[ SECRET POST #5116 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5116 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 10 secrets from Secret Submission Post #732.
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.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Nayrt

People use the phrase "emotional labor" in all kinds of ways. But clicking a kudos button doesn't have anything to do with the original sense of the phrase - which is about the kind of performative emotional interaction demanded of service workers - and it's not a very useful way of defining the concept either.

[(Anonymous)]

No content creator is entitled to kudos. That's the point. Saying "it doesn't cost anything" is still demanding engagement. If you can't produce fan content without a certain level of engagement, then stop making fan content. The end.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean sure. That's true. But then maybe don't be surprised when there's no fic etc to consume because everyone decided to stop because no-one engages anymore. Creators aren't owed anything, but by the same token fandoms aren't owed fanworks.

Personally I don't care if people choose not to give kudos or comments, that is their right and I certainly don't kudos or comment on every single thing I consume, but if I never got another kudos or comment ever again? Yeah, I'd probably stop creating because half the fun is connecting with other people and without that there's no real joy in sharing what I do.

So yeah, at the heart you're right. We're not owed kudos or anything else, but that ignores the fact that fandom is a shared activity and without reciprocation it doesn't thrive. Engagement is what powers fandoms.

[(Anonymous)]

+1

I leave a lot of kudos and comments, and it's because...I like to do it? If someone wrote a fic that made me happy in whatever way, why wouldn't I want to tell them that? It gives them a little boost, and it is also beneficial to me, because it's likely to encourage them to make more of the content that I like. This is especially true if it's a small fandom or a rare ship.

I don't always do it, sometimes I just don't have the energy and that's okay - but it's something I do sometimes because it makes me feel good.

This whole begrudging attitude is just something I can't relate to at all. If you don't want to comment, don't! It's okay! But it really is an important part of fandom that somebody does, and it's really incredibly easy and no-effort to just hit the kudos button or write, "I liked this. :)" (IF you liked it of course, insincerity doesn't benefit anyone.)

[goodbyebird]

This right here sums it up well ♥ 99% of people won't continue to post into the void.

F. exa. if I didn't enjoy having tiny galleries of icons I've created to look back on, as a sort of touchstone for memories, I would have stopped posting years ago. It would have made it a completely pointless waste of time for me, as barely anyone cares about icons anymore.

[arashinoookami]

+1

[(Anonymous)]

But then maybe don't be surprised when there's no fic etc to consume because everyone decided to stop because no-one engages anymore.

The people who are in it purely for the ego-boo might stop.

But there were people writing fanfic when the most feedback you got was maybe showing up in a Letter of Comment three years after you sent the story to a fanzine, and there would be people writing fanfic if nobody ever engaged.

Also, I've been here for over 40 years, and there was never some mythical time when comments were plentiful.

[(Anonymous)]

If you can't produce fan content without a certain level of engagement, then stop making fan content. The end.

Yep, that's how it works. In a small fandom that can mean no content at all. Depends whether the reader wants free content or not.

[(Anonymous)]

SA html fail, sorry.

[(Anonymous)]

Sure, no one’s entitled to feedback, not even something so minimal as a kudo to say you liked the work they put into it. But people are social animals, and we do appreciate engagement. I’ve always said that I write for myself, which is true. Nothing will ever stop me from writing. But I post for engagement. If people can’t be bothered to tell me that they liked what I wrote by simply clicking a button, why should I post it? I’ll keep writing it, make no mistake, but I can’t be assed to share if people can’t be assed to be appreciative.