Anonymous comments piss me off.

[Paddleboardpnw]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly? I’m all for good, or bad comments, but at least post under your name so I can see how you write.
Or if you don’t like it why say anything?


Here’s one I just got, and actually deleted as I really didn’t give a damn what this person thought. I’m not a professional writer, just doing this for the fun of it.

 

[lustychimera]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly? I’m all for good, or bad comments, but at least post under your name so I can see how you write.
Or if you don’t like it why say anything?


Here’s one I just got, and actually deleted as I really didn’t give a damn what this person thought. I’m not a professional writer, just doing this for the fun of it.

That's a pretty good critique, though. I haven't read your story, but the points they make seem valid.

 

[mildlyaroused]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly? I’m all for good, or bad comments, but at least post under your name so I can see how you write.
Or if you don’t like it why say anything?


Here’s one I just got, and actually deleted as I really didn’t give a damn what this person thought. I’m not a professional writer, just doing this for the fun of it.

It can be frustrating to receive feedback like that, and I respect that you don't like the anonymity.

Counterpoint, though: how long do you think it took that anonymous commenter to write out their feedback?

It looks like they spent a good five minutes to me. If they just wanted to be an asshole they probably wouldn't have spent that much time.

You're allowed to write for the fun of it (we all do), and you're even allowed to not want to improve. But don't judge someone as 'cowardly' for offering feedback when it was genuinely constructive.

You can disable anonymous comments. Then people who want to give you feedback won't waste their time typing out useful advice only for you to instantly delete it.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

That's a pretty good critique, though. I haven't read your story, but the points they make seem valid.

That's an important comment. While it's anonymous and could be worded nicer, someone provided what appears to be constructive criticism rather than either the "Great story!" or "You're righting sucks!" (SIC) that seems to be so typical in the world of the Anons. Try to see the constructive part if you can.

 

[Djmac1031]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly?

Yeah sorry, gonna have to respectfully disagree.

There was nothing "cowardly" about that comment. Maybe a little blunt. But not rude. No name calling. No insults.

The criticism was valid. And they invested time to pass it along to you.

Why? If they wanted to just be an asshole, they would have just insulted you, one bombed and moved on.

Instead they wrote a well constructed criticism. Even provided receipts.

You can either accept the criticism or not. But to call it "cowardly" simply because the writer was Anonymous is disingenuous.

 

[Paddleboardpnw]

That's an important comment. While it's anonymous and could be worded nicer, someone provided what appears to be constructive criticism rather than either the "Great story!" or "You're righting sucks!" (SIC) that seems to be so typical in the world of the Anons. Try to see the constructive part if you can.

Good point, thank you

 

[SimonDoom]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly? I’m all for good, or bad comments, but at least post under your name so I can see how you write.
Or if you don’t like it why say anything?


Here’s one I just got, and actually deleted as I really didn’t give a damn what this person thought. I’m not a professional writer, just doing this for the fun of it.

No, I don't think anonymous comments are cowardly.

As I said before, maybe a month ago or so in this thread, you don't have to sign up or do anything to read stories at this site. And why would you? I think many people feel, as I do, that they want to get as much as they can out of Internet activity while giving the least amount of identifying information about themselves that they can get away with. That's not cowardly; it's rational and sensible. I read stories here for over a decade before I finally signed up so I could write and submit stories. I never ONCE gave thought to the notion, "Hmmm. Maybe I should identify myself before I vote on or comment on stories." Not once. Never occurred to me to think tha

The comments that person made seem sensible to me. If they are accurate, those are all things in a story that would impair my ability to enjoy it.

You're not a professional and you're just doing it for the fun of it, and that's fair enough, but the reader isn't a professional, either, and is perfectly free to comment with the same freedom with which you want to publish. This Site's comment functions are publicly available and obvious to all. If you publish stories here, you are implicitly acknowledging that readers can use those functions to comment on your stories (unless you block comments and voting, which you can do).

I don't expect Literotica authors to be perfect. I know I'm not perfect. But I think it's fair to ask that authors acquire at least an elementary functionality in two ways highlighted by this commenter:

1. Basic punctuation conventions, including especially the punctuation of dialogue, which requires learning no more than 7 rules or so to avoid 95% of mistakes.
2. Not switching carelessly between present and past tense.

So as Southerncrossfire said, above, I'd suggest looking at the constructive aspect of the criticism and trying to get the most out of it. Your readers will appreciate it, if that matters to you.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

Can I just say that I hate it when someone posts a comment about one of my stories, and signs with anonymous.

Maybe you shouldn’t tell people that you enjoy their comments.

Both the best and worst comments I have received are from Anonymous. Except for a few cases, I leave the bad comments. They are a reflection of the person writing it, not me or my story. In some cases, later commenters will say to ignore the anonymous moron.

 

[Helgamite]

Can I just say that I hate it when someone posts a comment about one of my stories, and signs with anonymous.

I cannot dialogue with a person who leaves no contact info. I want to reply, or ask for more information.

WE ARE ALL FUCKING ANONYMOUS HERE. What's the point?

Jay Richards
(BTW, THATS NOT REALLY MY NAME)

as an author, you do have the ability to turn off anonymous commentors, I believe. I'm not 100% positive on that. as for me. I just ignore them most of the time. if someone cant put a name to a comment, Its not worth my time to take them seriously. just my 2 cents tho

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

as an author, you do have the ability to turn off anonymous commentors, I believe. I'm not 100% positive on that. as for me. I just ignore them most of the time. if someone cant put a name to a comment, Its not worth my time to take them seriously. just my 2 cents tho

 

[Helgamite]

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[pink_silk_glove]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly? I’m all for good, or bad comments, but at least post under your name so I can see how you write.
Or if you don’t like it why say anything?

Here’s one I just got, and actually deleted as I really didn’t give a damn what this person thought. I’m not a professional writer, just doing this for the fun of it.

Sometimes anonymous comments are cowardly but hardly always. Either way it's irrelevant. The feedback is still the feedback.

As for posting under your name, the name on the comment does not change the feedback so that is irrelevant. If you need to see how the commenter writes, then you are just looking for an excuse to dismiss the criticism. You are looking for a way to change the feedback. Think about it. The comment probably makes you feel like a bad writer, but if you check out his work and hopefully see that it's not that good, then his opinion of you can be dismissed and then you can feel like a good writer again. Is there some truth in that? Don't answer that to me, answer it to yourself and be honest.

These two statements contradict each other:

"I’m all for good, or bad comments,"
"Or if you don’t like it why say anything?"

You're all for bad comments but people shouldn't make them? Hrmm. I'm not trying to ridicule you, but do you see the contradiction of your own thoughts?

Actually yes you did care what this person thought. If you didn't you wouldn't have screenshotted it for us and you wouldn't have deleted it, and you wouldn't be complaining about a negative cowardly comment. You're dwelling on it. That means that you care.

Just because you are doing this for the fun of it, does that mean that you should not be critiqued? Furthermore, most of us do want valuable fair criticism of our work and he is providing it (and I for one would not want him to be discouraged). What did you do to indicate to him that he should abstain for criticism on the grounds that this is just for fun?

Now, as for the comment in your screenie itself, it all sounded like fair criticism that an amateur/fun writer (which you admit to being) would want or need to hear to improve his craft. Most of it was proofreading (tense issues, some grammar), but he did provide some very valuable info on how your story reads. Your women came off as 'sex bots' to him at least. You may not have intended that, but that is how you conveyed it to him. Also he said that your plot felt more like just a list of events. Again, you may not have intended that but that is how you conveyed to him. That is the nature of the connection that you made with this reader. This is extremely valuable information that you cannot get editing on your own. He basically gave you a half-decent beta read that almost everyone here would love to have. Now he may have worded it coldly, but it certainly wasn't rude. He never said anything like "You're a shit writer, your story stinks," or anything like that. If you look at it objectively, this is all very sound criticism and you've just deleted it.

If you're just a fun writer and don't want to improve that's fine (seriously), but he has done nothing wrong at all here as far as I'm concerned. Again, I just want to be clear, I am in no way trying to ridicule you here, but I would absolutely love it if that guy went through one of my stories with a fine-toothed comb and told me what it made him feel. Maybe he already has and was so bored that he didn't even bother to comment. If that's the case, it means that you did a better job connecting with him than I did.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Is me or do the anonymous comments sometimes feel cowardly? I’m all for good, or bad comments, but at least post under your name so I can see how you write.
Or if you don’t like it why say anything?


Here’s one I just got, and actually deleted as I really didn’t give a damn what this person thought. I’m not a professional writer, just doing this for the fun of it.

There's quite a lot of nit-picking in that one, like numbers under one-hundred have to be written out. Write them in Roman numerals and see what the reaction is. ("I got off the subway at CXXVth Street.") I think if a person is not registered here, their comments have to be anonymous (they have no user-name). On sites that require registration, the comments tend to be more polite because there is no place to hide. In any case, I only delete a comment if it's completely irrelevant. Otherwise, I just leave it there.

 

[gunhilltrain]

as an author, you do have the ability to turn off anonymous commentors, I believe. I'm not 100% positive on that. as for me. I just ignore them most of the time. if someone cant put a name to a comment, Its not worth my time to take them seriously. just my 2 cents tho

I don't turn them off. After the initial "shock," it can be quite amusing to see what they come up with. And once every three years, there is actually something useful in an anonymous comment.

 

[Helgamite]

I don't turn them off. After the initial "shock," it can be quite amusing to see what they come up with. And once every three years, there is actually something useful in an anonymous comment.

I've learned to ignore them mostly. I have mine still on. everyone is entitled to their voice, just not entitled to my reaction sometimes.

If the comment is constructive, I'll give it some thought. most comments I've seen when I'm reading though, Jesus H CHRIST they can be idiotic and demeaning. Its why i suggested turning them off. specially if someone either has thin skin or a new author and has a negative reaction. they can turn them off until and unless they can build up a tolerance to it.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

??

Anonymous comment that was positive, complimentary, and worth my time.

 

[Helgamite]

Anonymous comment that was positive, complimentary, and worth my time.

ok, i never said they were ALL bad, I just said they were never worth my time. majority is childish and not worth even reading. yes there are a few good ones in the ocean of bad comments. never said there wasn't good ones.

that's why I was confused as to your reply.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I haven't posted enough here to build much of a non-anonymous audience, this is true, but all my best and most ego-stroking comments have been anonymous.

"This story is perfect, and you've got a storytelling that could be featured in published novels."
"The first story on this site trat shows a true command of language. Incredibly poetische."
"One of the very best I've ever read!"

Et cetera. Et cetera. Are these ego-stroking comments actually useful to me as a writer? Debatable. But I find value in them, and I don't think disabling anonymous comments is worth the tradeoff.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

ok, i never said they were ALL bad, I just said they were never worth my time. majority is childish and not worth even reading. yes there are a few good ones in the ocean of bad comments. never said there wasn't good ones.

that's why I was confused as to your reply.

Timing. I got the comment about the time I saw your last comment. I’ve gotten some me pretty bad ones, too.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've learned to ignore them mostly. I have mine still on. everyone is entitled to their voice, just not entitled to my reaction sometimes.

If the comment is constructive, I'll give it some thought. most comments I've seen when I'm reading though, Jesus H CHRIST they can be idiotic and demeaning. Its why i suggested turning them off. specially if someone either has thin skin or a new author and has a negative reaction. they can turn them off until and unless they can build up a tolerance to it.

Imagine that you are, say, Leo DiCaprio. He only cares about what the pro critics say, not whatever the people who comment on Amazon et al. have to offer. Although, I could be wrong! Maybe he sneaks a few peeks on there to see what the masses are thinking.

 

[Helgamite]

Imagine that you are, say, Leo DiCaprio. He only cares about what the pro critics say, not whatever the people who comment on Amazon et al. have to offer. Although, I could be wrong! Maybe he sneaks a few peeks on there to see what the masses are thinking.

honestly, I don't think Leo is humble enough to look anywhere but where he is.

i know what your saying tho.

 

[Whanmore]

I love all comments. Mean, happy, Constructive. Anonymous... I'm just thrilled you took the time to read and comment.

 

[gunhilltrain]

honestly, I don't think Leo is humble enough to look anywhere but where he is.

i know what your saying tho.

I picked Leo at random. From what I've heard about most A-list actors and musicians, they tend - with good reason - to be cautious, if not downright paranoid, about their many "number one" fans. Our problems at Lit are piddling compared to some of the celebrity stalker incidents.

Although, Joan Crawford (surprisingly) tried to answer most of her fan mail - or so I've heard. She seemed to like being famous and being recognized in public.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I picked Leo at random. From what I've heard about most A-list actors and musicians, they tend - with good reason - to be cautious, if not downright paranoid, about their many "number one" fans. Our problems at Lit are piddling compared to some of the celebrity stalker incidents.

Although, Joan Crawford (surprisingly) tried to answer most of her fan mail - or so I've heard. She seemed to like being famous and being recognized in public.

Ala Kathy Bates character in Misery.

 

[intim8]

I've been reading here since maybe 06 or 07. Never had an account till 2022 when I decided to write. I doubt it has anything to do with cowardice, the vast majority of people reading here just don't have accounts.

I'd never disallow anon comments. Most of the comments I get are anon. As to dialog with commenters, I have to second @Djmac1031, people generally don't want you reaching out to them. And given how conversations within the comments are all but impossible, expecting dialog in any case is futile.