I know that I used to be a lot better about leaving feedback. I'd try and leave 'detailed' fb, such as "I really liked this because... etc. etc." and felt like I was contributing and part of the dialog.
But then, in one of my older fandoms (where most of the stories/posts were here, on lj rather than a site), about four different authors left in the span of approximately six months. All of them said basically the same thing: I'm leaving. So long, it's been great but I'm done and my work will be gone in another week or so.
Now, I could have understood if one author did that, or maybe two. But after the first one, it seemed like it was every few weeks where someone else did the same thing. (I really hope they weren't sock puppets but weirder things have happened right?) and I just felt devastated. To me (and because yes, it was my 'fandom' life, and my life is all about me), it seemed there was one common thread -- it was, somehow, my fault. Now granted, I was hardly the only reader/follower but still. (And none of them claimed to leave because of school, serious illness, new job, marriage, etc. -- all of which would make sense.) Clearly, I was being too demanding or putting too much stress on them or something of the sort -- in other words, my fault. And me, being clueless as usual, had not realized it until it was too late.
That was when I started pulling back and not leaving much feedback. In Tolkien fandom, I like to think I've done a bit better but it's very hard. Even now, I have the feeling that merely writing this will somehow cause a jinx. I guess I'd rather leave little fb rather than see people I really like leave. (Yes, I would feel that I had somehow driven them off.)
As for AO3: I like being able to leave kudos. I only wish I could leave it more than once (which is why some of my comments on longer fics read: kudos again.) And I love being able to download fics in pdf or whatever format. But it doesn't have the same sense of community there as other fan sites do, which is too bad.
Ok, that's all for now. (And I apologise for being such a drama queen.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2017-03-24 05:20 pm (UTC)But then, in one of my older fandoms (where most of the stories/posts were here, on lj rather than a site), about four different authors left in the span of approximately six months. All of them said basically the same thing: I'm leaving. So long, it's been great but I'm done and my work will be gone in another week or so.
Now, I could have understood if one author did that, or maybe two. But after the first one, it seemed like it was every few weeks where someone else did the same thing. (I really hope they weren't sock puppets but weirder things have happened right?) and I just felt devastated. To me (and because yes, it was my 'fandom' life, and my life is all about me), it seemed there was one common thread -- it was, somehow, my fault. Now granted, I was hardly the only reader/follower but still. (And none of them claimed to leave because of school, serious illness, new job, marriage, etc. -- all of which would make sense.) Clearly, I was being too demanding or putting too much stress on them or something of the sort -- in other words, my fault. And me, being clueless as usual, had not realized it until it was too late.
That was when I started pulling back and not leaving much feedback. In Tolkien fandom, I like to think I've done a bit better but it's very hard. Even now, I have the feeling that merely writing this will somehow cause a jinx. I guess I'd rather leave little fb rather than see people I really like leave. (Yes, I would feel that I had somehow driven them off.)
As for AO3: I like being able to leave kudos. I only wish I could leave it more than once (which is why some of my comments on longer fics read: kudos again.) And I love being able to download fics in pdf or whatever format. But it doesn't have the same sense of community there as other fan sites do, which is too bad.
Ok, that's all for now. (And I apologise for being such a drama queen.)