Thoughts on Anonymous Comments!!!

[Duleigh]

I think you lack some empathy on this topic. I understand that although I may not care, because I don't have to, there are some people who may not want to send a message with an e-mail to an erotica author and then get a response from one. Some people aren't anon to be jerks, but for other reasons.

I can tell you from experience, as can many others, that dismissing all anon feedback is a loss on your part because some of the most supportive and insightful messages I've gotten are from anon. Its frustrating not to be able to reply and thank them, or respond to any points they made, but on a site where there are so few votes per views and far less comments than views, and even less feedback, I appreciate their effort.

Maybe you could consider doing the same. I also think your take of their tone being shut up and listen is very defensive.

I take the gushers with the same grain of salt as the ones spewing venomous bullshit. They're opinions, and seeing I chose to put my work up for the public to see and chose to allow, therefore invite, comments, they are free to provide those.

Other than LW, the good votes, comments and feedback far outweigh the bad, which is why I don't understand why people get so upset by the occasional dipshit troll.

I have been burned way too many times by trolls masquerading under the screen on anonymity and I'm not going over this again. I've had anonymous "help" start with "I'm also a writer at lit" If you're a writer at lit and you don't want to open a conversation, why should I waste my time reading what you say.

The last time I read an anonymous email offering help I was accused of cheating in the Lit contests. Oh yeah, that's real incentive to reading emails from "caring" anonymous "helpers"

I don't care if you call yourself Pope Gregory, open a two way conversation or stop shouting at me. No more choices.

 

[intim8]

To have courage is to post with a name to stand behind your opinions. Being anonymous and posting is your true self a no name

I have yet to recieve a comment from a name I recognize. They're all anonymous.

 

[lovecraft68]

I have been burned way too many times by trolls masquerading under the screen on anonymity and I'm not going over this again. I've had anonymous "help" start with "I'm also a writer at lit" If you're a writer at lit and you don't want to open a conversation, why should I waste my time reading what you say.

The last time I read an anonymous email offering help I was accused of cheating in the Lit contests. Oh yeah, that's real incentive to reading emails from "caring" anonymous "helpers"

I don't care if you call yourself Pope Gregory, open a two way conversation or stop shouting at me. No more choices.

Your situation is why some authors do want to stay anon, they're afraid of being burned too. I get it because I've had more than a couple people over the years try to lure me into something. Good example of the jack ass minority making things tough.

Sad that I've had to do this, but I have left anon comments on contest stories because I don't want someone to be trolled because I'm not popular on the boards and if I like a story they'll bomb that story. Its why I have very few things on my favs pages. I bookmark author pages on my PC, not through lit for the same stupid reasons.

All that being said, it doesn't hurt you to read a comment, no one says you have to buy whatever they're saying.

But you do you, I just think you're losing out.

 

[lovecraft68]

I have yet to recieve a comment from a name I recognize. They're all anonymous.

I received feedback from someone with nutsac in their name last week. Hard to believe I don't take that more seriously than I would something from a flat out anon.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I have been burned way too many times by trolls masquerading under the screen on anonymity

Burned? Like at the stake?

Or do you mean burned as in they were able to gain your personal info and raid your bank account or vandalize your house?

Burned as in ripped off? How? How raw could your end of the deal possibly be?

Just what kind of gun does an anonymous comment put to your head?

 

[Djmac1031]

I've had really nice Anonymous comments and really vile ones by accounts with "names."

Welcome to social media. Giving people the platform to be assholes since the late 90s.

 

[SimonDoom]

Why the fuck would they do that?

To scan de navy in or something?

Well done!

 

[SimonDoom]

This debate, like so many, including the other recently resuscitated "can I copy that?" debate, rages on and on, across the years, never to be resolved. My opinions, none of which are new or that interesting:

1. I have no problem with the Site allowing anonymous comments. I'm glad it does.
2. I have no problem with people wanting to submit comments anonymously.
3. I am not bothered by nasty anonymous comments. At one point, early in my writing career, I was a little by the sheer nastiness, but not now. I find them amusing.
4. Most comments are good, not bad. So why throw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak?
5. Laurel has weighed in on this issue, and said that the majority of comments are anonymous (this is my experience as well). If the Site got rid of anonymous comments, it would an adverse signal to users of the Site, meaning it might possibly reduce traffic. The Site will never, ever do anything that risks this, so the Site is never, ever going to eliminate anonymous comments.
6. If you don't like bad anonymous comments, delete them or ignore them.

 

[Britva415]

Well done!

All I did was answer the prompt. Full credit to @Bramblethorn

 

[lovecraft68]

Burned? Like at the stake?

Or do you mean burned as in they were able to gain your personal info and raid your bank account or vandalize your house?

Burned as in ripped off? How? How raw could your end of the deal possibly be?

Just what kind of gun does an anonymous comment put to your head?

I imagine burned as in people trying to get lit related info on stories or other things. I used to spend a lot of time on the general board years ago and you learn very quickly there not to divulge anything to anyone in a PM because it would be all over the forum the next day.

Duliegh mentioned cheating accusations stemming from whatever interaction. Again, not the first time crap like that has happened, we had an entire group here fishing for info from people about their stories or forum gossip then running back to their pro boards chat room and talking about it and using it here. r

Bramblethorne recently had the be careful with divulging information here, and I'll add to take the same care in PM's. They are not private.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I imagine burned as in people trying to get lit related info on stories or other things. I used to spend a lot of time on the general board years ago and you learn very quickly there not to divulge anything to anyone in a PM because it would be all over the forum the next day.

Duliegh mentioned cheating accusations stemming from whatever interaction. Again, not the first time crap like that has happened, we had an entire group here fishing for info from people about their stories or forum gossip then running back to their pro boards chat room and talking about it and using it here. r

Bramblethorne recently had the be careful with divulging information here, and I'll add to take the same care in PM's. They are not private.

Like I said, what gun is pointed at the head of the author? Why would one divulge anything ever? Threatened or not? Unless you put your home address right on your profile, no one's going to find you.

 

[KeithD]

Like I said, what gun is pointed at the head of the author? Why would one divulge anything ever? Threatened or not? Unless you put your home address right on your profile, no one's going to find you.

I've never put my home address anywhere on such sites as Literotica and yet I've had two posters reveal they found my address and one of them showed up on my doorstep. So, they can find such information out on their own.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I've never put my home address anywhere on such sites as Literotica and yet I've had two posters reveal they found my address and one of them showed up on my doorstep. So, they can find such information out on their own.

And how did anonymous comments allow them to find you?

 

[KeithD]

And how did anonymous comments allow them to find you?

In one instance the comments weren't anonymous. It was a different site (but I didn't provide an address). In the other it was comments in my stories.

Or were you thinking that this thread was still on topic?

 

[darkride]

I just want to tack this on somewhere, cos I need to speak, cos - oh good lord people!

Firstly yes, I get the annoying anon attacks... Sure, water off a duck's back. All good.

But, I have just received an anon feedback that has realllly annoyed me. Why? The person asked when the next chapter is coming out. It was anonymous........ So how can I even attempt to tell the person?

This is further perplexing given that I just had a comment go live yesterday saying I have submitted the next chapter for approval! So - it will appear soon, subject to vetting, which I have no control over.

*shakes head*

Ok, I'm better.

 

[RejectReality]

I just want to tack this on somewhere, cos I need to speak, cos - oh good lord people!

Firstly yes, I get the annoying anon attacks... Sure, water off a duck's back. All good.

But, I have just received an anon feedback that has realllly annoyed me. Why? The person asked when the next chapter is coming out. It was anonymous........ So how can I even attempt to tell the person?

This is further perplexing given that I just had a comment go live yesterday saying I have submitted the next chapter for approval! So - it will appear soon, subject to vetting, which I have no control over.

*shakes head*

Ok, I'm better.

I had someone anonymously send me about a 5000 word essay of questions about a multi-part story once. It had to be 10 or 15 fairly detailed questions — with no bloody way to reply to it. LOL ( trying to make my magic work under D&D rules )

 

[nice90sguy]

I sometimes wonder whether disallowing anonymous comments means that anon readers would downvote a story instead of just posting a critical commment. Do you think that allowing/disallowing anonymous comments affects story score?

 

[SimonDoom]

I sometimes wonder whether disallowing anonymous comments means that anon readers would downvote a story instead of just posting a critical commment. Do you think that allowing/disallowing anonymous comments affects story score?

I doubt it would have much of an impact. I have followed my story scores closely enough at times to know that the one bombs I receive don't seem to have a close correlation with whether or not I'm getting comments.

 

[enbiji]

Norwegians have barcodes, not surnames. They're sensitive about this, please be a bit more delicate.

Certainly their military ships have barcodes...so they can Scandinavian

 

[enbiji]

If you eliminated anonymous comments, the most obvious impact would be fewer comments. Personally, I like getting lots of feedback, so I'd be opposed to anything that discourages comments.

When I receive a comment I feel is unfair or simply insulting without adding anything, I will consider exercising my option to "moderate" (delete) it.

 

[Bamagan]

I sometimes wonder whether disallowing anonymous comments means that anon readers would downvote a story instead of just posting a critical commment. Do you think that allowing/disallowing anonymous comments affects story score?

In all likelihood, anyone who takes the time to leave a critical comment will have already downvoted the story, since that requires even less effort. I suppose they might try to take the trouble to vote multiple 1s in a fit of pique at being denied an outlet for their scorn, or visit your catalog to downvote other items. But it might be helpful to the site if they act in such a way, since it marks them as a troll to be blacklisted.

 

[nice90sguy]

Certainly their military ships have barcodes...so they can Scandinavian

You forgot "badumm, tssss" at the end of your post

 

[enbiji]

I sometimes wonder whether disallowing anonymous comments means that anon readers would downvote a story instead of just posting a critical commment. Do you think that allowing/disallowing anonymous comments affects story score?

I think it would be difficult to establish a correlation between negative comments and one-star reviews, at least from the outside, because the comments seem to get reviewed before being posted. So they wouldn't show up at the same time as the vote. I think.

Even the "favorite" indicator and the vote don't always seem to track.

I may be wrong, that's just what I believe I have observed.

 

[nice90sguy]

I have them turned off, because I like people to be polite. Call me a snowflake.

Go on, call me a snowflake.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

As a writer, any feedback is essential. None of us can get enough. The writer is in a blind spot. When you read back your own stuff, it's extremely easy to miss what's not there, since your brain inherently knows all of the motives and the behind-the-scenes and will tend to automatically fill in what is not there. If there is some element that you did not establish well enough, often the only way to know is for a reader to criticize by telling you it didn't make sense or add up, or didn't draw them in enough. This is invaluable.

Remember, writing is not about what you wrote. That process is over before you even publish. Writing is about the reading experience. Your readers are telling you about their reading experience and you don't want to hear about it? It's pretty foolish.

"I just don't understand why your character would do that."

and ...

"Why the fuck would your character do that? This is stupid."

... are telling you the exact same thing. If you dismiss the second one, it's your ego telling you to get butthurt and ignore it. When you do this you do not grow nor improve as a writer because you are throwing away valuable feedback. It also shows that you are not here to write the best stories that you can. You're here just to hear people tell you how awesome you are.

Just ignore the rudeness, pick out the facts and get better at writing. Write fearless. You won't regret it.