![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Um. Way to be self-sabotaging fandom! Hating people who are actively participating in fandom just because they're participating is not going to help anything. And what's up with the personal vendettas against BNFs? There's this really nifty feature called the scroll button when you don't want to read something.
Anyway, some people defend hate memes because they're like, the only opportunity for non-BNFs to be heard and anonymous commenting levels the playing field or something. Yes, it totally sucks that lj is more of a popularity contest than a cohesive community, but seriously, if you're yourself are actually involved in fandom, can you not see the good in encouraging everyone to participate? Because it seems to me that a lot of times creative people play off of each other and encouraging that should never, ever be a bad thing. One thing I do wish though, is that some of the stuff brought up in the hate threads could actually be discussed outside of the context of petty, spiteful commentary.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
eleveninches posted the other day, I think in response to something that came up in sga_hate, about authors responding to feedback. She asked if people are affected by whether or not an author responds to their feedback. While I didn't see the original threads, I imagine some of the hate was directed at several prolific authors in the sga fandom who somewhat notoriously don't respond to feedback. In response to her questions I said this about my feedback habits:I really try to leave feedback for everything I enjoyed reading, but if it's a writer who I know doesn't respond to feedback, I usually won't bother. Above and beyond any considerations of fandom etiquette and politeness, not responding to feedback (at least to me) seems to indicate a certain level of indifference towards even getting feedback at all.
And personally, I like writing feedback, I like picking out what I loved, and telling writers exactly what worked for me. So I usually spend a good amount of time trying to construct something more than a quick "thanks!" (not that there's anything wrong with doing that, sometimes it's all I have time for too.) Fandom is a reciprocal culture, if I don't feel like the time I put into feedback is appreciated, I won't leave it. And more than that, feedback is pretty much the best opportunity for readers to interact with writers, it's how a lot of meta gets discussed, and how a lot of people meet new friends. I don't think every writer has to automatically make friends with all of their reviewers, but I think it's nice when the channels of communication are at least open to that, even if all it is is a standard thank you reply, at least that's something.
Some of the best meta discussions I've had have come out of feedback threads,
synecdochic is especially good at fostering those sorts of conversations when she posts fanfic. I know I've gotten to be better friends with at least half of the writers on my friendslist through conversations that started with feedback. And I know not all authors are interested in that or have time for that, but at least a thank you is, I think, called for when people give you a compliment. It just feels, at worst, rude and at least, like they don't care that people have left them feedback.(stealing
eleveninches' questions:) What do you guys think? Does anyone think a blanketed thank you is a poor response to feedback? Do you not leave feedback if the author doesn't say thanks? Do you get annoyed seeing an author saying a standard thank you to every comment left for them? Do you not care and leave feedback regardless of the author's actions? And, because I know there are several authors on my friendslist, do you guys all respond to your feedback? Do you feel like you have to? Or that it's a waste of time when all you can really say is "thanks" 40 times?- Mood:
curious
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Comments
As a reader, I can't help but get a little irked by this viewpoint. There's never going to be any way that readers will have spent the same amount of time as a writer has contributing to fandom. And that balance of time is more than (in a lot of reader's minds at least) made up for in popularity and attention.
If I go to someone's art show, the two hours I spend there are never going to equal the amount of time they took making the art. But if I like their work, I'll talk to them, I'll try to pick out a couple favorite pieces, tell them what worked for me, maybe ask a question about how they got a certain effect, and I'll thank them for showing their work. If their only response to that, and to everyone else who congratulated them on a good show, is to walk away without saying anything, I'm going to think it's rude. I'm probably not going to feel like ever telling them I enjoyed their work again. Maybe I'll still look at pictures, and enjoy it from a distance, but I'm probably not going to feel like praising them again.
And I think that analogy carries over into fanfiction as well. Posting a story is like having an art show. Spending those three hours at a show interacting with people who like art is exactly like opening a forum for response in a livejournal post. It's the artist saying, look what I've made! Enjoy it!
I also chafe at the assumption a lot of people make that some authors don't reply to feedback because they think they're above it or that they're too good for it or something inane like that.
If the only interaction a reader has with the writers they admire is through feedback, and they never get any sort of response back. What, exactly, are they supposed to think? Because there's really no way that a reader is going to know that there are extenuating circumstances to an author ignoring the feedback they get. (None of which in any way justifies the hatred directed at authors for not responding to feedback because that's just plain stupid.) Obviously, every writer is going to feel differently, and no one has to do anything on livejournal, but with the already unequal balance of favoritism towards people who produce stories, when the only resource a reader has is to try their hardest to leave good feedback, being ignored is going to feel purposeful and not a byproduct of other things that an author might have going on. And they won't have the benefit of context because they probably don't know what else the author has going on in their life.
As I said, sometimes I can't even LOOK at anything even relating to the story after I post it.
And yeah, if there's a question or a comment that I feel I can really turn into a conversation it's always easier, but for me... responding to feedback takes a lot of... energy. And it shouldn't be interpreted as a bad thing, it's just the sort of activity that tires my brain. And I know that a blanket thank you peeves off other people too. So I feel this guilt/obligation cycle that I shouldn't feel because I do appreciate all the feedback I get.
But again... I wrote my story because it wouldn't let me NOT write it. But to put the burden on me to continue any and all correspondance just makes me irrationally frustrated, because yeah, I appreciate even than "wow" one word bits too. And then I feel guilty about feeling frustrated... etc.
y'know...i just came back and reread your comments and started to realize that for me it's never about someone falling bhind on responding to a popular story or even not responding at all...we all get overwhelmed or just can't catch up or have RL issues interfere...it's the systematic no-reply policy or (almost worse) the selective policy (i'll only respond to my friends).
i'd never get upset about not getting a response on a story or two or even three...it's no responses on involved emails and consistent refusal to acknowledge comment feedback that drives my policy, at least... [and i know othersfeel different, though i don't seem to be alone in my feelings...]
Yeah, that's pretty much exactly where the line starts to get drawn for me. As I said in comments to
I'm repeating myself from another comment in this thread, but isn't it just as easy NOT to pass judgment about this? Why bother making assumptions when you don't have all the facts? There are so many personality types out there, and so many reasons why people *don't* reply to feedback (I remember a debate a year or so back where someone brought up that they didn't like to clutter up their responses with their own posts, that what they really enjoyed was having their story there and then the comments and no messy threads), that I think it's a bit worst-case scenario to think you're being ignored or *singled out* to be ignored.
To be fair, this debate has opened me a little more than previous ones to the other side. As a reader, I personally will never want the author to feel in debt to me for my feedback, that's just not in my nature, but I think after reading how many people feel shunned when they don't get that response? Maybe we can expect authors to at least *attempt* to reply to feedback regularly, and maybe we can expect readers who aren't as ready to think the worst of an author if they don't get there half of the time, because at least they're trying.
Also, if I were the type, I'd be more easily annoyed at people who picked their friends to respond to than those who didn't comment at all, because at least the latter is consistent, and it's more likely they have a reason why they don't. Then again, to play my own devil's advocate, the former might be more comfortable speaking with people they know, because who isn't?
Agh, I feel like I'm making no sense. I'm terribly wiped from packing and moving. I hope this comment came out as something other than a jumble.
I can completely relate to an author who doesn't have time to respond to every piece of feedback they get, but not acknowledging it at all? Ever? I refuse to believe that there is a single author out there on livejournal who doesn't have time to say the words thank you at least once, be it a blanket thanks in another post or an eta on the original one or a note in their userinfo and while they certainly don't have to, I think we can all agree that the polite response to receiving a compliment (or a gift) is to say thank you.
See this is where I think people begin to disagree. Not that saying thank you for a gift isn't polite, you're right that most would agree with you there. I think it's what people view feedback *as* which sparks the debate. My feedback to other people is a thank you. It just honestly is. I'm not looking to get anything back for it, unless I *am* (when I ask a question). I don't give to get, you know? There's something impolite in *that*, I think.
I've been questioning last night and today why as a writer I try to respond to all my feedback, even though as a reader, I don't feel it's necessary. I went through a few different explanations (obligation, give people what they want, don't hurt people's feelings, etc) but I think it's less because I think it's polite or that I'm obligated to, and more because I just *want* to. I like to. I'm attention hungry (well, when I'm not avoiding it) and so are other people and I *know* that. Though there is some of that doing what's expected of me in there, too, must be or else I wouldn't feel anxious when I go through the phase where I'm horrible at responding.
Just a note, I'm glad this debate hasn't turned into wank. So far people seem to be respecting the opinions of others, and I feel completely comfortable speaking my honest opinion even though it's clearly an unpopular one. Hopefully we can all keep it this way? ::crosses fingers::
::headdesk::