have their eye on to hope they make the author respond.

Key is, don't respond. Wait a week or so and then delete the post if that is what you want to. Personally I leave it there so everyone can have a good laugh at the posters idiocy.

 

[sr71plt]

I have my own little Cyber stalker who writes in my comments and admits that he/she has not read the story. In short they are just trying to start a flame war with other readers. It seems obvious to me that this character is just an immature attention seeker. My solution is to delete all comments that have no bearing on the story. That way the person doesn't get the attention they so desperately seek.

Think that guy visited me this morning--commenting more on a previous comment than on the story, I think (and hope). Unusual for my stories. Was immediately called an idiot by someone else. And so it goes.