The story or the subject?

[lexdepenny]

I find it irritating that anonymous people can slam a story not for any literary sins but because they don't like the area of sexuality that it covers. I recently had people tell me that they were rating a recent story of mine as a 1 because the subject, which involved a husband watching his wife having sex with a stranger, hurt their feelings.
I'm not driven by ratings, but to have a story downgraded because someone perhaps feels that their own masculinity is threatened by what they are reading is disappointing.
Is this just me being hyper-sensitive or do others have a similar reaction? Is there a case for allowing anonymous posters to comment but not to vote?

 

[sr71plt]

It's irritating but it's not going to change. Just delete the comments you don't like. And if the 1-bombing becomes too irritating for you, turn off the voting. Because there's nothing that's going to change.

 

[blin18]

+1 It's not going to change.

Concentrate on the good feedback, and the types of stories that achieve it, regardless of the bad.

A story with 20 positive comments and 2 negative is much more satisfying than a story with just 2 positive and no negative.

If you're worried about trolls driving readers away, don't. People actually stop to see what the fuss is about. My troll is doing more advertising than me, and stats have picked up since he started bombing.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Read the news. We now live in a time where its criminal to make others feel uncomfortable. People are losing their jobs and careers.

 

[PennLady]

I find it irritating that anonymous people can slam a story not for any literary sins but because they don't like the area of sexuality that it covers. I recently had people tell me that they were rating a recent story of mine as a 1 because the subject, which involved a husband watching his wife having sex with a stranger, hurt their feelings.

This is a case where I would just kind of blink, then delete the comment if I was so inclined. If someone is going to read a story that is (probably) labeled with what will happen, and then they are upset by that - why do you even want their opinion.

If you're asking why people do that, well who knows. People are people and to paraphrase the late, lamented Lemmy, there are people who go around waiting to be offended. They're probably *hoping* to be offended so they can go off about it.

I'm not driven by ratings, but to have a story downgraded because someone perhaps feels that their own masculinity is threatened by what they are reading is disappointing.
Is this just me being hyper-sensitive or do others have a similar reaction? Is there a case for allowing anonymous posters to comment but not to vote?

It's a free site. You don't owe the readers anything, and they don't owe the writers anything. It's nice when votes or comments are left, but it's not required.

And let's face it, any negative reaction is disappointing to a writer (unless they're aiming for it), regardless of the reason why. And here's where you can trot out the clichés: write for yourself; there's no pleasing everyone; you need a thick skin when dealing with the internet; if you don't want comments or votes, Lit gives you some tools to deal with them.

I'm not trying to dismiss your feelings on this, honestly. It is annoying when you receive comments disliking a story for reasons that have nothing to do with the story itself, but there's nothing to be done about it. You don't know this person, they don't know you, so don't let the opinions of a stranger bother you too much.

 

[lexdepenny]

Thank you for taking the trouble to respond to my thread

Advice taken on board! There's a saying that one should expect nothing from a pig but a grunt, which I suspect in this case is rather denigrating to our porcine friends. I guess that's how I need to see the trolls. I just thought it was a question worth asking.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I find it irritating that anonymous people can slam a story not for any literary sins but because they don't like the area of sexuality that it covers. I recently had people tell me that they were rating a recent story of mine as a 1 because the subject, which involved a husband watching his wife having sex with a stranger, hurt their feelings.

Yeah, there's a certain element who squeal very loudly about anything with female adultery.

I'm not driven by ratings, but to have a story downgraded because someone perhaps feels that their own masculinity is threatened by what they are reading is disappointing.
Is this just me being hyper-sensitive or do others have a similar reaction? Is there a case for allowing anonymous posters to comment but not to vote?

It's obnoxious, but I doubt blocking anon votes would help. More likely they'd just register an account (or five) and go on doing their thing.

Wear it as a badge of honour. If you're concerned about spillover to your other stories, you might consider setting up a second account to keep your Loving Wives stories separate from the rest; some of those guys have been known to bomb an author's entire list as "punishment" for an adultery story.

 

[lovecraft68]

I find it irritating that anonymous people can slam a story not for any literary sins but because they don't like the area of sexuality that it covers. I recently had people tell me that they were rating a recent story of mine as a 1 because the subject, which involved a husband watching his wife having sex with a stranger, hurt their feelings.
I'm not driven by ratings, but to have a story downgraded because someone perhaps feels that their own masculinity is threatened by what they are reading is disappointing.
Is this just me being hyper-sensitive or do others have a similar reaction? Is there a case for allowing anonymous posters to comment but not to vote?

Welcome to lit, the land of 'real men'

If you get a lot of bombs click the report feature on your story and ask for a sweep to remove them.

Also do what I do when some wuss guy who feels threatened by a fictional woman cheating on a fictional husband gives you a nasty remark....

Laugh at how pathetic he is and know it happened to him because he's that pathetic.

 

[lexdepenny]

Thanks for the positive and supportive comments. I have to admit I am surprised that someone who feels so strongly and negatively about a given erotic subject can bring themself to read to the end. Perhaps these people don't?
I had a comment regarding a previous story written under a different name...
The lady who wrote explained in her email that what I was describing, a man who could only get aroused by seeing his wife with other men, could simply never, ever happen in real life... A sheltered existence, methinks!

 

[le_kitty]

Thanks for the positive and supportive comments. I have to admit I am surprised that someone who feels so strongly and negatively about a given erotic subject can bring themself to read to the end. Perhaps these people don't?
I had a comment regarding a previous story written under a different name...
The lady who wrote explained in her email that what I was describing, a man who could only get aroused by seeing his wife with other men, could simply never, ever happen in real life... A sheltered existence, methinks!

Shitty people exist.

I've had someone dislike my story through at least two late chapters, leaving comments on both to tell me in so many words, what a terrible writer I was. They even came back to see if I replied to their comment. And when I was snarky, they took me up by trolling through the chapters of my other story to leave very well written negative comments. Must've been fun.

Have pity on them for having so little of a life that shitting on someone else's work can be entertaining or even satisfying for them.

 

[blin18]

Have pity on them for having so little of a life that shitting on someone else's work can be entertaining or even satisfying for them.

People come to Lit to get off. Some get off on hard tools in wet holes, some get off on reading beautifully constructed stories, and some get off on having their writing read and enjoyed by others. Most of these are fairly compatible and complimentary.

Problem is, others get off on shitting over someone else's creation. Unfortunately, they're not so compatible with the rest of the community, but it doesn't devalue the fact that they're here for the same reason as most of us: to get off.

Try not to judge them. Assholes are people too.

 

[DwellerDark]

People are voting on whether or not they liked a story, I would imagine. If they didn't like the area of sexuality portrayed in the story, then they will probably give your story a low score, because that affected their enjoyment of the story. Since, after all, these stories are pretty much about sex.

 

[le_kitty]

People come to Lit to get off. Some get off on hard tools in wet holes, some get off on reading beautifully constructed stories, and some get off on having their writing read and enjoyed by others. Most of these are fairly compatible and complimentary.

Problem is, others get off on shitting over someone else's creation. Unfortunately, they're not so compatible with the rest of the community, but it doesn't devalue the fact that they're here for the same reason as most of us: to get off.

Try not to judge them. Assholes are people too.

Cheers for the advice.

 

[robertreams]

Read the news. We now live in a time where its criminal to make others feel uncomfortable. People are losing their jobs and careers.

Though a certified teacher, I was working as a teacher' assistant. Happenstance had me working one day as assistant to the substitute for the regular substitute English teacher. He called on me to give my opinion of an O'Henry short story. In my response I used the term "Quintessential". The sub sub said "HUH?" The class broke out in laughter. That afternoon I was called to the office and fired for hurting the young man's feelings.