I want feeeedbaaack *sadface*

[teyla]

I know, I know. I should start with changing my own lurkerish behavior and start reading fic and watching vids not without commenting. I don't always comment, I admit that. But still... every time I actually get to see the audience/comments ratio, I want to cry. I keep getting added on ff.net (where I still post my fic, even if I'm not active there anymore, because I like to have my fic all in a neat list) as favorite author, and all the time people put my stories on their favorite fics lists, but - no reviews. Yeah, I know, who wants ff.net reviews anyway. Point taken. But it's the principle of the thing, y'know? I bet if LJ had a stats page like ff.net, there'd be a lot more posts by frustrated authors vehemently demanding comments.

It's even worse with vids. Because either people watch the streamed youTube thingie, which is in crappy quality and is something that you do in passing, or they download the vid, which takes hours, and by the time they have it, they've already closed the tab with the vidder's entry, and don't bother to go back to comment. I know how this works, because I've done it times enough myself. It's depressing, though.

Thing is, I can't really be angry at the lurkers. Because I'm one myself. Because clicking that button and telling the author that you've read the fic/telling the vidder that you watched the vid, that demands social interaction, and here on LJ, we're all skeeerd of that, right?

I vote that we introduce the principle of the rating poll. Every fic/vid entry gets a poll added at the bottom, with the options 'Hated it!', 'T'was ok.', 'I liked it!', 'OMG NEW FAVE!' and 'Ticky box!'. Because polls are pretty and shiny and people like clicking ticky boxes. Right?

Comments

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

I never comment on ff-net, because my laptop simply won't let me (it's alive... very scary!). But I do comment on LJ quite a bit. I think it's the least I can do when I read a story I enjoy to leave a little comment saying so. It's not nice to throw a story on LJ and not getting any comments at all (I know this from experience - not that I'm bitter or anything *stands in a pool of bitter tears*) (not that it will stop me from posting stories, because I'm stubborn that way) (I'm going of on a tangent, right? Sorry...). I do have a rule to comment only if I like a story. Having said that, I don't read everything, especially season-4 based stuff (House) or anything that's not House, so if I don't comment it doesn't have to mean I don't like a story, I may not have read it. But ANYWAY - a poll could be good, that's basically what I wanted to say.

[teyla]

Well, you know, I'm not bitter about not getting comments. I put hard work into the vid I posted earlier, and it's a little disappointing that I've only got three comments so far, but I'm not bitter about it, because I know that I myself almost never leave feedback on vids. It's just too much work. But I think fandom should come up with a way to make commenting easier for those people who feel awkward leaving comments, and a poll might go a long way to doing that. I might try it with my next fic.

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

A little clarification, maybe not necessary, but I always have this wild fear of not expressing myself clearly and completely involuntarily saying the wrong things: I didn't mean to imply you are bitter about not getting comments, no, I was strictly talking about myself. The last story I posted got no comments at all and I did wonder: did no-one read it?Did everyone hate it? Should I post the other 4 chapters of the series of should I delete them? You know, like that. So yeah, a poll will be useful.

[teyla]

Yeah, I understood what you meant :). What I meant was that I don't think you should be bitter about it. Every fic in fandom gets read by somebody. Mostly, people enjoy it. Sadly, most people don't leave feedback.

I think I'll try the poll thing with my next fic.

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

Glad you understood me! And you're right, I shouldn't be bitter. Thanks!

[wihluta.livejournal.com]

*joins in the whine*

And I think that poll idea is great! :-) I LOVE POLLS!!

[teyla]

Doctor Who fandom is really EXTREMELY lazy about commenting. Lol xD.

Yeah. Everybody loves polls. TICKY BOXES!