unpopular fandom opinion alert

[fahye]

I really, really dislike the AO3's Kudos function.

If I get one, all I think is 'seriously, you liked it but you couldn't be bothered to leave a tiny comment?' and if I don't get one (new most depressing thing ever: the ability to calculate the Hits:Comments ratio on a fic) all I think is 'they must really have disliked it if they couldn't even be arsed to CLICK A BUTTON EXPRESSING POSITIVE OPINION'.

I can see why people like it, but it doesn't sit right with my idea of fandom courtesy. If I like something enough to read it all the way to the end, I leave a comment.

ETA: It has been pointed out to me that in my kneejerk sulkiness I missed the fact that it has accessibility merit and also oh-man-the-server-is-dead-again merit. Both good points!

~

ANYWAY. Despite that, this has been a fantastic year for Yuletide! I have been reading and bookmarking like crazy.

Comments

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

I've been pushing kudos buttons today because it's easier to get them through the overworked server than comments. (I couldn't get them through every time, but I tried.) I bookmarked everything, and I intend to go back and leave fuller comments on the stories I've read, but it wasn't really possible today.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Ah, in my rather sparse timezone I hadn't considered the issue of server load; most of comments are going through after at most one refresh of the page. True!

[sainfoin-fields.livejournal.com]

I love the kudos. Not everyone is -- indeed, MOST people are not -- able or willing to write comments and since most of the ones I get are "I liked this" I don't see the difference between that and a button which communicates "I liked this." I take great issue with the idea that a person's level of interpersonal engagement is commensurate to their worth as a fan.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I DO think that the kudos is a great idea in terms of accessibility. But like I said: unpopular opinion.

[sainfoin-fields.livejournal.com]

B-but! I must argue with you about it some more! :o

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Feel free :D I am really glad people are explaining to me the reasons why they find it valuable -- I don't think *I* will ever use the function or really feel positive about it, but I now have a much better idea of the reasons why it exists!

[misura.livejournal.com]

You do know there's the option of turning the hit count invisible to yourself, right? (It's what I've set it to, because I know how my mind works with such things.)

Re: the Kudos, I ... don't quite know. I've seen people use it as an extra thumbs-up (a comment equals love, a comment plus kudos equals big love, only kudos equal love in a time of server overload) and given that nobody likes 502s, for Yuletide, the kudos seem a nice way of leaving a comment without leaving a comment.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

The server overload thing hadn't occurred to me. Antipodean privilege :)

[ineptshieldmaid.livejournal.com]

Antipodean in a capital city. I'm on ADSL One at the moment - I can't reliably get comments through until about 8pm at night. Combination of server load and more data going upstream from me in a comment than a Kudo... not pretty.

As for the kudos button - the AO3 generates so much less feedback than LJ or even DW (I know I rarely comment on the AO3), my ego is vastly in favour of any kind of feebdack!

[laleia.livejournal.com]

Personally, I leave kudos when I liked something but also had a lot to criticize about a fanfic. I don't like to leave criticism in reviews, nor do I like to lie about how much I liked it (say that I liked it and not mention the myriad issues I may have had with it), so kudos for me are a compromise. Generally, I leave them on fics I wouldn't have reviewed in the first place, had the kudos button not been introduced.

Plus, I've always had issues leaving reviews -- they always end up stilted and brief and meaningless ("I liked it") or long and gushing (but generally in a rambly way that makes me feel uncomfortable about revealing too much about myself). There have been countless times that I've typed up a review and left it sitting in a tab because I wasn't comfortable with it, and ended up just closing the tab without ever posting the review because I felt that I would be coming off too forward, or too obsessive, or too strange, or too insincere. Kudos are a way for me to avoid that.

But then, I also rarely view the "hits" number as "people who've read my fanfic". I usually see it as "people in my fandom who found my premise/summary intriguing enough to click on the link" -- possibly because I am also aware that probably half the hits are me, because I like to reread my own fanfic to check formatting (especially on ff.net!), or to see if there's anything I missed, or just cause. :)

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, AO3 doesn't register hits from the person who posted it's IP.

[roseblight.livejournal.com]

they always end up stilted and brief and meaningless ("I liked it") or long and gushing (but generally in a rambly way that makes me feel uncomfortable about revealing too much about myself)

Yes, this.

(And how illustrative.)

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

new most depressing thing ever: the ability to calculate the Hits:Comments ratio on a fic

WORD.

I can see why people like it, but it doesn't sit right with my idea of fandom courtesy. If I like something enough to read it all the way to the end, I leave a comment.

DITTO.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

BTW, Del, I am pretty sure I have tracked down your fic based solely on tags.

(I haven't read it yet, BUT I WILL.)

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

The fact that it is the only fic in that fandom may ALSO make it slightly obvious. ;)

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Well when I saw that there was one in the fandom, I thought maybe you'd gotten it as YOUR gift! And then I read the tags and was like, yeah, no. DELFIC.

I wrote for a fandom audience that was much smaller than I thought it was (...judging by comments. DO NOT JUDGE BY COMMENTS FAHYE.) but my recipient left the loveliest comment ever so I just keep rereading that :)

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

Muah. I'd have liked one as my gift! Then there would have been TWO WHOLE FICS IN THE ENTIRE FANDOM.

I wrote for a fandom audience that was much smaller than I thought it was

I am really weirded out by how small my chosen fandom turns out to be. I had thought it was a much more popular book than that! On the plus side, I got a comment from someone who does't know the fandom but read it anyway...

[God I hate the hit counter, though].

[fahye.livejournal.com]

My fic is sneaky: it's the only fic in a fandom that doesn't scream FAHYE, but I really don't think any of my friends who read it could fail to realise that I wrote it. (Except that I managed, SOMEHOW, to keep medicine out of it.)

I AM LEAVING FOR THE AIRPORT SOON

NO SNOW FOR 24 HOURS, ENGLAND, OKAY?

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

(Except that I managed, SOMEHOW, to keep medicine out of it.)

Fahye that is unnatural.

It's looking good over London at the moment, we've not had snow in a bit now. FINGERS CROSSED EH.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I know, I know ;_; I managed to compensate with a completely ridiculous amount of -- other things that I like writing about. Like clothes.

\o/ Time to break in my virgin UK passport.

[miscellanny.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Kudos are better than nothing? I'd rather kudos than no comments but a few bookmarks, showing people like it enough to want to read it again but not enough to tell me, y'know?

Although that's more of a problem with people than AO3, obviously.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

That's true. (Also the most frustrating thing about delicious!) Really, I should stop caring so much about comments, but...COMMENTS.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

I will continue to care about comments regardless. :P TELL ME THINGS, INTERNET. TELL ME WHICH BITS WERE GOOD. SO I CAN GET BETTER.

[ormery.livejournal.com]

I feel super awkward leaving comments on things. I know that's just my problem, but there's very rarely a fic or piece of art or wev that that I can manage to articulate my feelings about without getting incredibly anxious. Because it's really hard for me, I'll make that extra effort if it's something I really, really liked, which usually involves me leaving the tab open for hours, sometimes days, while I work up the guts and the brains to put my thoughts into words and hit the send button. I really like it when sites have a "like" or "favourite" button or wev that I can press without having to spend a couple hours freaking out over how to phrase it. ._.a

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I really hadn't thought of that at all. Thank you for pointing it out.

[ariastar.livejournal.com]

I was grumpy at first, but then I found myself leaving kudos and made my sulky inner voice shut up. Given my druthers I'd still rather have comments, but I have made peace with the kudos.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I am rapidly kicking my inner voice into submission, but I still can't make myself click it for anyone else :D

[soda-and-capes.livejournal.com]

AGREED.

[buhfly.livejournal.com]

The majority of the fic I read is on, like, my phone and stuff while I'm stuck places or waiting. Sometimes commenting can be v difficult and frustrating. :(

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting! That's very true. My phone has no functions more complex than 'text' and 'call'.

[buhfly.livejournal.com]

Mine usually handles webpages well, but sometimes LJ inexplicably won't post my comments from it. :|

[themis.livejournal.com]

(new most depressing thing ever: the ability to calculate the Hits:Comments ratio on a fic)

No kidding - there's a reason I turned hits off. I'd much rather think that four people read my story than that 150 people read and hated it. Also, hits aren't ever quite accurate are they?

My feelings on the kudos function are mixed, but right now I find it a valuable way to let someone know I liked their story even if it didn't provoke enough thought for me to leave much of a comment.