where did they go?

[Darkniciad]

Authors can already block anonymous comments if they choose, allowing only registered members to comment and requiring private feedback to have an email address entered ( although, a fake email address would work for the second )

There's no reason to force it site-wide, because every author already has that option.

 

[sr71plt]

There's that, yes, but I would agree with anyone who opined that having to give a registered name across the board would dramatically cut down on flaming comments across the board.

 

[Darkniciad]

I think it would cut down on comments across the board ( good and bad ) as well. Ditto to force a login for voting.

Anonymous gets a bad rap from the worst of the worst, but there are plenty of nice and even constructive people without registered names.

That's why I think it's better to give the author the option and let him or her decide, which is what we have. An option to do the same for voting might be nice, though.

That's where we get into discussing it here being all but pointless, though

 

[DeYaKen]

My View

For what it's worth most of the negative comments don't bother me much. Most voters and commenters evaluate how much they agree with the main protagonists actions not on how good a story it is or how well you told it.

Yes I have recently had a comment posted from someone who seems to hate Brits (yes HarryinVA I do mean you). Having read one story he didn't like, then supposedly read all the others I had posted so he could not like them as well. Such people's actions and opinions aren't worth considering so I don't.

Look at it this way, the opposite of love is indifference. If someone posts a score or better still a comment then your story made them feel strongly enough to take the time to judge and comment on it. You know your story is bad if no one votes and no one comments.

 

[keithtopia1]

Taking your ball and going home isnt going to fix the problem at all. Instead its depriving all the people that enjoy your stories of them. You are letting the actions of one troll, or a few, control you. So what if you dip below a 4.5 rating, so what if you get ones. If even one person enjoys the story isnt that enough? Apparently not, I wasnt away that so many authors put so much stock in ratings. To me, its a little sad.

 

[nakdsub]

Sorry Keith...

No, it isn't enough. Yes, I get a kick out of the number of people who favorited me as an author and I continually thank them, but it takes work, time, and effort to produce a story. It is something you created from nothing and are proud of.

Think of it this way. When in school you had to write a report. You worked on it for many hours putting everything you had into it, and produced what you thought was good work. Others read it and said how great it was. You hand it in to your teacher who will grade it and post the grades on the board for all to see.

Without reading the report, the teacher gave you and automatic, "F" and posted the grade.

How many more reports would you do for the class?

 

[Hubs_in_hose]

it sucks that the actions of a few make authors take down their stories.

I am a novice writer and I know that what I submit isn't the best in the world.

 

[estragon]

nakdsub, unhappily slings and arrows are part of an author's life, and unavoidable. The only sure-fire avoidance method is to write "for the desk drawer", as the Russian dissidents used to say: write but never publish. As you've chosen that route, there's nothing more for me to say to you.

For the rest of us, we publish what we write because we have to, or want to, and we're prepared to take the troll-bashing and, like the old Timex watch advertisement, take a licking and come back ticking. Maybe we don't enjoy it, but we won't let the bullies chase us out of the schoolyard.

 

[PennLady]

Think of it this way. When in school you had to write a report. You worked on it for many hours putting everything you had into it, and produced what you thought was good work. Others read it and said how great it was. You hand it in to your teacher who will grade it and post the grades on the board for all to see.

Without reading the report, the teacher gave you and automatic, "F" and posted the grade.

How many more reports would you do for the class?

I get what you're saying, but it's not an accurate comparison. If you work on and hand in a paper for a teacher, it is an assigned project and the teacher is (ideally) qualified to read it, judge the content and effort, and give you a grade. What others think doesn't matter -- the teacher has the final say. Even if 100% of your friends liked it, it doesn't mean it's good or meets the requirements of the assignment.

If the teacher flunked it without reading, there could be consequences for both the student and teacher.

Submitting to a place like Lit is not peer review. It's just a giant pond with lots of fish. There is no final authority, except for Laurel in determining what gets posted. It's like releasing a book or anything else into the real world. Some will like it and some will not and some will be vehement or even vicious about their dislike.

No one is making you write these stories. You're not getting graded or paid for anything you submit to Lit. In this case you are the final say on the story, and you "grade" it by deciding it's ready for posting. Then you have to deal with what people say, and you have some control over that.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be harsh. But by taking your stories down and not posting more, all it means is that your stories will sit on your computer (unless you post elsewhere, of course) and no one will see them and you'll get no feedback at all.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Dark is right, the argument is a bit hypothetical as the site is highly unlikely to change the rules.

In any case. . .

No, it isn't enough. Yes, I get a kick out of the number of people who favorited me as an author and I continually thank them, but it takes work, time, and effort to produce a story. It is something you created from nothing and are proud of.

Think of it this way. When in school you had to write a report. You worked on it for many hours putting everything you had into it, and produced what you thought was good work. Others read it and said how great it was. You hand it in to your teacher who will grade it and post the grades on the board for all to see.

Without reading the report, the teacher gave you and automatic, "F" and posted the grade.

How many more reports would you do for the class?

This is not a fair comparison. The teacher is in authority and holds the sword of Damocles. The views of others on the course don't count toward the 'score'.

In large organizations you get 'appraised' every year. My firm runs a process where you describe how clever you've been (cf. writing a story) but need to get anonymous appraisals from peers, subordinates and seniors (public comments?). The big boss has to take these comments into account in your appraisal (no ability to delete negativity). Hence the voting.

nakd, if you put a product in the public domain; car, freezer, school report or story; you have to be prepared that it might get some adverse public reaction. If you want to be read, accept the ill-informed brickbats.

 

[estragon]

It's a many-times-told-tale, in fact it's getting to be a too-many-times-told-tale, but the trolls will be around here regardless. This is a free-speech site. Free speech is not intelligent speech, informed speech, polite speech, agreeable speech or even coherent speech.

Look, those who write and post on Lit are like those who fish for crab in the Bering Sea in winter (thanks for the metaphor, Nigel Debonnaire). If you go out, don't lament the darkness, lack of sleep, freezing cold, being soaked beyond soaked, and "the thunder of the captains and the shouting"; revel instead in the 600-crab pot when you get it, and forget the rest.