ithildin | Fic and Comments

You're viewing

ithildin's journal
Create a Dreamwidth Account Learn More

Reload page in style: site light

Have been glancing/skimming over the meta I'm seeing in regards to AO3 and comments, and comments in general. First off, I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees lots of hits but zero comments -- I have a total of one comment there on all the fic I've posted. It's odd how different web spaces have such different culture, isn't it? Second, to repeat something I've said in the past, I love comments and I am not at all insulted by a 'loved the story' type comment. I've never understood why there's the perception that if you leave a comment it has to be some deep multi-paragraph treatise. It doesn't -- or at least as far as I'm concerned. I'm touched that anything I write engenders a comment of any length whatsoever, and I appreciate people taking the time to comment. And it's sure better than the alternative, when you think not a soul is reading. I am writer, see me angst [g] So yes, minimalist commenters are treasured here, trust me on that!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah, this started off on

amberlynne's journal post (http://amberlynne.livejournal.com/1636528.html) as a post about feedback, and was spread about by

metafandom, I think!

rahirah. Also mentioned the read/comment correlary, and came up with some very amusing conclusions:

1) Most writers say they get more comments the smut.

2) But

rahirah avers it's her humorous fics that get the most comments.

3) Therefore, funny smut should explode your inbox.....?

I've given up on trying to figure out what it is about some fics that make people comment like crazy, and others that only get the deafening sound of crickets. It's self defeating. I've had the grand total of three comments at AO3, but I don't consider it a place to get feedback, so that's okay.

I can't whine about comments on my LJ, either, because I know I'm not the best at replying. I try to get to everyone, but if I'm having a bad week in RL, I tend to put such things on the long finger, and then forget. (Also, I think LJ may still be holding a great deal of my comments ransom. Two weeks ago, I got a few LJ notices saying thank you for your purchase. At first, I panicked because I hadn't bought anything on LJ since November - guess what? The LJ notices were referring to those purchases...a three month delay lapse. Lovely.)

I have a stats counter on my LJ, so I know the read/comment ratio there, too. It's not as bad as the archives - on average, 100 hits equals about 10 comments for me. I'm sure others have better averages.