God Iām about to drag up an embarrassing personal anecdote, but it fits for this.
So something like 10+ years ago, when I was still a relatively new fic writer, it was in fandom vogue for people to put āComment Ransom Demandsā on their fics, saying things along the lines of āI wonāt post the next chapter unless I get so many commentsā And I saw it worked well for other writers I was following, so I did the same thing on one of my fics. I immediately got called out on it by a reader, who, rightly, said they were turned off from reading and discouraged to continue engaging with me if I was going to āgo on a snitā about comments every chapter. (I do remember they exactly called it a āsnitā and it stuck with me because thatās exactly what it was. I basically threw a tantrum because people werenāt giving me the attention I thought they should be)
I was embarrassed at the time, and ashamed, I never tried holding a chapter update for ransom again (and Iām so glad that trend died out quickly). And even now looking back at something I did 12 years ago, Iām still embarrassed about it, but Iāll be damned if that person didnāt teach me a valuable lesson that day.
Content Creators cannot control how Content Consumers interact with whatever they create.
Thatās just a fact of fandom. You cannot demand all your readers leave a comment. You cannot demand everyone who likes your art also reblogs. You canāt control what people do or how they enjoy your stuff.
You can, however, ensure Fewer people enjoy what you make when you tack on a Huge Guilt Trip to everything you make.
As a Content Creator, do I wish I could get comments from every single person who reads my works? Absolutely. Do I feel a little hurt and low when I see some other fic getting more attention than mine? Yes, occasionally I do.
Would I not create nearly as much as I do, if it werenāt for people who leave comments. Maybe Yes Maybe no. I know I have some fics in my library that I only continued because of one or two dedicated commenters.
Of course Content Creators love feedback, and we want to engage in conversations with the people who like what we make, or we just want to see the nice things people have to say about what we made.
As a Content Consumer, though, I am SO GRATEFUL there are a number of non-comment ways to show my enjoyment for whatever Iām consuming. Because, god, if I was ācontractually obligatedā to leave a comment on every fic I read or reblog every piece of fanart I like I would consume So Much Less Content.
There are a hundred thousand reasons any person can have for not leaving a comment or rebloging a piece of fanart, and nobody should have to explain any of their reasons. Nobody should feel guilty for leaving a comment box empty.
Feedback is important and necessary to building a healthy and active fandom! But nothing kills fandom participation faster than making Demands of People and adding Guilt and Anxiety to their Fandom experience.
