Approval of author comments

[Writer61]

One of my stories went live earlier today. Approximately five hours later, in the early hours of Mountain/Pacific time, somebody commented on it. A couple of hours later, as soon as I saw it, I replied. More than five hours later, my comment has not been published.

IMHO, author comments should not be subject to moderation.

 

[TheLobster]

IMHO, author comments should not be subject to moderation.

I don’t think that’s a good idea. It would be too much opportunity for spam and other abuse.

 

[ronde]

I don’t think that’s a good idea. It would be too much opportunity for spam and other abuse.

I agree. I've seen that happen on other sites. A comment appears from some username that says, "see teen girls naked and sucking cock" and then a web address. The comments would have to be monitored either before or after they're published. Monitoring them before they're published is less work for the moderator.

 

[Writer61]

I don’t think that’s a good idea. It would be too much opportunity for spam and other abuse.

Why would an author post spam/abuse on their own story?

 

[YmaOHyd]

Why would an author post spam/abuse on their own story?

There are definitely authors who'd abuse people who left negative comments.

 

[TheLobster]

Why would an author post spam/abuse on their own story?

You’re thinking of “authors” as people like you and me. But they could simply be bot accounts, who copy an old story in a popular category and then use it as a platform for getting eyeballs on their spammy comments.

There are probably other abuse scenarios that this change would enable, but this one seems the most obvious.

 

[MrPixel]

Consider use cases where the author was wanting to put prohibited content in the story such as sexual violence - think rape punishment - but bypasses the story submission screens by putting the "obvious conclusion" as the first comment. Yeah, it might be taken down... eventually.

 

[ElectricBlue]

One of my stories went live earlier today. Approximately five hours later, in the early hours of Mountain/Pacific time, somebody commented on it. A couple of hours later, as soon as I saw it, I replied. More than five hours later, my comment has not been published.

IMHO, author comments should not be subject to moderation.

Comments aren't moderated for content, as such. They're batched to prevent spam, unless you get yourself on a "Comments post immediately" list, which generally occurs after xxx number of comments (what the number is, I don't know).

 

[Writer61]

@TheLobster
@YmaOHyd
@MrPixel
@ElectricBlue

Fair comment, all.

 

[old_prof]

I don’t think that’s a good idea. It would be too much opportunity for spam and other abuse.

I'm strongly with @Writer61 on this one. The site has plenty of sticks to get published authors in line. They could threaten to take down your story if you spammed your own story with comments. And if you behave for a little while, you get a pass anyway.

The moderation is particularly important for anonymous and newly created accounts, because those are the likely residence for bots (not saying that most of them are bots, just most bots would go there). And they have little invested in the site.

By posting a story, you have invested in the site.

 

[TheLobster]

By posting a story, you have invested in the site.

Not necessarily. Like I said:

You’re thinking of “authors” as people like you and me. But they could simply be bot accounts, who copy an old story in a popular category and then use it as a platform for getting eyeballs on their spammy comments.

Sure, the plagiarized story would get taken down eventually. But if the avenue for spammy comments was there, then there would be an incentive to repeat this scheme and clog the submission queue with legit-seeming stories.

There is already a mechanism that assesses the level of investment users have in the site. When they pass a certain threshold of comments and stories, they get the privilege of instant comments on all stories.

OP is basically asking for a lower threshold specifically for commenting on one’s own stories. This is all fine and good, but it is essentially a feature request, and we know how likely it is such wishes are fulfilled…

 

[Writer61]

OP is basically asking for a lower threshold specifically for commenting on one’s own stories. This is all fine and good, but it is essentially a feature request, and we know how likely it is such wishes are fulfilled…

Yes, I am, and I realise how unlikely it is to happen. But my point is that it feels unfair that a reader's comment is approved faster than the author's,

 

[RocketGrunt]

Yes, I am, and I realise how unlikely it is to happen. But my point is that it feels unfair that a reader's comment is approved faster than the author's,

Posting stories seems to count more for getting you on the white list for immediate comment publication than leaving a comment. I'm not sure how much more than a comment a story is worth, but it doesn't seem to take authors as long to get out of comment probation as people who are just critics.

So in essence, I think your feature request is already implemented as far as the site is willing to allow.

 

[Writer61]

With 39 stories, and 169 comments (all positive), not being trusted feels harsh.

 

[gordo12]

Yes, I am, and I realise how unlikely it is to happen. But my point is that it feels unfair that a reader's comment is approved faster than the author's,

Not sure what the issue is, but my comments on my stories or other's post instantly.

 

[Bramblethorn]

With 39 stories, and 169 comments (all positive), not being trusted feels harsh.

I recall one author who posted something like 20 chapters in a series, then left a comment on chapter 20 to the effect of "contact me via my author page and I'll tell you how you can send me money to read the end of the story". Obviously chapter 20 would have been rejected if he'd put that in the story itself, so he used comments to bypass Lit's rules.

I don't think it happens often (and I suspect the reason for not whitelisting authors is more likely just "the system is made of twigs and string and we haven't found the time to do it) but it has happened.