Jun
8th
2012
Got my first down vote · 6:02am Jun 8th, 2012
Feels good man.
But in all seriousness, I'd like to highlight a problem of rating systems, especially when they aren't tied to reviews. As an author, there really isn't anything more frustrating than a thumbs down without any reason why. If there is something wrong with a work that you don't like, most authors I would expect would like to know why. So, at the very least, they can find some way to improve their writing.
I'm sure the writers on FiMfiction would appreciate it if you left reviews along with your thumbs downs. After all, they can't fix something if they don't know that it is wrong.
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Ponisattva · 612 views
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I'll usually leave a reason for any down vote I personally make. Unless it's it's feature box foalrapegorn. They know why they got downvoted.
But also keep in mind that the thumbs are essentially a popularity gauge based on subjective preference. And their utility in indicating quality is rather incidental.
The voting system is used by most as a 'Do I like this or not' tool. It's a personal thing, not a rating system in use or practice, really. So, the users mostly engage in simple premise ratings, not doing what the system was intended for.
In all fairness a better system would be far more complicated, unless they just removed downvotes.
1225958
Hi dpv!
Nice seeing you here, how's your day?
1232004
Not bad. It's 2am and I'm sippin wine and lookin for laughs.
1232010
Brandy here, and 5 am, har.
If it be laughs you seek, then this story, is where you should peek.
The Turning of Screwball.
Or if you haven't read it yet, this short oneshot my co-author made of Twilight on Earth. ^^
1232014
Ah yes, I know that one.
But I am more in the mood for GameGrumps and IRC shenanigans.
1232016
And the twilight fic I apperently editted in a little too slow? ^^
(game grumps is tres funny btw.)
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Is that in your universe setting? I thought it was EG.
1232024
tuttut, Non, it is indeed in the verse of our creation.
1232034
Heh.
The thing is, 'tell me what's wrong with my story so I can fix it' is an attitude that's more suited for when you're explicitly asking for a critical review from someone, like EQD or your prereaders. Readers don't think like that. Readers are more likely to downvote your story because they don't like the pairing, or they're having a bad day, or even just to be a jerk, than because there's anything 'wrong' with it that needs to be fixed.
Huh this got me thinking, maybe when you downvote there could be a tick box that pops up with things like bad grammar, bad plot ect that you tick. Let the downvoter preserve their anonymity while letting the author have rough idea of why their story has downvotes.
I don't often hit the thumbs down button. But when I do, the reasons either (a) can't be explained in any reasonable length of time (and/or they are entirely subjective), or (b) they should be extremely obvious to anyone with a middling grasp of the English language by reading a paragraph or two of the story (sometime even just the description).
For that reason, it's uncommon for me to leave a comment saying why I voted the story down. For stories that I do enjoy but have problems with, I often comment on those problems as I encounter them; as a recent example, I was reading a story which included a custody court case being held in New York, but the story described the lawyers making opening statements to a jury, and later had the judge decide on the verdict without any input from said jury at all.
I most often get mileage out of my downvotes by running across the same story months later, realizing I'd already decided it wasn't something I wanted to read, and I get to avoid wasting my time on it again. A few weeks ago there was a story I'd downvoted that appeared in the featured box. I didn't remember reading it before, but the first two chapters were marked read and the story was downvoted, so I didn't bother trying to read it a second time, despite its apparent popularity.
I've got a total of 18 downvotes between my 6 published stories, but it doesn't really bother me that they don't correspond to any negative comments.
(All stories that I upvote get put on my favorites list when I finish reading them. It makes for a convenient way to find the stories that I liked, makes sure I see them if and when chapters get added, and gives me notifications for any blog posts related to the story, such as sequels.)