Number of views/votes.

[Alex De Kok]

CND, you said

I've read what you all have written, trying to put myself in your shoes, yet still coming around to the same result. I can not vote any other way than what I feel is right.

5 for integrity! You're right of course. I pretty much agree with the rest of your post too.

Alex

 

[Jigs]

Also in last line of your post you use the word except where the intended word seems to be accept. A Freudian explanation seems to be in order here...

71Bruce8

Nothing Freudian, Bruce. Just a lousy speller and an even worse proofreader. If it passes the spell check that's good enough for me.

You see I am a "Hooked On Phonics" drop out. As a child I simply could not make that "sound out the words" business work for me. I was interested in what the words meant not how they were spelled or sounded. On top of that I am a Southerner and my words sound different, at least they do to yawl damyankees.

 

[Jigs]

71Bruce8

Could a more elaborate voting system, say style/content/overall effect unclog the bottleneck and push you beyond 4.5? I.e. attract the more serious voter with a more refined theatre of judgement and therefore better assess your alingment with the real? Methinks that a more complex voting system would repell the casual and attract the devout. Thus overall improve the system. Hope here or no?

I don't think so Bruce. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe the more complicated you make something worse it functions. Anyway, what would be the point? I think that in my case least, I would have an average score of somewhere between 4.4 and 4.5 no matter what we did. I do think that some system of throwing out some of the high and low scores before the average is struck might discourage the saboteurs. However, that's the system they used to score the ice skating at the Olympics, and as we saw, it didn't help much.

As far as attracting a better class of voters is concerned, hell we can't get people to vote as it is. Anyway I have developed a pretty solid fan base that are loyal and complementary to my stories. I'm not so sure how smart they are tho, and I know I don't want to test them to find out.

I think whole issue of scores might be resolved quicker and easier if I would just Accept the fact that I'm not any threat to to Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway, and let it go with that.

 

[71bruce8]

writer posts a poll

I notice in the stories section a posting by a new author named TrinaT. A four section poll is posted for response to the story. Will watch what happens here.

 

[BBD]

I'll chime in as sort of a newcomer...

As far as voting goes, I rarely give a 5. It not only has to be a good story, with good sex scenes and a decent setup, but there also needs to be good writing. Anything more than an occasional typo is going to stand out to me. It's just the way I am. I'd say a 4 is average for me, but I've given a few 3's here and there and I think deservedly so. In most cases, however, I'm not going to make it to the end of a story that I'd give a 1 or a 2 so the odds of that rating coming from me are slim. It has happened once or twice though.

I try to avoid handing out the lower ratings because I know I'm a bit nitpicky, and also because I don't tend to offer up that much feedback. So I'm usually going to vote on what I like and avoid what I don't. Maybe there are others with that attitude and that would explain high view counts/low vote counts. I personally don't mind receiving a 1, if it's not accompanied by an anonymous note that says something along the lines of, "I hated you assholes that write interracial/BDSM/fill-in-the-blank stories."

I wonder...is it possible to add some sort of pop-up to a story page, so that when someone leaves the page without voting they get a lil reminder and another chance? I don't know...not my area of expertise.

 

[CND]

Popup message

Sure, it's possible to add popup messages if you haven't voted. It wouldn't require much, just add a few lines to the showstory PHP script which is used to present the stories (generate the HTML code). Of course, in the eyes of some it will appear as something irritating and unnecessary.

The idea should be given some thought by Literotica site-managers, if they haven't already.

I applaude you for Creative Thinking, perhaps it will be met well by those that have a say.

 

[71bruce8]

pop up message/promotion

Pop up boxes might be worth a trial run. Only a brief step on the screen.

Also a little ad box either at the beginning or end of the story to promote voting might be helpfull.

Basicproblem of getting good vote volume without having to flog people to get it.

 

[OT]

forcing votes

Yikes. No no no!

If you think you have problems with needlessly negative votes now, what do you think will happen if you pop up a nag screen?

"Forced participation" is an oxymoron.

Popping up a reminder/nag screen would probably decrease the number of reads. (the site would be a less fun/enjoyable place to visit). I'd rather have an ananomous 1000 reads, knowing that most probably enjoyed themselves, than 500 reads (with votes) that left a bad taste in someone's mind because of the nag screen.

My reading habits include popping into almost any story that looks like it might be interesting and within 10 or 15 seconds either linger for the rest -- or not.


O.T.
peek at my stuff

 

[BBD]

Re: forcing votes

Yikes. No no no!

If you think you have problems with needlessly negative votes now, what do you think will happen if you pop up a nag screen?

"Forced participation" is an oxymoron.

Popping up a reminder/nag screen would probably decrease the number of reads. (the site would be a less fun/enjoyable place to visit). I'd rather have an ananomous 1000 reads, knowing that most probably enjoyed themselves, than 500 reads (with votes) that left a bad taste in someone's mind because of the nag screen.

My reading habits include popping into almost any story that looks like it might be interesting and within 10 or 15 seconds either linger for the rest -- or not.


O.T.
peek at my stuff

Actually, when you put it like that and make me think about it...I'd like to retract my suggestion. I do the same thing, especially on stories I don't particularly like. I'd be more inclined to level a one or a two at that point, based mostly on the "irritation" factor.

 

[Alex De Kok]

I usually include a footnote to each story on the lines of :-

Feedback and Constructive Criticism Welcome, to the e-mail address in my profile or via anonymous feedback. Please vote, too

I think that's as far as I want to go lest I risk irritating the readers.

Alex

 

[Jigs]

Alex De Kok

I usually include a footnote to each story on the lines of :

Feedback and Constructive Criticism Welcome, to the e-mail address in my profile or via anonymous feedback. Please vote, too.

I think that's as far as I want to go lest I risk irritating the readers.

You're awfully gentle Alex. I push my readers a lot harder than that, and it pays off. I may be a chronic 4.4, but I get votes with my method, lots of them. I have two stories with more than 600 votes, maybe three more in the 400 to 500 range, and a bunch with 200 to 300. Long ago I discovered that you don't get votes unless you cuss at 'em a little.

My most recent story as been posted for three to four weeks. It has more than 220+ votes as of this morning, more than any other story near the top of its category list. Torments of the widow McWorter concludes with this "Author's Note: "

"If you have enjoyed the story up to here--and I dare say something about it must have caught your attention or you wouldn't be still reading after 19,000 words-- PLEASE, VOTE. Your vote is the only price of admission to Literotica and to this story. You wouldn't sneak into the movies without buying a ticket (or at least not many of you, but then if you would, you are a damn thief and cheap besides--YOU are excused-- don't vote). All you honest readers, however, please take a moment now and vote your opinion, whatever it might be. JIGS"

Everybody begs for feedback, but if a reader won't at least vote, then he are not gonna send you a nice personal letter either. The first step is to convince him/her to at least vote. If they do that much, I think feedback pretty much takes care of itself, at least as well as we can ever expect.

Anyway, in my view this "constructive criticism" stuff is a bunch of crap. I doubt there are many qualified professors of creative writing out there who will take the time to give a lesson on common errors of syntax to some stranger who writes dirty stories on the Internet. At the the other end of the spectrum, I don't think "constructive criticism" from a high-school dropout is likely to be very helpful. I think most requests for feedback, are really asking for e-mail from a nice stranger telling us what great writers we are.

I'm not in favor of the "one size fits all pop-up" idea. That's too much like a recorded message over the phone. That does irritate the crap out of me, and I refuse to be mechanically manipulated like that. I think I have proven, however, that a personal straight from the shoulder plea for the reader to express his honest opinion on the record works, and works big time.

 

[CHEWEY]

Low votes!

Hi there, I have been reading this thread all the way through and for the most part all have a valid point. I also hate low votes but usually those that vote low, have no clue what it is like like to sit there for 2 hours trying to figure out what will excite total strangers to distraction. Ahh, such is life! I have tried a few different ways of writing on here. Some go, some don't, Oh well I have a new one coming out, that is a different way for me to write, not sure what'll happen but whatever does: the sun will still come out and my bills will still be paid, No biggie! I have noticed that the more you put on the site, the better votes you get. I went through the lists of stories the other day and there are a couple that no matter what they write, they get the elusive H. Not that thier stories are any better but they are more "out there". Alot of people read story's and think, "Geez, I can do better than that!" When in fact they can't and are scared to put themselves out for public critisism. The votes encourage you to write but they don't pay for shit Ya don't have to feed em or sleep with them so they are not important Took me awhile to realize that

 

[Alex De Kok]

Jigs,

your vote 'invitation' certainly is food for thought. I may try a stronger invitation on my own next effort, whenever that might be. So far as my own votes go, my latest, A Date for the Prom, which has been up since March 18, has now managed 513 votes, my best so far, but then it had gained well over 400 in the first 5 days!

On feedback, yes, I've had my ego stroked, but I've also had constructive suggestions. Not many, I admit!

Alex

 

[Jigs]

Alex

I'm going to go read A Date for the Prom. To my way of calculation, any story that catches the attention of 500 or more readers enough to motivate them to vote must be pretty damn good no matter what its average score. That the votes poured in early I think is even more impressive. Sure enough, Mars and Jupiter must've been in alignment, or whatever it is that gets people to take a look of the store in the first place, but man, they liked it. They liked it well enough read all the way to the end where the voting is. They liked it well enough to take the time to punch a number and the submit button. Shouldn't seem like so much, but a very small percentage of our readers will do it.

A variable that hasn't been mentioned up to now, however, is a good name for the story that attracts attention. A Date for the Prom is absolutely inspired. Pleasant or unpleasant, we all have memories of prom night. In my day everybody made such a crisis out of it. I suspect that hasn't changed much over the years.

If you get any "constructive criticism" that's worth a damn, you must have a more literate class of readers than I do. The closest thing I've EVER had to a comment on style or syntax (as opposed to subject matter) was one eagle eyed reader who noted that I had spelled "taut" as "taught".

That excludes of course the two negative feedbacks that have received, both anonymous, but both obviously from the same guy. He was pretty damned constructive all right. He told me I couldn't write worth a shit, and that I should quit trying because I would never be able to do so. His opinion was clearly and concisely stated with style, ruffles and flourishes. I'll say this, that guy could really write. I've been told off by experts in my life, but never with more character and class than he did.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Placing helps too

Jigs,

the fact that 'Prom' popped up in either second or third on the 'New' page didn't hurt either!

Alex