Come the revolution, ALL stories will receive the proper amount of comments!
Define "proper."
Yeah, I get the sarcasm, Madame Pi. Really I do, but isn't that the crux of the biscuit?
The first time I participated in sga_santa, the person that wrote my story got one comment, and that was mine. The story wasn't that great, although she did come up with an interesting crossover premise based on casting. English wasn't her first language, and I doubt a beta reader was ever involved.
Oher people have said it in more scholarly and earnest fashions, but quality does count. OTOH, my ego says I'm a quality writer, but my comment count isn't that high, in part because I limit my social life on LJ. In fact, I think my highest comment count was that anonymous first sga_santa story, which I find interesting. People don't "know" me that much, but that's not why I'm here. My internal primate status markers come from other sources than LJ popularity, and I don't give a damn if (the generic) you like me.
All of which has a lot more to do with me than your comment, so to get the point out of this pre-sufficiently-caffinated ramble: It's a combination of quality and social interactions. People are more kindly disposed to product of people they already like, whether they like them for their fic, or for the pictures of cats, and/or shared squee, and/or meeting at conventions. They are more inclined to talk to (er, comment on the fic of) someone they know/like. I think simple quality of writing counts more than the positive social history, but the latter cannot be discounted.
Oh, I don't disagree. Socializing (good choice of words) is another form of promotion, too, along with cross-posting to comms and carrying on conversations and friendships on LJ. People can't read what they don't know about. You limit your time on LJ; so do I. (Though, frankly, not that much - my job is slow again, so I spend plenty of time here.) Therefore, we are more likely to see and click on stories by people we know. Sometimes I filter out comms; I definitely skim over them more often than I do over people's personal LJs. Yet another reason I am likely to read and possibly comment on the stories of people I know. (I think prolificness - Christ, that's not a word, is it? - is another factor. An author who writes one good, interesting story might get lots of attention for it; if she writes 15 she's much more likely to, even if the quality varies a bit.)
The "proper" amount of comments is defined as The Amount the Poster Wants, I suppose. I was amused by the accusation that SGA is a consumer economy. (If one defines comments as currency [which the OP appeared to do], then certainly it is! However, what can one buy with all that amassed currency? Glittery lipgloss, perhaps?) Thus my Come the Revolution comment. Now I'm off to wait for my blindfold... or maybe I'll go write some more porn on the toilet paper I've been hoarding against just such an occasion. ;-)
Girlfriend, why didn't I think to ask for glittery lipgloss instead of thoughtful commentary!
In some ways, the economic model isn't far wrong. There's such a thing as social capital, difficult to quantify, but definitely something that can be accrued or squandered. Maybe the OP is a fandom Maoist.
Other points, agreed, particularly on the prolific issue, since I've seen lines of squee on a prolific author's weakest stories. How many comments do I want? More interested in quality than quantity.
Girlfriend, why didn't I think to ask for glittery lipgloss instead of thoughtful commentary!
Priorities, my friend, priorities. *g*
Quality is definitely a big plus, comment-receivership-wise. (OTOH, I don't mind even the wispiest of wispy "Yay!" comments - heck, at least the person took the time. I try to comment on stories pretty often, but I'm definitely not 100%, so I appreciate even the short-but-sweet comments.) :-)
I do agree that the economic model is pretty close, though I am vastly amused that some people feel it SHOULD be the communist model, or at the very least socialist.
And *I* can see a difference in comment counts between what I consider my best stories and my worst, now 2 pages might seem like a lot to some people, but comparatively my best stories have broken 5 and 6 pages. I guess it's all about math and perspective. Once again.
Note: I bet there are observers who noted how I 'let' you guys comment for so long without interacting as selfish. Not, you know, that I was asleep.
I picked Maoism because of the bit about political power coming from the barrel of a gun, since I couldn't quite make the argument for common ownership of the means of production for fanfic.
And it was gracious of the BNF to let this peasant litter her LiveJournal with pointless metaphors. *bows* *scrapes*
Define "proper."
Yeah, I get the sarcasm, Madame Pi. Really I do, but isn't that the crux of the biscuit?
The first time I participated in sga_santa, the person that wrote my story got one comment, and that was mine. The story wasn't that great, although she did come up with an interesting crossover premise based on casting. English wasn't her first language, and I doubt a beta reader was ever involved.
Oher people have said it in more scholarly and earnest fashions, but quality does count. OTOH, my ego says I'm a quality writer, but my comment count isn't that high, in part because I limit my social life on LJ. In fact, I think my highest comment count was that anonymous first sga_santa story, which I find interesting. People don't "know" me that much, but that's not why I'm here. My internal primate status markers come from other sources than LJ popularity, and I don't give a damn if (the generic) you like me.
All of which has a lot more to do with me than your comment, so to get the point out of this pre-sufficiently-caffinated ramble: It's a combination of quality and social interactions. People are more kindly disposed to product of people they already like, whether they like them for their fic, or for the pictures of cats, and/or shared squee, and/or meeting at conventions. They are more inclined to talk to (er, comment on the fic of) someone they know/like. I think simple quality of writing counts more than the positive social history, but the latter cannot be discounted.
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The "proper" amount of comments is defined as The Amount the Poster Wants, I suppose. I was amused by the accusation that SGA is a consumer economy. (If one defines comments as currency [which the OP appeared to do], then certainly it is! However, what can one buy with all that amassed currency? Glittery lipgloss, perhaps?) Thus my Come the Revolution comment. Now I'm off to wait for my blindfold... or maybe I'll go write some more porn on the toilet paper I've been hoarding against just such an occasion. ;-)
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In some ways, the economic model isn't far wrong. There's such a thing as social capital, difficult to quantify, but definitely something that can be accrued or squandered. Maybe the OP is a fandom Maoist.
Other points, agreed, particularly on the prolific issue, since I've seen lines of squee on a prolific author's weakest stories. How many comments do I want? More interested in quality than quantity.
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Priorities, my friend, priorities. *g*
Quality is definitely a big plus, comment-receivership-wise. (OTOH, I don't mind even the wispiest of wispy "Yay!" comments - heck, at least the person took the time. I try to comment on stories pretty often, but I'm definitely not 100%, so I appreciate even the short-but-sweet comments.) :-)
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And *I* can see a difference in comment counts between what I consider my best stories and my worst, now 2 pages might seem like a lot to some people, but comparatively my best stories have broken 5 and 6 pages. I guess it's all about math and perspective. Once again.
Note: I bet there are observers who noted how I 'let' you guys comment for so long without interacting as selfish. Not, you know, that I was asleep.
Reply
And it was gracious of the BNF to let this peasant litter her LiveJournal with pointless metaphors. *bows* *scrapes*
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Damn, that's too big to fit in an icon, isn't?
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