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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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 :(
birdsofshore[personal profile] birdsofshore on December 20th, 2013 07:58 pm (UTC)
I find an average hits to Kudos ratio is about 30. So out of every 30 people that clicked on the fic, only 1 can be bothered / likes it enough to press Kudos. That is kind of sad. And another reason (IMO) to dislike Kudos!

My commenting rate has been poor lately, because I've had no time for reading. I tried to have a good catch up in the last week at erised, partly because I feel the same as others, that it's important to support a fest you are in if you are at all able. But I'm reading Azoth now, and I've been reading it for about 5 days already. I get so little time to read, and that's only going to be one comment to my credit at the end of it! Great fic, though :D
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 08:40 pm (UTC)
Yes, kudos vs. hits doesn't make sense to me. I often wonder where all that people go and I have theories!

1. They go, save the fic and then come back and leave kudos. That's two hits, 1 kudos.
2. They start reading, then leave, then come back and read, then they leave again, then come back and finish and then they leave a kudos. That's three+ hits, 1 kudos.
3. They read, leave a kudos, then they forgot if they leave a kudos and check, and yes, kudos. that's two more hits, 1 kudos.
4. They read, loved it, leave a kudos, and then come back again and again and again and can't leave more kudos because they already did. That infinite hits, 1 kudos.

^___^
birdsofshore[personal profile] birdsofshore on December 20th, 2013 09:02 pm (UTC)
Ahahahaha. So actually EVERYONE who read my fic left a Kudos, they just read it 30 times? OHH-KAY :DDD
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 09:13 pm (UTC)
Yep.

Hey, it could be. We'll never know, but it could be. ;D
i can see your house from here[personal profile] who_la_hoop on December 20th, 2013 10:04 pm (UTC)
Well, clicking on a fic, and then bookmarking it/marking it for later makes 2 hits. And then opening it up makes 3. And if I start reading on one device and switch to another, that's another. And sometimes I will check back to see what other people have commented - so that's 5 or 6. I could easily get my hits on a story up to 10 while only reading it once :D Don't forget that clicking on kudos often reloads the page - another hit, lmao.
birdsofshore[personal profile] birdsofshore on December 21st, 2013 10:08 am (UTC)
LOLOL

this is very funny

I still suspect there are about 29 lazy buggers / people who didn't like it, for every Kudos clicker :D But keep trying to convince me...
i can see your house from here[personal profile] who_la_hoop on December 21st, 2013 11:52 am (UTC)
I wasn't joking though! If I look at my AO3 reading history, almost all the fics I've read once show at least 3 or 4 hits. I read that hockey fic twice and that shows 13 hits. I read the One Direction one once and that shows 18 hits! Five of your hits on Hungry are from me, and I read it once. All the fics I've marked to read later show two hits, despite me not reading them yet. I am reading an Avengers WIP with frequent chapter updates and that shows 94 hits :D

I mean, of course I'm not saying that a significant number of hits are from people who DO backbutton or read and don't kudos/comment. It's impossible to tell how many. But 30 hits does not = 30 people.
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 21st, 2013 12:18 pm (UTC)
I support this comment and its content. :D
[identity profile] dysonrules.livejournal.com on December 21st, 2013 12:39 pm (UTC)
OMG now I feel terrible because I have at least three AO3 fics open on tabs that I HAVE NOT EVEN STARTED READING. Like... for weeks and weeks. So that means every time I click on it to remember what fic I plan to read during that nebulous "sometime" it's showing as a hit? D: D: D: D: D:

Dear Authors,
Sorry about the 75 hits and no kudo or comment. I'll get to it one day. I promise.
<3 Dyson

*slithers off*
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 21st, 2013 01:18 pm (UTC)
Ah ha! So it's youuuuuu. I knew it. :D

But I'm a bit like that too. I shall attach myself to your apology.
birdsofshore[personal profile] birdsofshore on December 21st, 2013 06:38 pm (UTC)
You always know all the cool things to do on AO3! *mutters* I might possibly have 14 hits on the One Direction fic myself :DDD

Anyway, don't tell Mr Birds. He says there are only about 20 of us on the internet who like H/D, and I say, what about these 8000 people who read my Smoochfest fic, then, hmm?

vaysh[personal profile] vaysh on December 20th, 2013 10:09 pm (UTC)
I do remember the yahoo-group days of fandom. :) Just the other day, my co-mod of the Ringbearers Remembered yahoo group were discussing what to do with the group: close it down for good, deactivate it or just keep it as dead but existent as it is. :)

I've seen fics with hundreds of hit and only a dozens of Kudos. But it doesn't mean that much, really, I find. They can still be great fics to discover. It's when people start thinking that only a few kudos/comments means the fic is not worth their time, then we have a problem-
capitu[personal profile] capitu on December 20th, 2013 10:36 pm (UTC)
Never judge a fic by the number of kudos/comments. I've discovered a lot of amazing stories randomly clicking my way archives. :)

So you remember! We've been here a long time. :D