LET’S TALK FEEDBACK
this is not going to be a complaint disguised as a plea. this won’t be a long rant about the barren state of the Comment section on AO3. this is going to be a discussion, open to criticism and debate. my opinion might be an unpopular one but it’s mine and i’m going to share it since, yo, i’ve got enough people reading my shit to merit a chat about this.
as many of you know, i am a Fandom Content Creator; a fic writer and a part-time fanartist. i’ve been in a number of fandoms before i put roots down in The Hobbit. i’ve been participating in fandom culture since i was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 13yo.
back in those days, fandom forums were just picking up steam. it was the gold rush of fanfic and feedback; for the first time, people had places to share their content/opinions with a larger group of equally as enthusiastic fangoers. everyone posted, everyone commented, everyone participated. no matter what fandom you Alice’d into, you were guaranteed to find engagement on your works. (with some exceptions. let’s face it, at the time it was really for the eager, in-the-know, tech savvy teens/YAs and what was popular amongst them.)
on a related note, i’d like to mention that Lurkers aren’t new; they’ve been around since the dawn of broadly public fandom *raises fist in solidarity* they may not be the bread-and-butter of fandom but you know shit just got serious when a Lurker comes out of the shadows to drop an opinion.
obviously, time moved things along and the internet became less exciting and more incorporated. people - everyone, fam, not just the “new generation” - started seeking easy-to-digest content. consuming faster than fast-fashion. everything is snap-your-fingers quick these days. and so, expressing one’s excitement for something one just consumed fell to the wayside with the introduction of the Kudos button. it’s not a sense of entitlement, it’s a sense of choosing the easier, faster option. after reading a 30 chapter saga, who wants to bother mustering the strength?
WANNA TALK FAST, EASY TO COMSUME. THIS? THIS ARTICLE? IT’S TOO LONG. I’VE LOST HALF OF YOU ALREADY ... HIT LIKE ANYWAY
with so much content to consume, i’m not surprised. if you’re reading 5 fics a day, or if you’re hella busy with life things, you’re not going to prioritize giving a stranger written praise for their work unless the story seriously changed your life. it takes time, energy, things we can’t often, or, frankly, simply don’t want to spare.
i’m not innocent of placing the same value on Kudos as content creators do on Comments. shit, i am a content creator and i still only leave comments on my friends’ works or on works in the fandom i’m devouring (currently that would be Sterek). and even then, it’s like i said, God needs to have spoken to me through that fic. understand, that doesn’t mean i didn’t LOVE everything i read. realistically, however, not everything had enough substance to stir up a flowery poem of my devotion to the author.
although, if i made it to the end and hit Kudos, the fic was awesome. there’ve been plenty that i’ve raved about to friends but haven’t commented on simply because #butwhytho. i consume free content all over the internet, the ish i interact with is ish i’m a paid subscriber to.
and yet, those fics definitely deserved a Comment. even a “👍 - thx for sharing, brah”.
i’m as garbage as everyone else. it’s the new norm.
STILL WITH ME? HOW MANY HAVEN’T DIVED OVERBOARD??
however. if you be reading a WIP as it’s going up, Kudos ain’t gonna cut it, are they? because you can only hit that gem once. so, please allow me to put my fanfic author’s hat on while i tell you why participation/interaction/engagement is important in those scenarios.
let me start by saying: dudes, i don’t need Comments to sustain myself. they are not actually fuel for my personal validation, i can live/breathe/exist happily and positively without them. but i promise you, without Comments, without interaction or engagement, my interest/motivation/energy will wane and i’ll redirect it elsewhere, in a newer, shinier idea. i’m a writer. i’m always going to write. how consistent i am with WIPs can be measured both in how busy my day-to-day is (i.e: RL priorities), and my commitment to my readers. which, let’s open a can of honesty here: if i’m not feeling the enthusiasm, receiving an inkling of participation, i’m going drop it and find something that gets my engines revving again.
fandom is predominantly a hobby. hobbies are meant to bring a person joy or peace. fandom is also a very public hobby and when you’re a content creator, posting your work, let’s be real: you’re doing so with the intention of receiving feedback. you don’t post things on the internet because you want to keep them to yourself 🙄
we’re all human. we like to share our excitement and our passion. we like to feel validated and valued. it’s normal.
regardless, as disappointing as it may be not to receive that kind of validation we’re looking for, taking up a hobby like fandom means we can’t hate on anonymous strangers and demand they Comment on our jazz because they got used to consuming as it is on every other media platform. fanfic has gone the way of EVERYTHING ELSE on the internet and feedback has been reduced to “leave however many stars you think This Content merits”.
I’M TOTALLY ALONE NOW, AREN’T I? TALKING TO MYSELF ...
therefore, understand consumers, that content creators are then more likely to wander off and find somewhere more validating to participate in. i, personally, think i’d do very well in the baking community...
so, what can be done about it? that’s up to the readers, and whether or not they wanna see a WIP finished or a creator contribute more content to the fandom. but, hey, authors, guess what? it’s okay to do what you can and guide your readers as well, eh? leave a massive, in bold note at the end asking readers to leave a thumbs-up in the Comment section; bribe them, name a star after them, i don’t know, but we can’t slack in that area either just because we’re working our asses off writing. we chose this, we have to accept every piece of it.
on my part, i swear i’m going to get better. even if that means simply leaving a series of emojis; i’m going to practice Commenting more.
engagement is especially important in the smaller fandoms. i mean, come on, we can all tell The Hobbit fandom is no longer the massive battleship it once was. it’s shrunk. it’s a fucken kayak. hence why it’s detrimental to participate; not doing so is how fandoms fade into the ether, only to be resuscitated a decade or two down the line when a big budget, HBO or Netflix remake or series is released.
Comments work in a way Kudos can’t. firstly, it proves people are interested, looking forward to an update, participating. secondly, an author can reply with their appreciation. fam, it doesn’t have to turn into a conversation, just let the author express their gratitude 😆
to those i didn’t lose halfway through, thank you for taking the time; i sincerely appreciate it 😊
xx - Mari 💗
