I'll still post when I happen to have a chapter ready (I was really hoping to finish Not So Far Away by now; there's like one, maybe two chapters left), but I won't be able to promise one every week. I was also
Hey everyone!Regarding the Like/Dislike System · 7:54pm Oct 13th, 2017
The like/dislike meter this site uses is a terrible mechanic. The intention behind the system appears to be to give both the writer of a fic and any potential readers a barometer of its overall quality... but even if it does serve that purpose feasibly well, it still suffers from a fundamental flaw: the existence of dislikes in the first place.
Disliking a fic doesn't help the author in any way. Constructive criticism can be an indispensable tool in helping an open-minded author improve their writing, but dislikes don't do that; they don't actually say anything at all, save perhaps "this is bad." The only purpose that serves is to make the author feel bad about their work, which can even discourage them from continuing at all. If you don't like a fic, leave a comment explaining why! Articulate what aspects of the fic turned you away from continuing to read it, and suggest ways the author might improve in the future.
Disliking a fic doesn't help readers all that much, either. It's far too easy to instinctively judge a fic based on its title and like/dislike ratio before you've even read the summary, much less the first chapter or two. While some may see this as a way to avoid 'wasting time' with fics they ultimately find uninteresting, it can also turn people away from a fic they would have enjoyed had they given it a chance!
There's no barrier to entry on dislikes; you can literally dislike a fic without reading a single word of it, for any or no reason. Comments are a different story - not only does it take far more effort to type out a coherent message than it does to simply click a thumbs-down button and move on, but it's difficult to leave a disparaging comment that actually means something if you haven't even read the fic.
The system would work better for everyone overall if dislikes were removed from the equation. I am far from the first to complain about them, and I doubt I'll be the last. Receiving them is frustrating, giving them is meaningless, and seeing them tells you nothing about why they're there in the first place.
Even being able to add a like dislike to your comment would be infinitely more constructive than the current system.
Well said!
Excessive Dislikes are to notify people that certain fics are not worth this community's time. Fall of Equestria and some of the more intense fetishes and gorefics are downvoted to remove them from view.
4697025
You say that as though the community here is a hive mind with a cohesive set of interests rather than a collection of individuals with unique sensibilities.
Fimfiction isn't a bookstore; it's a platform for amateur writers to share their fan works and, with a little luck, get some constructive criticism they can use to improve their writing. Being unpopular doesn't mean a fic doesn't deserve to exist.
If a fic delves into fetish territory without being properly tagged (or depicts objectively reprehensible things like pedophilia), then it should be reported, not downvoted.
4697528
I'm talking Fall of Equestria and other concepts abhorred by a very large segment of this site. I say bluntly, and will be backed up by popular opinion, that it is not wanted on here.
Also, if someone has 50 fanfics and is still accumulating excessive downvotes due to either bad writing or sheer bloody awful ideas, they obviously have no desire to change and downvotes don't matter to them.
4697584
That's all well and good for someone who continues to write an astounding amount of stories, or have written these monoliths of fandom.
But most people *aren't* like that. Most people have less than ten stories and don't get an excessive amount of dislikes, they get a few, and they only serve to kick people when they're down.
If what you're using the downvotes system for is to regulate the community, it feels like there'd be a better way to do so. One that isn't so... roundabout?
4698179
Ember: Again, my philosophy is 'your first nine downvotes are free'. Those are the ones you shake off/ignore outright. One of my fics went 15/15 before it evened out into a little more reasonable, but it's a standout among among my fics as a glaring example of 'not something we want from you'. Or they just didn't like what Futa-Scootaloo did to Pipsqueak. :P
If that doesn't work for everyone, I don't know what to suggest. Fimfiction started with the 'star - 5 star' system, but there were problems with that as well.
I hate to argue with you, especially since this is an older blog, but...
A couple weeks ago a rape fic popped up in the group 'Twilight is Best Pony'. Now, I didn't know it was a rape fic until I opened it, because it was in my feed for that group, and your feed doesn't give those details, just the title (which wasn't indicative of content). I opened the summary, was literally disgusted to the point of losing my appetite, and downvoted that trash. I then left the group because I have no interest in a group that allows authors to self-add that sort of garbage. It may not be the last one I leave for that reason, but here's hoping.
Downvoting was my only outlet for my disgust. I have nothing constructive to say to the author (in fact I blocked him, I don't want to talk to someone who would write that, his reasons mean nothing to me), so I wasn't going to waste my time or his telling him why I think he's wrong for writing that, or posting it to a group dedicated specifically to his victim. It felt like an extremely effective troll in that I was genuinely repulsed for days afterwards. It still bugs me, honestly.
You say it's not a hive mind, and you're right. A hive mind wouldn't need votes; there would be consensus. Democracies and such use voting systems... but they kind of don't work if there's only one voting option.
If you can't handle a few downvotes... don't write. This isn't a hobby that's easy on the ego. Downvotes are the vaguest, and most easily dismissed form of disapproval from someone who has no interest in confronting you. There could be a great many reasons for that, but taking away that outlet isn't going to be a positive. Do you think the people downvoting without comment will suddenly provide constructive criticism if you take it away? Not likely. If seeing them tells you nothing then just ignore them, but...
I could at least downvote that rape fic, and it made me feel a little better to see that scores of others had, too. It told me that plenty who'd seen this shared my disgust. It was reassuring in that moment when I was looking at something that existed in a fandom I really like being a part of. Now if I looked at it and only saw upvotes because downvotes weren't a thing? I might have thrown up. And then I might have confronted the guy because I'd feel like I needed to. Neither of us would have wanted that, and it would have accomplished nothing.
One of the problems with Facebook is that very thing: with no options to dislike (other than like the 'mad' emote, which is fairly new), likes have no real meaning. 'Oh, 12 people liked this' ...yeah, but maybe 30 people didn't and can't say so because we're too afraid of hurting feelings. So now we have a false positive and thirty people denied their voice. They shouldn't have to draw attention to themselves to express distaste. You're an author writing to be read. You want attention, whether a lot or a little. Maybe they don't. I can respect that.
It's ironic that the one person (before me) arguing in favor of dislikes is getting them. Who's the hypocrite?
4822465
Oh gods, wow. I am 300% onboard with you downvoting that story and leaving the group. That's absolutely vile.
You make a strong case, honestly. I still don't really like downvotes on the whole, but there's really no perfect system for this sort of thing, is there? It's mostly that it's easy to accentuate the negative in a case like this, even when it's the minority, and get discouraged when you're not super confident yet. After the success of my latest fic, I'm definitely more confident than I was when I wrote this.
4822468
That's really good to hear, and you've earned it.
You're right that it's not a perfect system... but there's no such thing. Humans are imperfect... any system we set up that is perfect would almost have to be purely by accident. That's okay though; perfection's boring. It is unfortunate that it can discourage writers with less confidence, even though I mean what I say when I say it's a tough hobby that requires a thick skin sometimes.