If you could see who gave you bad votes

[Guest]

This same thing just happened again in a certain category (I was going to be specific but probably shouldn't). One of my stories has been near the top for months - has more than 200 votes - and a couple of days ago it took a serious dip in scoring with just a couple of votes. . .

It annoys my husband more than me. If HE found out, he'd try to get get 'em.

Oooh, on second thought,

"Laurel? I'd like to know who just voted me those 1's!!!"

Okay - as my story took yet another dip in scores today with just one more vote - does this person out to get me have access to a bank of computers at work or something? He's working his way down the line?

And my husband wished for me to add, he's going to crawl inside the fucking computer and rip him another asshole (and then institute a new story category - Gratuitious Violence Toward Losers)

Seriously, I am going to PM Laurel about this today. Scores should go up and down, yes. But a systematic 1 vote each day for the past 5? Something's up!

 

[Just_John1]

I think I'd like to know

I'd like to at least understand why the 1. If it is in the name of competition then fine... it isn't that important to me. If it is something seriously wrong with my writing I'd like to know what it is so I can improve it.

Would I retaliate? I'd like to think I wouldn't and probably most times that's true... but I'd rather not have the temptation. Goos question KM

JJ1

 

[Chicklet]

votes are anonymous in most situations, and I think it's a good thing. I remember in elementary school when we'd vote for "class president" every week by raising our hands, heads down on our desks to not see who was voting for who. Of course, being the naughty girl I am, I peeked, and watched as even my best friend didn't vote for me.

I think I was the only one in the class who didn't get to hold some class "office" once that year. I would rather think that I was just passing under, rather than so blatantly outvoted.

I would never want to know who gave me bad feedbacks. And, if people knew that the author would be able to tell what vote they gave them, I'll bet voting would drop drastically, too.

-Chicklet

 

[kl2003]

Just some thoughts from a newbie. For me, at least, knowing who gave a bad rating doesn't matter nearly as much as why that rating was given. I've been a member for about two weeks now, and have posted four stories, three of which have been approved thus far. I'm actually very pleased with the rating that two of the three stories have gotten, although the sample is still pretty small. When I read stories here, I try and give feedback if anything really jumped out at me, good or bad. Again, the fact that feedbacks are anonymous doesn't bother me too much; I've gotten some good and bad feedback on what I have written, and I hope I get more. I don't think it does anyone any good to give a story a 1 and just leave it at that. Just my 2.5 cents.

 

[Arden]

I wouldn't muster up the energy to retaliate against a top-list author who one-voted my work. I already know of three specific authors who give one, one vote to everything new in their category. Not fraud, but not cool either. I know because these three have written me on separate occasions about this. They told me it was their usual practice, but deviated from it when they read Absolution for Gretta MacClain. I'm sure there are more out there. I didn't retaliate. Just shrugged and went on.

Are you serious? Top authors giving 1 votes to 'everything new in their category'? That could mean that they also have 5 friends each that vote poorly on your story on their behalf, one by one, on different days. You'd think that the computer program model would be able to detect a single voter that racks up a series of 1's in a single week or month. The contests here don't offer any great monetary reward. What's the point?

I almost wish that feedback, and a Lit screen name were required as a condition of voting, both being available to the authors. Yes, it sounds impossible, but why the heck not if people can mess with your scores just for their own advancement? Make voters names and scores available to the writers whose work they vote on. I think we're all capable of a PM asking where they thought we failed in our writing without discord. I love getting feedback, and often feel honored if a talented writer takes the time to respond at all.

I thought that I could depend on scores, to a certain extent, to reflect if my story or poem was good. I'm not a natural born writer, and I struggle with the mechanics of it all. If I get bad scores, I spend countless hours trying to figure out where I went wrong...

Did the title not reflect the story?
Did the description overpromise, and underdeliver?
Did I place it in the wrong category?
Did the story read poorly?
Did I make errors in the flow of the story, grammar, composition?
Did I make the story so personal that others can't relate?
Did the story just plain suck?
What can I do better next time?

I have to admit, my s/o gave me an interesting insight into voting the other night. He brought up the fact that a good percentage of readers are only looking for something to jack off to. (Male perspective, lol - I love his honesty) He made a good point. Perhaps this is why well written stories rarely stay at the top of the lists. Maybe no one cares about writing ability when voting - they're just looking for cheap sexual thrills.

I was glad to see Lit finally disallow "unregistered" posters. After reading the post that I have responded to here, I'd like to see them do away with anonymous voting and feedback. It would weed out a large number of voters that vote unreasonably. Would voting go down? Sure ... but you adjust the contest vote number requirements if needed. I don't thing any writer here would object to having accountable insight into how others view their work.

Just my thoughts...

 

[wiintermute]

Votes? What votes?

Not everyone here has a desire to become a professional writer. Therefore, those of us who DO should learn this up front: If you write for the votes, you are doomed. If you change your style because some/most/all voted 1's, you've already sold out and you'll never be truly satisfied with your craft. The operative word in the last sentense was "your".

Don't make the (wrong) assumption that the people who vote, or the top rated authors, or ANYONE, knows what the exact formula for success. If any one person knew that, they'd be the wealthiest person on the planet and would not likely be taking the time to criticize MY pitiful contribution.

Write what you KNOW. Write what you FEEL. Take a RISK, dammit! Grammar, spelling, puncuation, length, etc., etc., are secondary to your abililty to elicit the precise emotion you're going for (dangling participle, anyone? Here in Texas, hell yes!). Genius rarely follows convention. Sticklers and "rule-followers" rarely win the Pulitzer -- or the Nobel, or the Presidency, or the....well, you get my drift.

That being said, if your desire is to communicate a message, know your audience and communicate in the most appropriate manner. "Queen's English" and perfect grammar would get my ass kicked in my old 'hood, (and in some literary circles). Tailor your style according to your DESIRED audience, not the (anonymous) voters. Easier said than done? You bet. If it wasn't, every writer on the planet would be widely published and rich.

I welcome ANY constructive criticism, from friend or foe. I totally ignore the voting. It's useless. One of my stories has been in the top ten in its category since I uploaded it in January. It has about 100,000 views, yet less than 600 readers have bothered to vote at all, and less than 30 have sent an email. I hardly consider the votes of less than 1% of the readers a representative sample, even if it appears to work in my favor (the check cleared, Laurel! Thanks!).

If I had the magical power to do so, I'd absorb the emotional experience of every reader that reads my stories -- not because I'm looking for reasons to alter my style or content, but to find out if I'm projecting the right vibe. If I'm not, I, and I alone will decide how to correct that. I'd hate to be striving for "desolate and sad" and have someone vote me a 5 because they thought it was hilarious. That's a failure.

Another example: someone reads one of my writings (on Literotica or elsewhere) and says, "I hated that story, it made me feel desolate and sad. I gave it a 1." Hey, if that was the emotion I was going for, then that is POSITIVE FEEDBACK. Fuck the vote. My thought is: that person is not my target audience, but I nailed my objective anyway. Hoo-ray.

The short answer is, I couldn't care less how people vote. If getting a top vote is so important that you vote yourself a thousand 5's to win the contest de jour, then you have my congratulations and my pity. If you vote me a thousand 1's to drive my story down, then you're wasting your time, when there are so many other things you could be spending your time on....like writing more stories for this wonderful medium. Get a life.


Final thought: Please read my stories. Vote often. Vote 5's.

<grin>.

--wiintermute

 

[Gabriel_Lee]

Originally posted by wiintermute
Final thought: Please read my stories. Vote often. Vote 5's.

I knew there was something I meant to say.

(I agreed with most of the rest too, but seriously, if I get something wrong and consistently get 5s for it - that's a result. Rather than mourn over my failure, I think I'd analyse my success ... then bottle it. If I find my attempts at the lowest levels of depression turn out hilarious, I have learnt yet another useful thing in this crazy world. Don't turn off serendipity!)

 

[Guest]

Re: Votes? What votes?

. . . The short answer is, I couldn't care less how people vote. If getting a top vote is so important that you vote yourself a thousand 5's to win the contest de jour, then you have my congratulations and my pity. If you vote me a thousand 1's to drive my story down, then you're wasting your time, when there are so many other things you could be spending your time on....like writing more stories for this wonderful medium. Get a life.

Final thought: Please read my stories. Vote often. Vote 5's.

--wiintermute

Ah, you had me going with your altruistic sermon and then ya fucked it up with the vote mention! LOL

I'm sure that's the healthiest approach to posting stories on Lit. And I would hope that most people who submit stories write for themselves. (Especially since, as KM said, there are at least three top authors who purposefully vote down new stories - that truly makes voting results unreliable.)

No answers (as I continue to watch the purposefully slamming of one of my stories - lol) It does have enough votes now that systematic 1 scores don't really change things all that much, but it is still annoying as hell.

But I still don't understand why because that story was submitted in February! If they are already concerned about winning that specific category for 2003 (and are trying to prevent me from doing so) I would have to suggest a good therapist!

 

[Arden]

I write only for myself... not "for votes". I don't even ask people to read or vote on my work...

What I was saying is that I feel votes and feedback should be helpful. How sad that a handful of folks feel they have to play games to get their way.

"Sticklers and "rule-followers" rarely win the Pulitzer -- or the Nobel, or the Presidency, or the....well, you get my drift."

Funny how the Presidency seems to be for sale to the highest bidder these days... I'm sure the founding fathers are still rolling in their graves like cheap dime store hot dogs on a mechanized grill.



sweetsubsarahh, I loved 'Spare the rod...' Great story, and what an amusing ending! *grins*

 

[Guest]

I write only for myself... not "for votes". I don't even ask people to read or vote on my work...

What I was saying is that I feel votes and feedback should be helpful. How sad that a handful of folks feel they have to play games to get their way.

"Sticklers and "rule-followers" rarely win the Pulitzer -- or the Nobel, or the Presidency, or the....well, you get my drift."

Funny how the Presidency seems to be for sale to the highest bidder these days... I'm sure the founding fathers are still rolling in their graves like cheap dime store hot dogs on a mechanized grill.

sweetsubsarahh, I loved 'Spare the rod...' Great story, and what an amusing ending! *grins*

Arden - Excellent posts on this topic. I know Laurel is aware of the problem as the discussion comes up time and time again.

Personally, I did stop agonizing about the votes. Killer Muffin helped; one day she posted some of the feedback she'd recently received. It said, "I loved your story but I gave you a "1" because you are a Republican." (actually I think the exact quote was "because your a Republican." tee hee)

Ya just can't win!

I love feedback - remove the voting and just let readers send comments - that would work for me!


By the way, thank you for your nice comments about my story.

(I just had to let her off the hook - I'm such a sucker for happy endings! LOL)

 

[SexyChele]

No, I have no desire to know. If it were a friend of mine, then I would assume they had their reasons. If it were another writer defending their "lead" then that is his/her own petty business. Like others, I would appreciate knowing why they voted low, but you don't always get what you want so - ??

As to force a comment from a reader for a low vote, I do know of at least one site that has this. The range in votes is 1 to 10 and if you vote 5 or below, you have to write a comment to the writer as to why the vote is so low. They were having problems with very low voting prior to this, and it seems to have cleared things up somewhat. There are still people (probably) that will vote a "6", the minimum you can vote without explanation, but at least it isn't a "1". Not sure if something like that can be done here or if Laurel even wants to hassle with it.