When do you delete an inflammatory comment?

[SimonDoom]

Makes sense. I usually put stuff like that in a sort of forward, or afterward. Submitted in the charter text but noted as an author's note.

Here's a sampling of the comments that are still present on the story I wrote. I get a kick out of them and am glad I never took them down. Some even worse ones were removed by the site owner.


Illiterate cuck shit.

What a pile of rubbish.

Boatload of bullshit.

What?? A piece of crap.

Total idiocy.

Sorry. That's it. Sorry.

Had a good story. Was going well then you fucked it up . Or should I say you cucked it up. Here eat my used condom.

My god this was bad.

It's been a long time since I've read a piece of shit like this.

Wow, this was just way beyond stupid.

What a load of shit.

Mickey Spillane you're not.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Here's a sampling of the comments that are still present on the story I wrote. I get a kick out of them and am glad I never took them down. Some even worse ones were removed by the site owner.


Illiterate cuck shit.

What a pile of rubbish.

Boatload of bullshit.

What?? A piece of crap.

Total idiocy.

Sorry. That's it. Sorry.

Had a good story. Was going well then you fucked it up . Or should I say you cucked it up. Here eat my used condom.

My god this was bad.

It's been a long time since I've read a piece of shit like this.

Wow, this was just way beyond stupid.

What a load of shit.

Mickey Spillane you're not.

Christ on a bike, Simon, what the fuck did you write to stir them up so much?

Or is it just, you know, really bad?

 

[SimonDoom]

Christ on a bike, Simon, what the fuck did you write to stir them up so much?

Or is it just, you know, really bad?

The story is BTB, Incorporated. It's set up as a BTB-type story (posted in Loving Wives) in a jokey, spoof Mickey Spillane, hard-boiled detective style, only it has a twist at the end (which everyone should have seen from the outset) that pissed off the BTB crowd. Some people liked it. More importantly, I had a blast writing it, and I wouldn't undo anything.

 

[KeithD]

I think my original post, which I took time to provide, was straightforward and correct. I consider Litorotica a site for adults, not one requiring babysitting. I didn't ask for a snide bite on the hand (ironically in inflammatory tones), which the biter must have realized was snide, or it wouldn't have been erased.

 

[Hypoxia]

I rarely delete negative comments, but make exceptions in the case of semi-literate heifer-dust from aggressive knuckle-draggers whose posts seem solely vindictive and petty personal attacks. Waste of electrons letting them stay.

In my necessarily unique experience, bad comments are often followed by counter-comments to the affirmative. I mostly needn't argue with readers -- others will do so for me.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I don’t have a rule of thumb. I leave most comments, even the troll ones. I do delete the occasional deliberately offensive ones that add no entertainment value. I do like comments I can play to and kind of continue the story theme a little. That’s just fun.

 

[rebel_code]

The only one I've deleted since the spam filter was put in was one basically accusing me of plagiarism. "You didn't write this, did you...I've read it before." In your dreams, loser. Couldn't see letting that stand, so I didn't. To be fair, most of the negative comments I've gotten aren't overly trollish, just picking nits with the plot or being unhappy with how the story ended and such. Not a problem.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I don't think I've ever deleted a comment. I really don't care about them. All I did was turn off anon commenting.

 

[blozo]

When I was new I reacted to many comments, and deleted those that were personal or threatening.
Now I only delete the rare comment that contains a threat or spam advertising.

I wrote an essay once, and occasionally some asks a good question in the comments. I still respond to those as soon as I notice.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

In my necessarily unique experience, bad comments are often followed by counter-comments to the affirmative. I mostly needn't argue with readers -- others will do so for me.

Bad comments, unfavorable comments, even bitchy comments are one thing. If somebody wants to tell me how my story missed being as good as it might have been, that's fine. It stays.

Vicious, semi-literate personal slurs laden with obscenity and bile are another.

 

[ChloeTzang]

......Vicious, semi-literate personal slurs laden with obscenity and bile are another.

I love those. One of these days I’ll write a Loving Wives story where the protagonist writes a Loving Wives story based on “real life” experience and then wallows in the vitriolic and bilious comments. Now THAT would be fun. Of course I’d probably pick up so many trolls none of my stories would ever make it above 3 ever again but omg it’d almost be worth it.

 

[KeithD]

I love those. One of these days I’ll write a Loving Wives story where the protagonist writes a Loving Wives story based on “real life” experience and then wallows in the vitriolic and bilious comments. Now THAT would be fun. Of course I’d probably pick up so many trolls none of my stories would ever make it above 3 ever again but omg it’d almost be worth it.

But it isn't isolated to you. When you play with the trolls and/or purposely write stories to set people off, you are contributing to creating an atmosphere that gets the stories of others dumped on as well.

 

[ChloeTzang]

But it isn't isolated to you. When you play with the trolls and/or purposely write stories to set people off, you are contributing to creating an atmosphere that gets the stories of others dumped on as well.

I hadn’t thought about that. Good point. Hmmmm I better rein myself in.

 

[Hypoxia]

Hmmmm I better rein myself in.

Anything posted on LW will magnetically accumulate hateful comments. You know that. The trolls are always aroused there. One can never BtB adequately -- it's always too little or too much. Hate is aroused by any word, including 'the' and 'and'. (Yes, that a Lillian Hellman reference.) So we can "rein in" by slipping any cheaters into other categories.

Or we can throw raw liver at the slavering beasts and enjoy their howlings. I'm here to affect people. How they react is their problem, not mine, as long as they can't find me IRL. Do my tales provoke disharmony? Oh, the poor babies...

 

[ShyChiWriter]

Negative Comments

I let comments stand if they are constructive criticism. If it is just a 'this sucked' comment, even veiled as a criticism with details, it goes. Life is too short to dwell on such things.

Constructive criticism means they list some of the things they liked and where they had questions and thought it could use improvement.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I've only been writing on the site for 15 months now. One of the things I learned early on was how to delete negative comments from my stories. What took me longer to figure out was that I shouldn't have deleted all those comments. I really wish I had those back now.

Aside from the spam comments (which, thankfully, they have managed to filter out) there are only two comments I would still delete. In both cases, it felt like those comments actively detracted from the end of my story and I would still get rid of them. One was a comment about watersports in a story that didn't contain even a veiled reference to that topic, and the second was a comment on one of my 'Anal' entries in which this guy described his girlfriend basically crapping the bed right after he came in her ass. That had to go.

Other that those, even the most vitriolic comments have a place in the "comments" section. Now, I may not care for them, but the comments aren't really a part of my story. Once I've finished and posted my story, I read the comments to see if I can improve my next story. The rest of the comments are an opportunity for readers to interact. Some of my most critical comments have elicited multiple responses from other readers to the effect, "Don't listen to that jackass."

So, don't be in too much of a hurry to delete your negative comments. Among the authors here they are a badge of honor. I am ashamed and annoyed that I got rid of so many of mine before I knew what I was doing.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So, don't be in too much of a hurry to delete your negative comments. Among the authors here they are a badge of honor. I am ashamed and annoyed that I got rid of so many of mine before I knew what I was doing.

A comment from a fool remains a comment from a fool, and not all writers grant fools credence; so no, inane comments are not always considered badges of honour.

It's up to individual writers to establish their own criteria for what they keep and what they delete. There's no hall of heroes for those who keep everything, just as there's no walk of shame in deleting junk or not allowing it in the first place.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

A comment from a fool remains a comment from a fool, and not all writers grant fools credence; so no, inane comments are not always considered badges of honour.

Il n'y a aucun plaisir plus subtile que s'appelé un idiot par un imbécile. There is no more subtle pleasure than being called an idiot by an imbecile. - Antoine Rivarol

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Here's a sampling of the comments that are still present on the story I wrote. I get a kick out of them and am glad I never took them down. Some even worse ones were removed by the site owner.


Illiterate cuck shit.

What a pile of rubbish.

Boatload of bullshit.

What?? A piece of crap.

Total idiocy.

Sorry. That's it. Sorry.

Had a good story. Was going well then you fucked it up . Or should I say you cucked it up. Here eat my used condom.

My god this was bad.

It's been a long time since I've read a piece of shit like this.

Wow, this was just way beyond stupid.

What a load of shit.

Mickey Spillane you're not.

Let me guess... Loving Wives.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Anything posted on LW will magnetically accumulate hateful comments. You know that. The trolls are always aroused there. One can never BtB adequately -- it's always too little or too much. Hate is aroused by any word, including 'the' and 'and'. (Yes, that a Lillian Hellman reference.) So we can "rein in" by slipping any cheaters into other categories.

Or we can throw raw liver at the slavering beasts and enjoy their howlings. I'm here to affect people. How they react is their problem, not mine, as long as they can't find me IRL. Do my tales provoke disharmony? Oh, the poor babies...

I like throwing RAW liver at the slavering beasts. Their howls make for good reading, especially because I have anon comments turned off and they have to create a troll account to comment. Hehehe.

I only delete comments that are directed at another commentor unless it's another troll they are trolling, then I let them fight it out. Once they are done, I delete the whole thread.

 

[YDB95]

I usually just leave the comments there. For one thing, they often make it clear to anyone who read the whole story that the commenter either didn't, or that s/he missed the point.

There is one exception: one of my stories has an abortion in it, and you can imagine the commentary that has inspired. I leave critical comments if they're about the story itself, but I always delete anti-choice propaganda. I have also added a couple of comments of my own there explaining that I will delete such comments, and that seems to have done the trick as far as keeping the pearl-clutchers at bay.