20 December 2013 @ 10:10 am
Where are the comments?  
I've noticed there are very few comments in fests this season. Is it because there are too many fests? I don't think so. I think there is a space for everybody, and each community have their own fanbase.

I can't say for sure though. Last year I only followed [livejournal.com profile] hd_holidays and kept my eye on [livejournal.com profile] mini_fest and favicondaily_deviant's Kinky Kristmas.

But this year I'm following [livejournal.com profile] hd_erised, [livejournal.com profile] hd_owlpost, [livejournal.com profile] mini_fest, [livejournal.com profile] hp_darkarts's In The Shadow of the Season, [livejournal.com profile] hd_smoochfest's Holiday Kisses, and favicondaily_deviant's Kinky Kristmas.

And in all these there's very little people commenting.

What's wrong? Where is everybody?

I imagine this is extremely discouraging for writers and artists that lived and breathe their pieces for weeks and even months to get so little response, it must be heart-breaking.

I know that writers write for themselves, when they have a story to tell, and in exchanges in particular they are writing specially for someone, but there's no denying they write for all of us, too.

We're all part of fandom, I think it's time to show our appreciation, it's always the right time, but specially this season, when so much is given, gifted for us to enjoy.

Whether you are a writer, a reader, an artist, a mod, take that extra moment to let someone know you enjoyed their work.

At times I feel very silly for wanting for people to celebrate fanworks, but, you know, it's not silly at all. Comments, feedback and recs are a vital part. They matter, too, which means every reader out there, every single person who comments is a voice saying Thank You for sharing your work.

And this weekend is the perfect opportunity to do it. [livejournal.com profile] writcraft has a Comment-A-Thon this weekend to catch up on fests. So if you're behind or what to start, this a great way to begin.

Come on, people. Where is the love? Leaving comments is super fun, and easy! Or do I need to link you to 8 ½ Fail-Safe Ways To Write A Comment? ^^
 
 
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[identity profile] all-not-well.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 02:26 pm (UTC)
I am mostly skipping the Christmas fic. There's such a glut of it this time of year, and that's on top of all the Christmas commercials, specials, etc. being shoved down my throat every time I turn on the tv. I'm just not into it this year. Bah, humbug is me.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 03:00 pm (UTC)
Aw, well. Hey, maybe [livejournal.com profile] hp_darkarts's In The Shadow of the Season if for you. ^^

Edited 2013-12-20 08:32 pm (UTC)
drarryisgreen[personal profile] drarryisgreen on December 20th, 2013 08:26 pm (UTC)
For some reason, I'm laughing ridiculously hard at your comment. Not sure if it was supposed to be funny. I suppose, I don't own a TV and have been avoiding the Mall like the plague so I haven't been overburdened w/ the 'spirit'

Also you know, don't celebrate Christmas.
[identity profile] roelliej.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 02:26 pm (UTC)
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 03:01 pm (UTC)
<3
[identity profile] slowroad.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 02:27 pm (UTC)
I totally agree with you. Apart from all the fests that you mentioned, there are plenty of advent fics being written, both at dracoharry100 and slythindor100. Most of those writers are writing a single story with multiple prompts and they religiously post one part every day. I know how difficult that is to so. A lot of the stories this year are very good. They deserve some notice and applause as well.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 03:02 pm (UTC)
You're right!!! the Advent fics. I see them on my flist and I'm dying to follow each of them. It's amazing each day posting a new part, and they deserve every bit of love, too. <3
[identity profile] iwao.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 02:29 pm (UTC)
You are SO right, little flower! I do love comments too, so I agree with you, and I do try to comment often, but maybe not often enough?

I will make time to comment more. *nods*

+GLOMPS*
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 03:03 pm (UTC)
I reckon commenting on what you read & enjoy is what makes the difference. :D *mega hugs*
eidheann_writes[personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 02:43 pm (UTC)
I am hoping to send kiddos off with various other family units over the next week and take a couple hours and just... check all the comms I'm watching to make certain I've commented on everything I've read.

I usually comment immediately (because last December taught me that going back to comment at the end was hell and never going to do it again)

But at the same time, the fact that I know I've gotten most means finding the ones I've missed is a slow "needle in a haystack" kinda problem. XD

Edited 2013-12-20 02:44 pm (UTC)
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 03:06 pm (UTC)
I'm in the same boat. Well, not with kids, but about commenting immediately after reading, yet I always check to make sure I didn't miss anything. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of owls I've missed, but I'll be doing the checking at writ's this weekend. :D
(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 06:26 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 08:33 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] eelegantlyeevil.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 03:32 pm (UTC)
For me, I think its because I have hard time coming up with anything original to say -- "Nicely done" gets kind of repetitive.

Also, to be honest, some of the fest offerings have not been all that good IMO. There seems to a lack of the wow factor and I really don't want to leave what could be considered negative feedback.

eidheann_writes[personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 03:40 pm (UTC)
I once saw someone post something to the effect of "if it's good enough to take the time to read to the end, it's good enough to take one minute and say good job." That really changed how I viewed commenting.

Comments aren't just for the exceptional. No one improves without support. This isn't reccing. You can safely acknowledge the authors time and effort with 2-3 words even if you would only consider the end product "just ok"
(no subject) - [identity profile] omi-ohmy.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 04:22 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 05:51 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [personal profile] vaysh on December 20th, 2013 05:49 pm (UTC) Expand
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(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 07:22 pm (UTC)
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(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 07:26 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] slashedsilver.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 03:33 pm (UTC)
<3 So much love for you. I need to catch up on fic too, but I'll have to miss the Comment-a-Thon because I'll be out of the country soon. I've only been really following [livejournal.com profile] hd_owlpost this season, but there were one or two Erised pieces that caught my eye too. Hopefully I can squeeze them in during the post-Christmas haze!
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:26 pm (UTC)
Oh, I hope you can! Owlpost has been posting awesome, stuff. *nods* But then, all the fests are! lol I hope you get to read and comment as much as possible. SO much fun. :D
[identity profile] mab.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 03:42 pm (UTC)
*glomps you*
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:27 pm (UTC)
*feels suitably glomped*

<33
[identity profile] melusinahp.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 03:54 pm (UTC)
I was very unpleasantly surprised by the response to In the Shadow of the Season. I feel pretty awful for the mods. I'd feel worse for the other participants if they were reading and commenting... But hardly any are.

I'm glad that the Erised fics are getting love, though.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:31 pm (UTC)
*nods* This is very true. So few authors are commenting on each other's post. *sighs*

For this comment-a-thong I'm focusing on In The Shadows.
(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 07:33 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 08:53 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 08:54 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [identity profile] omi-ohmy.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 08:46 pm (UTC)
Cato[personal profile] lordhellebore on December 20th, 2013 03:54 pm (UTC)
HP is becoming more and more like other fandoms, where low comment counts are normal.
vaysh[personal profile] vaysh on December 20th, 2013 05:56 pm (UTC)
That.
(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:33 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [personal profile] birdsofshore on December 21st, 2013 10:06 am (UTC)
[identity profile] omi-ohmy.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 04:21 pm (UTC)
I am getting all behind with both reading ( = commenting) and writing due to RL. But at least that means less for everyone else to read, lol. I do comment on most of what I read - it's only that I get pulled away halfway through and it can take me days to finish a fic / comment at the moment. But I will look at Writ's comment-a-thon because that sounds perfect.

Also I just want to add a <3 for you. :)
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:36 pm (UTC)
I'm never going to be happy because there's less stuff to read. :D I'm certain that coming January I'm going to hunt all the advent posts like mad. ^^

Writ's comment-a-thon is the perfect chance to catch up. :)

*glomps you*

Edited 2013-12-20 07:36 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [identity profile] omi-ohmy.livejournal.com on December 21st, 2013 11:18 am (UTC)
[identity profile] dysonrules.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 04:24 pm (UTC)
I haven't read much of anything. I'm DAYS AND DAYS behind on the advent fics I'm reading. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to do some catchup. I think most people are just super-busy - this has been the first year I feel like I have a social life. I've gone to parties and everything. O.o

capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:37 pm (UTC)
What! What's wrong with you, out in RL parties and stuff. That's... actually, that's pretty cool. :P I mean, boo, stay here and write & comment! *ties you down* Ohh, you like that, don't you!
(no subject) - [identity profile] dysonrules.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 08:09 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] lordhellebore on December 20th, 2013 08:29 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [identity profile] dysonrules.livejournal.com on December 21st, 2013 12:34 pm (UTC)
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(no subject) - [identity profile] dysonrules.livejournal.com on December 21st, 2013 01:20 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] shocolate.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 05:41 pm (UTC)
Yup, [livejournal.com profile] smutty_claus, too. Very sad.

Edited 2013-12-20 05:42 pm (UTC)
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:39 pm (UTC)
A fest that I need to check, clearly. :D
vaysh[personal profile] vaysh on December 20th, 2013 05:55 pm (UTC)
I agree - obviously - with everything you say about commenting. ♥ And I am looking forward very much to Writ's Comment-a-thon.

But let's not get too focused on comment counts. Fandom is changing in a big way, with people spreading their interests and energies over several fandoms, with tumblr and AO3 being major places where fandom is happening. The kudos function of AO3 does sometimes replace comments. Is that a good or bad thing? Would I rather want a kudos than no comment at all? Yes. Would I rather have a short comment than a kudos? Yes. So it's both a good and bad thing. :) But I notice with [livejournal.com profile] hd_owlpost that we are getting both kudos and comments on AO3 that never show on LJ.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:41 pm (UTC)
You are right about that. Fandom is changing. I don't know if you remember this, but once upon a time, fandom happened mainly at the yahoo groups! Ah, old, old days. ^^

But yes, people sometimes leave Kudos as their way to say 'I was here, I liked this" which of course is better than no comment and no Kudos at all, but sometimes I see a fic with a number of hits and half of them only made them to Kudos and it's... well, kind of :(
(no subject) - [personal profile] birdsofshore on December 20th, 2013 07:58 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 08:40 pm (UTC) Expand
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(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 09:13 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [personal profile] who_la_hoop on December 20th, 2013 10:04 pm (UTC) Expand
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(no subject) - [identity profile] dysonrules.livejournal.com on December 21st, 2013 12:39 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 21st, 2013 01:18 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [personal profile] birdsofshore on December 21st, 2013 06:38 pm (UTC)
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(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 10:36 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] lq-traintracks.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 06:11 pm (UTC)
I can't speak for anyone else, but I've been banging away at a pinch hit and had stopped all reading in order to finish on time. Maybe what we have is a surplus of writers, LOL. So we're all writing, writing, writing and nobody has the time to read yet. ;-p I know, now that I'm finished \o/, I'm going to be participating in Writ's comment-a-thon this weekend for sure! I'm going to start reading [livejournal.com profile] hd_erised. Woot!

So I'll definitely see you around, [livejournal.com profile] capitu! Thanks for caring so much. <3
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:43 pm (UTC)
\o/\o/\o/

I was so happy learning of your pinch hits! XD

cunning as a weevil[personal profile] firethesound on December 20th, 2013 06:11 pm (UTC)
I comment on everything I read, I just haven't had much reading time lately. I'm so behind on fests. :(
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:45 pm (UTC)
<33 I know you do! The fests aren't going anywhere though. They'll be there when you get back, lovely.
(no subject) - [personal profile] drarryisgreen on December 20th, 2013 08:28 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] rabbit-says.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 06:40 pm (UTC)
Somehow I've managed to overlook [livejournal.com profile] hd_erised altogether, so thanks for pointing out that it's going on!

TBH, I prefer longer fics that I can really get my teeth into, whereas a lot of the stories lately seem to be shorter ones under 5k or drabbles which I tend to skip over (perhaps that's just how it goes in fests because of deadlines). There are a couple of advent fics though that I can't wait to start reading as soon as they're finished!

It can be hard to think of what to say in comments sometimes but you gotta let people know - especially if you want to read some more :)
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:47 pm (UTC)
Oh, there are a lot of long fics at Erised for you that you're going to love!
[identity profile] kedavranox.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 06:49 pm (UTC)
The thing is. Even though comments are lower in general, I think for the most part we'd really been doing well before the holidays. I was so happy with the love most of the authors at Silencio got. Fanfair was well commented on, so I'm not going to blame these lack of comments now on the state of fandom.
I think there were just too many things this year. And no wants to hear the 'too many fests' argument, but this Holiday season it really is quite overwhelming. I had to unfollow Harry Draco and SLythindor100 unfortunately.

For the most part I'm trying to keep up with Erised. And then I'm going to try to get to The Shadow of the Season posts.

What really really gets me is when people who participate in fests don't read and comment. It just...ugggh. It gets under my skin so bad. And I'm seeing that happening in a lot of fests right now.
Everyone is busy. But I think it's only courteous to support your fellow fest participants... which is what I'm trying really hard to do.
[identity profile] indyonblue.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 07:09 pm (UTC)
Agree!
(no subject) - [personal profile] eidheann_writes on December 20th, 2013 07:32 pm (UTC) Expand
(no subject) - [identity profile] icmezzo.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 11:41 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 07:52 pm (UTC)
(no subject) - [identity profile] omi-ohmy.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 08:58 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] indyonblue.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 07:18 pm (UTC)
I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the fests so made a decision to read & comment on the fests I'm participating in & relying on recs for the others. I know I'll miss a lot but I needed a compromise to stay sane!

What Kedavranox said about fellow fest participants not commenting though, I agree that if you're taking part in a fest then you should support it. There's one fest that's getting very few comments & I imagine it is demoralising not only for the writers, but also the mods.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 08:03 pm (UTC)
That's a good way to stay sane! :D There's so much to chose from, it's easy to be overwhelmed. *nods* I agree, on principle, but I'm still trying to follow everything. :D I want and want and want, so yeah, this weekend it'll be all about catching up with fests. ^^

You're right about that though, after all the effort it takes to make a fest happen, you should do your share to make it a success. And by you i mean... well, everybody! XD
(no subject) - [identity profile] omi-ohmy.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 08:50 pm (UTC)
birdsofshore[personal profile] birdsofshore on December 20th, 2013 08:01 pm (UTC)
Oh, I forgot to say up there ^^

I can't really complain about comments as the last few fests I was in (blow job Friday, Silencio and drizzle) were all good to excellent for comments as far as I am concerned. So I feel fairly hopeful that it's s temporary blip with busy lives at this time of year, and a whole barrel load of fic being posted all at once. The comment a thon is a fabulous idea, though, all power to it.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 08:47 pm (UTC)
<3333 Birds, you're so right about that. This year's fests have been a success all around, and hopefully it's just the season. *hugs*
(no subject) - [identity profile] icmezzo.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2013 11:43 pm (UTC)
i can see your house from here[personal profile] who_la_hoop on December 20th, 2013 10:22 pm (UTC)
I am rocking my pledge to comment on everything I read :DD GO ME. I just haven't had much time to read anything over the last couple of weeks. Once I'm finished with work I should have a little more free time, I hope :)
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 10:37 pm (UTC)
That's the way to go. *nods. If a story kept me through the end, i always tell the author why. :D

We need time-turners!
[identity profile] tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com on December 23rd, 2013 05:52 am (UTC)
Haha, I love the irony that this post has about as many comments as all the fest fics combined. :))

Ah well.
capitu: capitu/tjwritter OTP 4EVER[personal profile] capitu on December 23rd, 2013 11:30 am (UTC)
lol! I know! But in all fairness, most of the people who commented here are the same people commenting in most of these fest. :D
[identity profile] hazel-wand.livejournal.com on January 12th, 2014 11:51 pm (UTC)
I remember a while back you did a post about commenting and I crawled out of my customary lurkdom to comment on it. Thought I would drop you a line to say that what you said really stayed with me. I have only followed hd erised this season as I wrote for it. I haven't read half of what I would like to have read, thus far, but I have been scrupulous about commenting when I have read something. It means a lot to me when someone comments on my story, so I am trying to do the same for others.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on January 13th, 2014 11:16 am (UTC)
hi! Yes, I remember! :)) I'm so happy to know that what i wrote made a difference. It's easy once you start, yeah? Awesome!!

I loved your fic at erised! <3