I turned off anon commenting everywhere a long time ago, and it cut out the worst of it. I think it's hard because fandom etiquette has changed and so have fandom priorities, if that makes sense? It used to be that creators were prioritized; they spent their free time carefully (or not so carefully) crafting something, then gave it to you for free and should be politely thanked. You would get the occasional troll and interesting crit, but depending on how you had things set up, fandom wasn't generally anon. Now I think consumers are prioritized; they have lots to read/consume and they don't have to consume your stuff. Thanking the author may be an interaction they don't want to have. And being linked to your name on some platforms isn't as common or as expected, so there are more trolls. I think as a creator that means you can get the perception that there are a lot of trolls and not much thanks. I don't know, though. I do know that on some platforms I would get more trolly jerk comments than on others. And I know in some communities trolling is encouraged (egged on even), which is . . . discouraging. There's no real way to enforce fandom mores though, you know? I do hang out on some anon sites, but I don't go anon for feedback. If I liked a fic, I say I liked it and why. If I didn't, I don't say anything. I like critique from people I know--less so from random people who want a story written to push their buttons. Basically, fandom has changed quite a bit. Sometimes I just want to tell the kids to get off my lawn, but the truth is, we'll be having a similar discussion a couple of years from now. Fandom is, after all, in a constant state of evolution, and none of these issues is ever 'settled,' because new people come in and bring new issues . . . and some of the same old issues, too, lol.
Yes, I do feel that if you want to leave a negative comment then you can own it too. And some do! I've received a fair share of negative comments where the users were logged in, and as much as I loathe negative comments somehow I can respect them more and weirdly I don't take them to heart as much as anon hate.
I'd say with Ao3 people definitely give way more kudos than comments. I know I do, sometimes even when I didn't like the fic in particular.
I think tumblr has a lot of aggressive communication going on, maybe helped by the ask box?
Yeah, I also don't mind critique from people I know-I trust them enough to know it's not meant negatively.
Fandom has also changed in that way that is has become more mainstream. But not more mainstream in "being accepted" but in "more people feel entitled to shit on it and have an opinion"... maybe/hopefully that will change too!
I think there are different levels of unpleasantness and they affect different people, well, differently. Like for instance, trolls I can discount--people who don't leave a name and say something stupid for the sake of attention? Lol, ignore. Flames? Intense, prolonged or very personal nastiness? Harder to take. Worst of all, a BNF or someone with followers who wants to point and laugh? For me, that's the hardest to take (I was bullied quite a bit in school.) So for me there are generally different degrees. But yes, it does sound as if your anon hate is weirdly personal, and I can definitely see why it would unsettle you. Why are they continuing to read if they genuinely don't like the way you write? It's obsessive and pathetic. They must be really jealous or something.
I leave kudos, but I always comment if I liked something. Comment culture is dying and I'm not keen to make it any worse.
Yes, I think that ask box is the devil. That coupled with the relative age of the people on tumblr is a recipe for nastiness.
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I'd say with Ao3 people definitely give way more kudos than comments. I know I do, sometimes even when I didn't like the fic in particular.
I think tumblr has a lot of aggressive communication going on, maybe helped by the ask box?
Yeah, I also don't mind critique from people I know-I trust them enough to know it's not meant negatively.
Fandom has also changed in that way that is has become more mainstream. But not more mainstream in "being accepted" but in "more people feel entitled to shit on it and have an opinion"... maybe/hopefully that will change too!
Reply
I leave kudos, but I always comment if I liked something. Comment culture is dying and I'm not keen to make it any worse.
Yes, I think that ask box is the devil. That coupled with the relative age of the people on tumblr is a recipe for nastiness.
Reply
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