More thoughts about feedback

[jelazakazone]

Someone posted this week about kudos and comments on AO3.  It lead to some very interesting conversations.  That post is locked, unfortunately.  I would love to talk to you all about kudos and comments on AO3

Comments

[alba17]

I think the kudos feature does dissuade people from leaving comments, simply because it's much easier. If you're not logged in or a member at AO3,the commenting feature is slightly unwieldy, just an additional hurdle. I've gotten lazier and lazier about leaving feedback, I'm afraid. If I like something, I try to remember to leave a kudos. If I really like something, I might leave a comment, but I'm pretty lazy about that. I haven't always left a kudos when I leave a comment, simply because I don't remember to. Unfortunately, I read most fic on my Kindle, which requires going back later to leave a kudos, if I liked it.

I rarely re-read fics, so I don't really bookmark. If I want to save something for reading later, I use delicious. Of course, I'm flattered if people bookmark my stuff.

[jelazakazone]

Ah, right. People aren't actually reading at the site. This makes sense why some people value hit count more highly than I seem to.

I virtually never re-read fics, but I do sometimes rec things that have made a strong impression on me and it's easier to bookmark/memory them than to go through my rec tag on LJ.

Bookmarking is the highest form of flattery?:D

[nympha_alba]

I like kudos but sometimes it feels like people leave kudos because they can't be bothered to write a comment, and that makes me a bit :(
Like you, if I leave a comment I leave kudos as well.

God, ff.net! I don't know why I bother posting stories there any more. I have stories where a few hundred people have favourited it but about fifteen have bothered to leave a comment.

I love getting kudos and of course I love it that people favourite my stories, but I must say I value comments more.

[jelazakazone]

Most of the time, the feedback I'd leave would be along the lines of "cute," or "funny" or "I liked this" and I feel like leaving a "kudo" does that just fine.

Do you feel like the culture of fandom is less encouraging of comments? I mean, it would seem to be that way on Tumblr (but don't get me started on Tumblr because I have idea how it works and it doesn't seem possible to have a real conversation there).

My top five stories on AO3 have over 1K in hits. The one collab has about 30 kudos. The others have from 4-13. Minus the collabs, they all have one comment (besides mine) except for one which has none. This is why I like kudos:)

ff.net just confuses the hell out of me.

I like the visual of kudos, but I think I actually prefer the interactions on LJ, which is one reason I link back to LJ on every fic I post on AO3 (except collabs which are only posted on AO3).

[bgaleb]

As a reader and not a writer, and mostly a LJ lurker, I feel more comfortable leaving comments and kudos on AO3. I thought for a while on whether or not to leave this comment because it feels like I'm invading your private space. Leaving comments on AO3 feels like I'm leaving them in a public space, and I don't feel the need to interact with the author personally.

I think I read the post that you mentioned. It was really heated.

[jelazakazone]

If I post something publicly, anyone is welcome to comment. I even have it set up so anons can comment easily. I love hearing from people. I have no idea how you found me, but I was thrilled to see someone I didn't know weighing in.

Do you kudo/comment as anon on AO3? Are kudos and comments equivalent for you?

The post I'm referring to was locked on DW, so I'd be a little surprised if you read that exact one. There have been several (probably many, actually) conversations about kudos/comments on AO3. It is one of the reasons I felt ok about relaying some of the comments from that post because I don't think they would single anyone out or identify anyone.

Thanks for commenting!

[bgaleb]

Yeah, most posts on LJ are open, but if the person is not on my friend list and I want to comment, I think that they will think,"Who the fuck is that?" LOL I "found" you through a friend of a friend.

If I like the story I always live kudos. If I love the story I try to comment on it. I often re-read stuff, so I bookmark.

The heated post I read was on LJ, the original poster was really upset. :(

[jelazakazone]

Actually, I find a lot of people lock a lot of their posts.

:) I admit I was surprised that someone I had never interacted with was commenting, but pleased.

Hunh. So kudos+comment seems to be a stronger liking of the story than just kudos (in general). I'm wondering if you ever comment without leaving kudos (some people do, as they think it's redundant to leave kudos if they comment).

:( I don't know why people are sad about kudos. It seems like only a good thing. There are two people talking about this issue on my DW entry (link at the bottom of the post). I haven't had time to respond to them yet, but I'm fascinated by the conversation.

[dunderklumpen]

I admit that kudos for me are just a lazy thing. When I'm lazy I leave kudos. When I love something or have some time on the hand I definitely leave a comment.

Plus for me kudos feel like "like something" but a comment like "love it". For me there is a difference in how much I liked the story.

[jelazakazone]

I would mostly agree with that. If I've really loved something, I'll leave a comment plus kudo. That seems to the general consensus, although there are definitely people who don't use them that way (ie, if they comment, they do not leave kudos).

[archaeologist_d]

I rarely use kudos just because I figure since I have read something that someone spent time writing, kudos (to me) seems the easy way out. Comments are always more personal and it's gratifying to tell the author what I liked about their story. I do understand that some people don't have time to write comments but I'm just not that comfortable using kudos when a few words would do.

I certainly don't expect the author to respond back to my comments but it's lovely if they do.

As for my stories, I tend not to pay that much attention to kudos on AO3 or hits on ff.n, rather only to comments. Once in a while, I'll check kudos out just for curiosity's sake but that's about it. Of course, I'm writing a whole lot less than I used to. Perhaps if I still was, I might be more aware of them/more anxious to get them. But now, I just think of kudos more as a hit counter than a pleased nod to my stories.

[jelazakazone]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm just curious how you feel about leaving kudos and a comment?

You are awesome at leaving words. Sometimes all I can think after I read a fic is that I liked it and it seems like kudos are enough for that.

[archaeologist_d]

If other people want to do it, that's cool but I don't leave both.