#ruby makes a psa

[incessantwritersblock]

Re: Tagging

I hate that I've had to resort to this. On my last blog, I didn't have to regulate tagging whatsoever, and it was one of the best things on the planet. Now, unfortunately, I'm not so lucky, and it saddens my soul because I hate that this has to be put into practice. It makes things ten times worse for both you and me, but if I don’t it only hurts me more.

Now, I know people are going to call me a bitch for what I'm about to do. This exact thing happened to one of my dear friends, and the backlash she received was utterly despicable. 

Let me start out with this. You are not entitled to the stories that people write. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, maybe even felt a bit guilty, but posts about this entitlement are meant to spark change in how we perceive our marvelous authors. If you’ve ever created content, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Time, effort, and heart all go into creating a story. This can be in the format of art, edits, writing, and all the magnificent content artists create. Every time you pass by some work you enjoyed without stating that you enjoyed it, you’re saying it wasn’t worth your time and effort. You’re saying the exact opposite of how you feel. That then discourages the artist, and does the exact opposite of what both parties want. 

Now, I know you aren’t gonna read this. How do I know? I answer countless questions I receive with a direction to my FAQ, Disclaimer, previous posts, or annotations in my works. I know this is just going to be another reference to questions, but maybe the fact that I’m addressing the elephant in the room will make it easier for everyone to understand the reasoning behind it. This goes back to my previous point. A lot of time, content consumers don’t take into account that there is a creator behind every piece of content. Content creators are people. They do not live their lives to serve you. Respect their work. Respect their time. Respect them. They do not do this for money. They do it because they enjoy it, and they think others might enjoy it as well. So, if you enjoy it, tell them. Remind them that they’re not alone and that other people enjoy the same things. 

I’ve tried to avoid this problem by addressing it before, but nothing has changed since then, so here we are. I appreciate all of you more than you know, but this is a two way street. 

Therefore, I will be cleaning out my tag lists, and I will not be tagging everyone who asks in the future. I’m tired of tagging people who don’t follow me, have never reblogged my work, have never commented on my work, and have never liked my work. Despite what you may think, content creators do check their notes. I read every tag, I recognize urls, I even do special things for certain people sometimes. Even when I had my previous blog with 1,000+ followers, I knew who everyone was. I read every tag, I even reblogged some comments I enjoyed. I was hoping to do the same here to further the community of all of us on my blog, but I can’t without your help. Some of you are part of that community, but I know nothing about most of you, other than what I’ve seen on your blogs. I want to talk to you, discuss what you’d like to see from me. I can’t do that if I never see you on here. 

So, my new tagging rules are as follows. You must like and/or reblog a fic before you can ask to be tagged. Although, I will be more inclined to share more with someone who reblogs, which you should have read about in my previous posts. Back to the point, though. I’m tired of getting notes from people who don’t even follow me while the people I’m tagging aren’t even addressing my writing’s existence. I’m even debating on taking anon away, so that I won’t accept requests unless the previous criteria has been met. However, that hurts me by taking away that option for shy people to leave their kudos or requests. That’s just not fair to them, especially because I am a shy person who knows what that’s like. 

That’s the next step, though, so you at least have a heads up. Hopefully, the problem will resolve itself before this has to happen, but we’ll see. In the meantime, please remember that I love every one of you, but I do also know that I deserve support from those I care about. I hope that you’ve read through this post the same way you read my writing. I’d hope they matter to you because of the fact that they do matter to me. 

[incessantwritersblock]

vcneficae replied to your post “Only a Ghost”

This deserves more credit ok

Thank you so much, darling. I really appreciate the thought behind this comment, but it’s difficult for artists, writers, and content creators to expand their audience when an audience simply likes content.

See, when you reblog something, content gets exposed to a whole other audience who can then like and reblog the post. This helps the creator grow and expand. It also encourages them to improve and keep going with their creative endeavors. Liking a post only does so much because you don’t share the post, you keep it to yourself.

I’m not going to pretend like it’s not discouraging to get all likes on a post. While I do appreciate all the likes, replies, and notes you all give me, I also do feel like I’m not good enough to be on your blogs, and it does hurt a bit that people imply that they don’t want me to grow as an author even though I know that’s not the intent. Your likes are greatly valued, but sometimes, a reblog is as well. I understand that reblogging every fic is kind of impractical, but at least choose a few favorites. 

On Only a Ghost, I only received one reblog, and I teared up at the notification if I’m being honest. (S/O to @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme​) I appreciated that encouragement so much because you wanted to help me reach new people.

Long story short, if you like a fic, please reblog it. Other people might like it too, but who knows unless they’re exposed to it? If you reblog a fic, you will get more content like it, I guarantee you. If you think a fic is underrated, reblog it & help it get the credit you think it deserves.

This comment made me smile when I saw it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I try my best to write stories that both you and I will enjoy. Hearing that someone thinks one deserves more credit squeezed my heart in a bittersweet way. I’m so grateful for everyone who takes the time to read what I write, and I love getting all your feedback. Thank you so much for all your kind words.