Thoughts on fandom and feedback

[zubeneschamali]

This is kind of ironic given the comment I left in the post, but you should all go check out dugindeep's discussion of feedback and fandom and what's happening to both: http://dugindeep.livejournal.com/438044.html. I know LJ isn't completely dead; I still have multiple posts on personal and fic topics per day on my screen. So what can we do to make it more lively and ensure artists and authors keep producing?

Comments

LJ

[teacherkitty.livejournal.com]

I find LJ difficult to navigate.If someone gives me a direct link to a fic, that's fine. If I get an email that an author has posted something new, great. But searching for stuff? This is not a user friendly site. LOVE IT when authors cross post to AO3.

BTW - is the Winchester Ultimatum ever gonna happen?

Re: LJ

[dugindeep.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you regarding the usability of AO3 for the readers. But the awesome thing is it also has a comment button, so I hope you're keeping your authors updated on how much you're enjoying their works! :D

Re: LJ

[teacherkitty.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I always leave feedback for stories I enjoy - fanfiction, LJ, or AO3. I show my favorite authors lots of love :-)

Re: LJ

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on what you want out of it. The thing about LJ is that it's not just a fanfiction delivery system, it's a community. People talk about all sorts of things, not only fic. It's like Facebook or Twitter or anything else where you have a series of posts throughout the day from friends and follow along to see what they've been talking about.

And when it comes to fic, readers leave comments ranging from "squee!" or "I liked it!" to longer paragraphs explaining what they liked and why. And authors write back with "thanks!" or "I'm glad!" or an explanation of why they wrote that part the way they did. And a dialogue gets started. I've met some of my very best friends through commenting on their stories and having them comment on mine. That doesn't happen on other platforms as much, and it's sad that people miss out on friendships that way.

I understand that it's more convenient to get your fic from a site designed to deliver it to you as straightforwardly as possible. But I think there's a tendency then for people to not say why they liked something (or even if they liked it), just to demand more. It's easier to see there's a person behind the fic who has their own life and schedule and is doing this for fun in their own free time when you're conversing with them in the comments. And even an introvert like me enjoys those kinds of connections. :)

Re: LJ

[teacherkitty.livejournal.com]

I guess I've never used it for anything other than fanfiction. I ALWAYS leave feedback for my authors and have started conversations with authors on both fanfiction and AO3. In fact, I started beta'ing for two authors after long term conversations :-)

RE: Re: LJ

[locknkey.livejournal.com]

The thing about LJ is that it's not just a fanfiction delivery system, it's a community. This so much and I miss it terribly. You are right about the sense of community not being preset in other forums that are fannish in nature - at least in my experience - mostly because there is no really way to have dialog.

Re: LJ

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

I was pleased with myself for coming up with that term, so thanks for mentioning it. :) And yeah, even if it's a cliche, it's true: there's a community here that I haven't found in any other post-LJ platform. Hopefully we can keep it up!

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

I keep writing and playing in challenges! I love challenges and writing and reading stories.

While I do "kudos" on some fics, I do comment when a fic moves me/makes me happy/etc. I know how important each and every comment is to me as a writer, and I have to believe others feel the same. It's like comment-paying-forward: when I leave a comment, hopefully I will inspire the next person to do so also.

Shouting into the void - ha!!!!! How many times have I thought this? OMG, I feel that so often. It's hard to think that older-established, more well-known writers feel that too (and I've been writing 5 years, so I'm not a total n00b). Sometimes I wish that people on my flist or who participating in the same challenge or community as I'm writing in would actually read/comment on fics. Of course time is a factor, don't think I don;t know that, I know what it's like to juggle...but still.

Okay, shutting up now. See yall here and on AO3...in the comments.

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Yes, definitely! This is why I hate when I see "LJ is dead" or "remember when LJ" on Tumblr or Twitter, because dude, people are still here. Thanks for contributing to that. :)

[kalliel]

Thanks for linking this! I've spent this summer basically convincing myself that it is not my job to make fandom a good place, or a place I actually want to be, and accepting that it is going to feel isolating and frustratingly shitty 50% of the time--and TBH that's working out for me pretty well, idk. XD Mostly. But I'm also definitely interested to hear what other people's takes are, and we how people are feeling about this.

<3333!!!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Well, I feel bad for not commenting on your posts more often, as one of the people who is still quite active on my flist. Because it's all of our jobs, together, and I need to be better at it!

<3 <3 <3

[deirdre-c.livejournal.com]

♥!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

You are one of the reason I can't even imagine my life without having had LJ in it. *mwah*!

[electricalgwen.livejournal.com]

You and me both. <333