fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3317 ]

[ SECRET POST #3317 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3317 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[D.Gray-man - Miranda Lotto]

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[The Thick of It]

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[Golden Kamui]

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(The Lost Boys)

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[Marble Hornets/troyhasacamera]

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[@midnight with Chris Hardwick]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 037 secrets from Secret Submission Post #474.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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I was going to say it bugs me a little when authors respond to EVERY comment (unless there only a few) including ones that are just like "Nice story!" because it doubles the number of comments. I like seeing what the author has to say in response to comments that actually talk about something, though.

I'm not on AO3, but if I were, I would be the sort who would respond to every comment :p. Obviously if all someone said was "Nice story" I'd reply with a simple "Thanks!" and not go into some big long reply the way I would if someone left a more detailed comment/review.

But still, I'd want to reply to all the comments anyway 'cause I'd just feel bad about looking like I was ignoring someone. Plus, I wouldn't want to make it seem like I only cared about the commenters who had more to their comments or reviews than "Nice story!".

That said, of course, you make a good point about how that can look bad for the writer, too, as though they're trying to inflate the amount of comments.

This. I always reply to every comment, no matter how short. I don't care about inflating comment counts, though - people can just scroll and see i've replied and halve the count, if it means that much to them.

That's how I'd go about viewing it, too. Plus, as someone else noted below, I generally don't pay attention to the number of comments when looking up stories. If I see a story has LOTS of them, like into the hundreds or even thousands, I might be curious as to what all they're saying, but that'd be all.

Yup. People really *don't* leave a lot of comments on AO3 as a rule, since the kudos button gives them the choice not to. So yeah, comments just doesn't mean much to me as a number to look at.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-03 01:35 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

tabaqui - 2016-02-03 01:38 (UTC) - Expand

Me too. I kind of side-eye authors that do that because it artificially inflates the comment count.

I don't know about everyone else, but I don't judge a fic by comment count. I use kudos count, never comment count.

If a fic has a high comment count, I assume there are conversations going on in the comments. Fics on AO3 normally have fifth or less of the amount of comments to kudos, I've noticed. So, for every five kudos, I expect to get a least one comment. If there are more comments than that, than I expect that the author replies to comments.

I can only speak for me but it's not that I judge other fics by comment count, but that I feel judged by other people? Maybe it's because back when I got into fic there was this huge issue about comments on fics (that was before AO3, but to give a frame of reference, do you remember how much wank AO3's announcement about implementing kudos caused?), but I feel as though readers would look at my fic's comment count, see that half of them are my replies, and then think that I tried to make it seem as though my fic is better quality than it is by inflating the comment count.

I know that many comments =/= good quality fic, but in my mind that's what other people think and I feel as though they would dismiss my fic thinking I was a self-important author trying to pass my writing off as something better than it is. (I spent my formative years in fandom and on writing boards, and I think that left me with some issues regarding comments on fic. Everything regarding reviews devolved into wank back then.)

So, what do you think of storys where their are a lot of comments, a lot of views, and only a few kudos.

I think "Hey, that creepy Yuletide guy who's obsessed with Howl's Moving Castle wrote a new story!"

Usually that fic appeals to a specific set of people and there is probably some conversation in the comments section between the author and commenters or commenters and other commenters. I have a few fics that have higher comment to kudos ratio because I or other people have made comments unrelated to the story, like drive-by icon love, or chitchatted with each other about the canon or fic.

I'm not going to be a dick and not engage with my readers (many of whom I talk to other places besides AO3), especially if they took the time to comment on my fic. I don't care about inflating the comment count because the comments section of a fic is to comment and respond to comments. You shouldn't have to worry about using the comments section for its intended purpose.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-03 09:13 (UTC) - Expand

Oooorrrr they don't care about the count, and they're trying to be polite? Because that's why I do it. The idea that there's something sneaky about actually replying to people is very strange to me.

I don't go back and read if the author replied to my braindead 2 word comments. The only time I even care if the author replied to me is if I left a long, thoughtful comment with questions. When the author has to thank every damn comment regardless of content then I just assume they want higher comment count.

Or, as noted above, they might just want to genuinely thank all the commenters.

Yeah, some people might think it pointless for an author to reply to a review that simply said something like, "Great story" or "This was cool!", but I've also heard people who leave reviews like that say they do so because they're not very good at reviewing, or properly explaining why they like a story, or they only have a short window to leave a quick comment, or whatever. It feels weird to me to think they deserve a "thank you" reply simply because they didn't go into paragraphs of detailed explanation about why they liked (or didn't like) this or that about the story the way other reviewers did.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-03 01:43 (UTC) - Expand

Or you just might think it's polite. Which I do, which is why I always try to thank everyone who took the time to leave a comment. (I don't always succeed at this, but it's my goal.)

I don't subscribe to this "inflated comment count" bullshit. I look at comment counts and mentally divide them in half because I figure half of that's the author responding, like they should.

Please. Why does everyone expect fan authors to be such dicks? If someone took the fucking time to comment on your fic, even if it's just "Wow, I liked this!" then it's polite to say something like "I'm glad. Thank you for commenting." There is no secret agenda to inflate comment count from likely 99% of authors because most readers look at kudos when searching for fics.

The current discourse regarding commenting on fics amounts to "LEAVE A COMMENT. FIC AUTHORS LOVE COMMENTS. Even if it's 'I liked this,' then say it." If fan authors are asking for comments, then it's perfectly reasonable to expect that a lot of authors are going to thank their commenters. I thank all my commenters because it's so easy to kudos (i know, because I'm bad about just leaving kudos too), yet they took the time to write something out, even if it was just a small "I liked this" type comment.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-03 04:18 (UTC) - Expand

If authors don't reply to comments, people whine that they're being standoffish. If authors do reply to comments, people whine that they're artificially inflating their comment count.

There really is no winning.

Some people on this thread are deeply petty.

But it's not why most authors do it so that's frankly silly and in fact rude of you. Someone pays a compliment, it's straightforward good manners to say thanks.

This is how I feel. I'm awkward answering comments that I don't have anything intelligent to say to, because I think I'm inflating the comment numbers, like you say. But any comment that has content I can really react to, I try to answer.
I wish Ao3 had a PM system.

As an author I like FFN's comment system best, where replies to reviews get sent to the (logged-in) reviewer as a PM.

But as a reader I actually prefer AO3/forum-style comment systems. If I want to know if an author is planning a sequel I don't have to be the 100th person to ask the author, but can instead skim the comment section and see if anyone already asked the question.

I just automatically halve any comment count I see. I assumed everybody replied? It seems only polite.

Same.

Exactly what I do, too. So anyone who thinks they're keeping their comment count "pure" by not thanking commenters are actually having their comment counts halved automatically by a goodly number of readers. Plus losing comments from those readers -- like the OP and also me -- who won't comment if the author doesn't show they care enough to say thanks.

Yeah, I do this too.

I mean obviously in a lot of cases, half the comments are going to be the author replying.

Because replying is the polite thing to do, FFS. I don't always manage to reply to all my comments, but I do try. And I do side-eye authors who never reply.

This whole thing about "inflating the comment count" is the dumbest thing I've heard in fandom this week, and I hear a lot of dumb things. I do not give two shits about that, never have and never will.

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