Comments up at AO3?

[birdsofshore]

I hesitated about posting this, because it might be annoying to read if you're NOT getting comments, but I decided to go for it anyway. It's not often we hear good news about comments!

I feel like there might have been an upsurge in commenting at AO3. I was lucky and had comments for my erised fic over the last few weeks, and I'm still getting the odd one on that fic which is lovely, but in general, I'm getting one or two comments (on other fics) most days. This is NOT usually the case for me, and it's quite delightful.

Do you think there might be a swing back towards interacting with writers, rather than just leaving Kudos or navigating away? It would be super if there was. Kudos and hits are all very well, but comments - oh, nothing makes my heart go pitter-pat like a real juicy comment. ♥ Thank you so much to all of you who still leave them, whether here or on AO3.

EDITED TO ADD: this is in no way meant to make people feel uncomfortable or pressured about comments. I know some people get stressed about commenting / not commenting. DON'T WORRY! Read fic and be happy.

Comments

[notearchiver.livejournal.com]

I haven't been getting an upsurge in comments, but I've been getting a huge upsurge in kudos, which is very strange seeing as I haven't posted anything but my Yuletide in months upon months, and my YT won't exactly attract mainstream attention.

As for comments, I can only guess that it started during the holiday season, then people decided to do some sort of NY's resolution for commenting, and then people just keep going with it. Well, I don't know. What the hell, I don't really get comments because I don't post much of my writing.

[birdsofshore]

I wondered about that! Whether it was a new year's thing, or whether there was some drive on another platform I don't use, to get people commenting or something. That's really interesting about an upsurge in Kudos. Another thought I had was that people were perhaps coming back to HP fandom, with the upcoming films and the plays bringing it back into people's minds?

[afrozenflowerr.livejournal.com]

Indeed, comments are always lovely. <3
I have been trying to comment more on what I read because I have been such a lazy reader when I first started getting into fanfics. I don't know if more people are starting to interact with writers or not, but it is good to know it is happening! :)

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I have to say that lately I seem to have an upswing in comments as well. And come to think on it, most of them seem to stem from AO3. I don't know if new people are 'finding' my fics, or if people are just commenting more, but it's nice to have the feedback.

[alisanne.livejournal.com]

Commenting for me at AO3 seems steady (no upswing here), but they do come in, which is lovely! No complaints. :)

[helenarickman.livejournal.com]

I like leaving kudos on AO3 so the writer will, at the very least, know I read their story and liked it. I don't like kudos on AO3 on my works because I believe for all the work I put into a story, a nice comment is appreciated. I know, I'm a hypocrite. But I will leave comments on AO3 on occasion myself it I am truly moved by a story.

Truth is, I also post on Ash/Syc and TPP. I don't think I get near as many story reads on those and much fewer comments (than kudos), but those are my "go-to" sites for reading as well as posting so you take what you can get. I do hope there is a swing back towards more comments, though, only because it is the polite thing to do.

[digthewriter]

I think maybe people are finally settling in from the holiday stress and reading long fics.

I don't subscribe to kudos notification so i have no idea when ppl leave me kudos, but not much has changed for me for comments, though, also possibly b/c I didn't write for anything big this holiday season!

♥ Hopefully commenting more will become a thing again!

[birdsofshore]

Gosh, I used to read and not comment when I got into fandom. I think that's true for a lot of people. It was only really when I joined LJ and then I saw some really stellar commenting and realised there was a whole community here, of amazing people, all just being excellent to each other (er, most of the time ;)).

*frown* I think however it may mean I have never commented on some of my favourite fics. That's pretty crap.

[lauren3210.livejournal.com]

I know that I got a bit of an upsurge in ao3 comments in December, and not just on the fest fics that had been posted recently, but across the board. I think it might have something to do with Tumblr, because there's been a post that I've seen on my dash loads of times, explaining the kinds of things people could say in comments and urging them to leave even just a word or two on the fics that they read and enjoy (and I had one comment apologising that they hadn't commented before now and saying that Tumblr had reminded them to do so, which was sweet).

And I agree; kudos and hits are lovely, and I do like getting that daily email telling me how many kudos I've had, but a notification of a new comment always makes my smile just that little bit bigger!

[birdsofshore]

This is interesting to hear! And very good news, too.

[birdsofshore]

That's nice to hear, as well. I'm glad you're appreciated <3

[birdsofshore]

I know, I'm a hypocrite

Ah, none of us are perfect! I didn't post this to make anyone feel criticised or pressured to leave comments. Just to say how nice it is when someone does, really!

[birdsofshore]

It's interesting to see how holidays affect Kudos and comments and so on. I remember there was one year that America seemed to spend most of Thanksgiving reading H/D smut, from the sudden surge in my Kudos notifications. ;)

Why do you choose not to get notifications, by the way? If you don't mind me asking, of course.

[firethesound]

I've noticed a decent upswing in comments, too. It started around the time of Erised reveals, so I assumed it was people finding me through my submission there and then clicking through to read other things. I've recently had an upswing in kudos as well, a good number of which are one person going through and clicking kudos on a lot of things in a row. So yeah, I've blamed Erised. But the whole new year's thing makes a lot of sense, too. I've noticed with myself, now that we're past the whole holiday craziness thing, I've been leaving more comments than I did pre-holidays.

[capitu]

This is lovely to hear, more comments are love. Can't say that enough. :)

[digthewriter]

I'd turned it off a while ago b/c I was getting way too many notifications and emails and I would get excited about getting a comment, and realise it wasn't one. I turned it off as a test, and then I just never turned it back on.

[birdsofshore]

Ah, I did wonder if there was such a thing happening at tumblr, that was one of my theories. I will sit on my hands and not grumble on about the irony of tumblr encouraging people to interact with one another... ;)

I know from past discussions that some people do find it stressful to leave comments and I hope nothing I've said would make anyone feel awkward or obliged to do it. But that post with encouraging suggestions about comments sounds like a really good thing.

[birdsofshore]

Yay, I'm so pleased to hear it's not just me imagining it! I am such a comment whore, I know the quantities I'm getting are not impressive or anything, but they are madly appreciated.

I'm glad you're getting plenty of post-erised love. ♥

[birdsofshore]

Hey, is it your post on commenting that's going around at tumblr? If not, get it on there! It's the best.

[birdsofshore]

I only get one email re: Kudos a day, I don't know if that's the case for everyone... It would drive me mad to get individual ones, I think, nice as they are!

[kitty_fic]

I've noticed a few more comments on a some of my older fics as well. Mostly it's just 1 or 2 specific fics, but I'm always surprised when I get a comment notification since I haven't written or posted anything new in quite some times

[capitu]

!!! I never even thought of it!! My tumblr is basically my_drarry_recs at tumblr though, so I'm not sure if it's a good place to post it. But maybe putting it at AO3?

Something to think about!


Wait, I just read this wrong. No, I don't think it's my post that's going around. I don't hang out a lot at tumblr, only to crosspost recs and love some art and awesome posts going around. I should check it out though, sounds like it's a great thing going on!

[birdsofshore]

I seem to be getting comments on all sorts of things - I seem to have two lovely people working their way through my masterlist, which is the BIGGEST compliment ever. But just random people commenting on random old fics, too, which is like getting an unexpected present in the post <3

I'm glad you've noticed it, too!

[capitu]

Where is this post? Do you have a link to it? I'd love to see it! :)

[birdsofshore]

No, I did mean that you should put your post on! It's a lovely thing - can we post meta at AO3?