unfollowing an author

[lc69hunter]

If I unfollow an author, are they notified? I do hope so.

Been here since 2008, and this is the first I know of that a comment I made was deleted. Once I realized it, I made a comment that deleting comments was not nice. She deleted that one also. I then went and checked and found that she had deleted all negative comments.

She had written a little BTB morality tale, and I called her on it, saying that she had written it for the little incels that jack off to that stuff.

Funny thing is, I had given her a 4, based upon the fact that she is a good writer. I think I will go back and lower my score, just out of spite

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Deleting negative comments unless they contain insults is just lame in my opinion. It seems so juvenile to expect and accept only positive ones.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Deleting negative comments unless they contain insults is just lame in my opinion. It seems so juvenile to expect and accept only positive ones.

I mean, he called the people that like them incels that want to jack off over BTB stories. That seems a tad insulting, don't you think? Especially since it kind of implies things about the writer. I'd have left it alone and laughed at the silly insult, but that's me. CindyTV (the writer of the story) straight up responded with "I'll erase comments that I find abusive or degrading."

 

[SimonDoom]

If I unfollow an author, are they notified? I do hope so.

Been here since 2008, and this is the first I know of that a comment I made was deleted. Once I realized it, I made a comment that deleting comments was not nice. She deleted that one also. I then went and checked and found that she had deleted all negative comments.

She had written a little BTB morality tale, and I called her on it, saying that she had written it for the little incels that jack off to that stuff.

Funny thing is, I had given her a 4, based upon the fact that she is a good writer. I think I will go back and lower my score, just out of spite

Don't be spiteful. Let it go. You've let the author know how you feel, which is your right. Sounds like she didn't like what you had to say. That's her right, too. Just move on.

They say the best form of revenge is living well. I so, so believe that. Being spiteful might feel good in the moment, like that last bottle of beer when you know you should have stopped with the previous one. But you'll regret it in the morning.

 

[RejectReality]

Unfollows and Unfavorites no longer generate an author notification. They did briefly ( off and on ) after the introduction of the new author page, but that hasn't been the case for a long time.

While you have the ability to delete any comment that displeases you, it comes with a potential cost, as seen here. It's one of the things an author has to weigh when using the tools at their disposal.

 

[MajorRewrite]

Deleting comments is good fun. Don’t begrudge the author that.

 

[lc69hunter]

I have saved several of her stories as favorites. That will not change, as she is a good writer and has written some good stuff.

I just will no longer follow her works, as this conduct is unacceptable to me

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I mean, he called the people that like them incels that want to jack off over BTB stories. That seems a tad insulting, don't you think? Especially since it kind of implies things about the writer. I'd have left it alone and laughed at the silly insult, but that's me. CindyTV (the writer of the story) straight up responded with "I'll erase comments that I find abusive or degrading."

I would need to see the actual comment to judge, but it was my impression that the kind of language lc69 said he used is considered quite common in LW. The comment seemed to be a criticism towards the author and it had a derogatory connotation towards a group of readers. Maybe the author doesn't let her readers get attacked at all, but it seems a bit over the top. I mean, I've left untouched worse comments than that in a way more civil category than LW. More than that, lc69 claims she deleted every negative comment, including his comment on how it is not ok to delete negative comments. It feels a bit too much to me but to each his own.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I would need to see the actual comment to judge, but it was my impression that the kind of language lc69 said he used is considered quite common in LW. The comment seemed to be a criticism towards the author and it had a derogatory connotation towards a group of readers. Maybe the author doesn't let her readers get attacked at all, but it seems a bit over the top. I mean, I've left untouched worse comments than that in a way more civil category than LW. More than that, lc69 claims she deleted every negative comment, including his comment on how it is not ok to delete negative comments. It feels a bit too much to me but to each his own.

At the very least, Cindy didn't delete the comment about negative comments; it's still up on the story now.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

At the very least, Cindy didn't delete the comment about negative comments; it's still up on the story now.

I do not claim to know what happened in this particular case - who said what and who deleted what, nor do I have any inclinations to go into all that. If you go back to my first post, you will see that I posted my opinion as a general observation and standpoint. I said nothing about this particular author in that post exactly for that reason.

 

[alohadave]

Is this a joke? Some kind of meta humor referencing a recent posting?

 

[Duleigh]

I never delete comments that are from someone with a login ID which is someone I can contact and maybe open a dialogue. Anonymous comments that get abusive make me glad there's a delete option. But attacking readers??? The readers have no control over the content of construction of the story that's totally uncalled for.

I don't care who my readers are, I will not allow them to be attacked and I don't want them to see that comment so I would delete it and if I could contact the writer I would tell them why.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Is this a joke? Some kind of meta humor referencing a recent posting?

Sadly, no.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Not actually convinced there's any onus on authors to preserve comments.

Once they've read the comment, your feedback has been received by the person it was supposedly addressed to. If you want it to stay up after that, then that's about wanting it to be read by other people.

But readers don't come to stories to read some random dude's comments. They come primarily for the story that the author created; I don't see why the author is obliged to let somebody else ride on their coat-tails for visibility they didn't earn themselves. They get to decide whether your or my two cents' worth is any more valuable than some other commenter's dick enlargement pills.

If you want a place to post comments, guaranteed free from deletion by the author, you can post it on Story Feedback or create your own story review blog [edit: or Reviews and Essays, if it's long enough], as some folk here have done. The catch is, if you're doing that, your comments have to be interesting enough to draw readers on their own merits, not piggy-backing off the author's work, and most aren't.

Laurel and Manu get to decide who they lend space to here, and when it comes to comments they've delegated that to the authors, who've put in the work to create the story that drew readers here.

Insisting that not only your comment but your unfollow be seen just seems attention-seeking.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have saved several of her stories as favorites. That will not change, as she is a good writer and has written some good stuff.

I just will no longer follow her works, as this conduct is unacceptable to me

It's not an airport, you don't need to announce your departure.

 

[SimonDoom]

You don't even have to do that at the airport. I have Facebook friends who seem determined to let everybody know their every airport departure and arrival, and I wonder, "Why?"

 

[ElectricBlue]

If I unfollow an author, are they notified? I do hope so.

Been here since 2008, and this is the first I know of that a comment I made was deleted. Once I realized it, I made a comment that deleting comments was not nice. She deleted that one also. I then went and checked and found that she had deleted all negative comments.

She had written a little BTB morality tale, and I called her on it, saying that she had written it for the little incels that jack off to that stuff.

Funny thing is, I had given her a 4, based upon the fact that she is a good writer. I think I will go back and lower my score, just out of spite

No, we don't get notified.

Deleting comments is an ability given to authors by the site to police what gets written about them and/or their stories. Your post illustrates why.

You left a post which the author thought offensive or shitty or whatever - it doesn't matter what her reasons were, you went against whatever criteria that author uses to manage her story publicity. You then thought your post had primacy over her viewpoint, so left another, and she deleted that one - exercising an author's right.

And now, you're pissed off at her, so the big punishment follows: Unfollow, this public outing (although you don't name her, somebody else has), and a score mark-down, out of spite.

You don't think this is trolling behaviour, but for many writers, it is exactly that. You think it's not nice that she deleted your comment. She thought it not nice that you left it in the first place. Who wins? Well, I guess you do, because you've given yourself oxygen, you're fanning the flames by bringing it here. You've poured gas on the flames. Many authors see that as trolling, whereas you see it as righteous indignation - hence the divide.

The way I see it is this: story comments act as publicity for a story, they draw people in. They're like a movie poster on a wall. So an author wants to control what's on that poster. And as we all know, some comments are like dog shit on your lawn, they're foul, they're disgusting, they stink, so an author cleans up their lawn.

The site gives us the right to do that. I do it myself on occasion, usually when some anonymous commenter has left some opinion I really don't care about, because they have some petty agenda against me as the writer (in my case, it's never about the story, it's about a yappy dog at my heels).

You choose the neighbourhood you live in, and you choose what you do with your lawn.

 

[Bramblethorn]

You don't even have to do that at the airport. I have Facebook friends who seem determined to let everybody know their every airport departure and arrival, and I wonder, "Why?"

The planes do, though!

 

[Djmac1031]

So...do I have this right?

You liked this author, enjoyed her stories enough to follow her and read her regularly.

Then you read one you didn't like, so told her you didn't like it.

Not only that, but insulted the readers who did like it.

So she deleted your comments and now you're upset because why exactly?

The author didn't deem your pithy comment worthy to remain posted for the Annals of History?

So now not only do you wanna unfollow her, but wanna make sure she KNOWS you've unfollowed her, because that'll show her, right?

Oh and you're gonna go and intentionally lower her score not on the merits but because YOU feel slighted.

And you expect the rest of us to sympathize because...?

What's next? One Bombing her entire catalog? Nasty PMs or emails?

Seriously: let it go.

You didn't like her story.

She didn't like your comment.

Happens all the time.

It's not the THING you're making it out to be.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I have read some LW comments that got crazy and when other readers sort of turned it into a dog-pile on the commenter, I was not impressed. So when I got two really nasty anonymous comments on my recent LW story, I did delete them. I'm not sorry. However, there is a difference between that and a comment that just says, I didn't like it, here's why.
Some people just can't handle criticism. And I kinda get it, to a point. Here. On Literotica. We do this for free because we enjoy it. We get a measure of satisfaction. So anything that impugns that satisfaction is negativity they don't want.
I see criticism as a chance to improve my writing and I'm glad to get it. Not everyone is like me.

 

[Duleigh]

I see criticism as a chance to improve my writing and I'm glad to get it. Not everyone is like me.

I'm definitely with you, I like to open a dialogue with the commenter and listen to WHY he didn't like it. But insults directed at readers don't need to be seen by anyone.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I'm definitely with you, I like to open a dialogue with the commenter and listen to WHY he didn't like it.

Sadly that's not easy to do here. A non-forum-based PM system would be helpful. The email the member function doesn't work well as it often goes to the spam folder.

 

[Duleigh]

Sadly that's not easy to do here. A non-forum-based PM system would be helpful. The email the member function doesn't work well as it often does to the spam folder.

Yeah you're right, I found a few emails hit the spam folder until I fixed it, but I try and I opened up a couple of good dialogues, and I was able to learn a lot about blind people, which explains the W - I owe it to the blind readers of Lit. We even have a blind writer.

 

[Euphony]

https://i.redd.it/398v2pjo1ps41.jpg

 

[lc69hunter]

In retrospect, my comment was probably over the top. I am a bit ashamed that I am in some ways like the BTB trolls I love to mock. I hate most BTB stories, and believe that 70% of them shouldn't be or needn't be in that category. That should be reserved for intentionally egregious behavior by the spouse or her lover. They write husbands in a way that no real or reasonable man would act. And they make the wife a little bit brain dead. So I react and post, and mock them.

We have pm'd in the past. I will apologize to her