andraste: The reason half the internet imagines me as Patrick Stewart. (Default)
Andraste ([personal profile] andraste) wrote2012-08-25 08:52 pm
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Kudos For Kudos

Hanging around the internet as I do, I've seen grumbling in various places about the AO3's Kudos button. This is mainly because some people feel that it discourages readers from leaving actual comments. I just felt moved to say that that this is not true for my work - I get more kudos than I ever got comments on things, and the kudos keeps turning up. It's always been rare for me to get comments or e-mail about a story or vid I posted years ago, but kudos never seems to stop coming. Both from people I know have been reading my work for a long time (you know who you are - and thanks!) and from people who, as far as I can tell, have never communicated with me before in any way. (Also from people who either don't have accounts or don't post logged in, so I cannot tell who they might be. Thank you, mysterious internet strangers.) People who have something to say other than 'I liked this!' still seem to comment, as well.

This came to mind today because, as some of you already know, I've been having kind of a rough time lately. It's just really nice that every afternoon I get an e-mail amounting to 'hey, people like that thing you made!' Even though I've barely posted fic in ages, it reminds me that there are still readers out there.

Reading on the AO3 has also got me sending way more feedback than I have in years. I used to be pretty good back in the mailing list days (when dinosaurs roamed the earth ...) but became terrible after everything moved to livejournal. Now I can bookmark things and go back later, and if I can't think of anything to say I can just hit the kudos button to express my general positive feelings.

So, y'know, I am grateful for the attention and encourage you to continue pressing the button if you feel moved to do so *g*.
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lizbee: (DW: Romana (scarf))

[personal profile] lizbee 2012-08-25 11:09 am (UTC)(link)
I like kudos as well! Sometimes I wish I had more substantive feedback, especially for fics which are quite long, but I'm not going to complain.

Also, I didn't know you're having a rough time, but I just saw an alert pop up to tell me there was a post from you in my friends list, and it made me really happy. So, um, yes.
andraste: Why, yes, this is my tentacle sex icon ... (Shiny Objects)

[personal profile] andraste 2012-08-26 12:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I like kudos as well! Sometimes I wish I had more substantive feedback, especially for fics which are quite long, but I'm not going to complain.

Yeah, there are certainly times when it just makes me say 'BUT WHAT DID YOU LIKE?', but it is a whole lot better than silence.

Also, I didn't know you're having a rough time, but I just saw an alert pop up to tell me there was a post from you in my friends list, and it made me really happy. So, um, yes.

Aw, thank you. It is a long story involving Exciting New Symptoms and a superspy psychiatrist, but I think I'm getting a little better now.
lilacsigil: Japanese girl writing (Write)

[personal profile] lilacsigil 2012-08-25 11:53 am (UTC)(link)
I agree! My comment count (while never huge) has slightly increased and then there's the lovely email saying people read and liked my fic! It's really cheering.
andraste: Cooking. With Superman. (Cooking With Superman)

[personal profile] andraste 2012-08-26 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I especially love getting it on old stuff - I mean, really old stuff. Sometimes people send it for things I wrote back in 2000!
katta: Photo of Diane from Jake 2.0 with Jake's face showing on the computer monitor behind her, and the text Talk geeky to me. (Default)

[personal profile] katta 2012-08-25 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I've noticed that I miss kudos when reading on journals. "Oh, this story is pretty nice, but I don't have much to say about it. I should leave kudos. Oh wait, journal. Never mind then." I don't tend to comment on those stories, unless I very much want the author to know that the story is appreciated (because it's a rare pairing or whatever.) So the kudos are a plus, not an instead-of, where I'm concerned.
lizbee: A sketch of myself (Default)

[personal profile] lizbee 2012-08-25 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
There's a person on my flist who puts a poll with a radio button on her fics now -- "I would like to leave kudos for this story". I really like the idea, but am much too lazy to implement it.
katta: Photo of Diane from Jake 2.0 with Jake's face showing on the computer monitor behind her, and the text Talk geeky to me. (Default)

[personal profile] katta 2012-08-26 07:48 am (UTC)(link)
I really like the idea, but am much too lazy to implement it.

Same here, on both counts!
andraste: The reason half the internet imagines me as Patrick Stewart. (Default)

[personal profile] andraste 2012-08-26 12:06 pm (UTC)(link)
That is a great idea, although I suspect I am also too lazy to actually do it *g*.

Someone should probably suggest to Dreamwidth that they could put some kind of optiona 'like' function on posts. Given the percentage of the community that consists of writers, artists, vidders, etc. it could be handy. (Especially with the option to turn it on and off for individual posts.)
andraste: Cthulu (Cthulu Browses the Menu)

[personal profile] andraste 2012-08-26 02:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, this is one of the reasons I got so bad at leaving feedback on livejournal. I often feel I don't have anything to say beyond 'I like this!' which hardly seems worth opening a comment to say. Having a button to push that conveys this without having to type anything is great.
lizvogel: lizvogel's fandoms. The short list. (Fandom Epilepsy)

[personal profile] lizvogel 2012-08-25 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Kudos to this post!

Sorry. ;-) But seriously, from a reader perspective, it's nice to have a quick & easy way to give positive feedback without having to struggle to come up with something cleverer than "I liked it!" (Though I do wish it were possible to leave comments without having an AO3 account.)

Wonder how long it'll be before leaving a comment that just says "Kudos!" becomes standard on LJ/DW?
andraste: Debonair Doctor (Fourth Doctor)

[personal profile] andraste 2012-08-26 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Kudos to this post!

Sorry. ;-)

It's like a giant circle of kudos! Or something.

But seriously, from a reader perspective, it's nice to have a quick & easy way to give positive feedback without having to struggle to come up with something cleverer than "I liked it!" (Though I do wish it were possible to leave comments without having an AO3 account.)

Actually, you can do that! You need to type in an e-mail address (which doesn't get posted - it's just for anti-spam purposes) but you don't actually need an account.

Wonder how long it'll be before leaving a comment that just says "Kudos!" becomes standard on LJ/DW?

I haven't seen anyone doing it so far, but I certainly wouldn't object. It conveys at least as much information as 'I liked this!' and takes less time to type *g*.
lizvogel: lizvogel's fandoms. The short list. (Fandom Epilepsy)

[personal profile] lizvogel 2012-09-06 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, you can do that! You need to type in an e-mail address (which doesn't get posted - it's just for anti-spam purposes) but you don't actually need an account.

That's useful to know! Thanks.

I haven't left any simple "Kudos!" comments myself, but now I'm looking at this and wondering why not?

[identity profile] redfiona99.livejournal.com 2012-08-27 04:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Nothing to say other than I totally agree.
andraste: Live Long and Prosper (Rimmer Salute)

[personal profile] andraste 2012-08-28 08:18 am (UTC)(link)
Nothing to say other than I totally agree.

This is exactly the situation where a kudos button would be handy *g*.
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