poll: how do you feel about comments on your old fanworks?

[frayadjacent]

I'm still a bit of a fandom noob, relatively speaking anyway. But I came to fandom through not-new shows, namely BtVS. So I often read and watch meta, fic, and vids that were made at least a couple of years ago, and in some cases more like 5-10 years ago (I don't generally find much older stuff than that on LJ/DW, where I tend to look). Now that's even more the case as I seem to be adding shows like Xena and Farscape to my fannish collection as rapidly as I am more current shows. 

And sometimes I find something made in 2007 or 2012 and I love it and want to leave feedback! But that seems potentially awkward or possibly unwanted. So I don't. (Also I have to admit I use this is as an excuse as much as areason.)

So, a poll! If you create fan works, do you like getting feedback/comments on old stuff, and if so, how old?

Poll #16105

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 51

View Respondents

What type of fanworks do you make most?

View Answers

meta
11 (21.6%)

vids
19 (37.3%)

fic
38 (74.5%)

icons/banners/etc
6 (11.8%)

fanart
2 (3.9%)

gifs
1 (2.0%)

podfic
5 (9.8%)

other or a combination
3 (5.9%)

How do you feel about feedback/comments on a fanwork you made 6 months to a year ago?

View Answers

Great! Comments are love.
50 (98.0%)

Eh, I'd rather they not. I'm over that thing.
0 (0.0%)

It's fine as long as it isn't concrit -- I already know what's wrong with it, thanks.
4 (7.8%)

It's not as great as more immediate comments, but it's fine.
0 (0.0%)

Something else I will tell you in the comments.
0 (0.0%)

How do you feel about feedback/comments on a fanwork you made 1-3 years ago?

View Answers

Great! Comments are love.
49 (96.1%)

Eh, I'd rather they not. I'm over that thing.
0 (0.0%)

It's good as long as it isn't concrit -- I already know what's wrong with it.
10 (19.6%)

It's not as great as more immediate comments, but it's fine.
1 (2.0%)

Something else I will tell you in the comments.
0 (0.0%)

How do you feel about feedback/comments on a fanwork you made more than 3 years ago?

View Answers

Great! Comments are love.
49 (98.0%)

Eh, I'd rather they not. I'm over that thing.
0 (0.0%)

It's fine as long as it isn't concrit -- I already know what's wrong with it.
11 (22.0%)

It's not as great as more immediate comments, but it's fine.
0 (0.0%)

Something else I will tell you in the comments.
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[luzula]

Why would someone not want comments on old stuff? I get why you'd feel awkward about leaving critical feedback, since it's been a long time since they made it, but I can't imagine that comments of the type "I loved this because ___!" would ever be unwelcome. : )

[ruuger]

I think it might be an issue if they've moved on from the fandom, especially if they now hate it?

[silverr]

Perhaps? I wonder how often people who get to that "hate" stage just delete all their old stuff?

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, I can generally only imagine it if people had moved on from an old fandom or don't think the fanwork is good anymore, but left stuff up for completeness. Or if they just don't want to bother responding to comments on old stuff they don't care about, but feel obligated to and resent that? I have noticed that when I comment on old stuff my comment is less likely to get a response. Which is fine, from my POV, but I have wondered if they were a bit annoyed that I commented on an old thing of theirs. Probably not, though, if these poll results are any indication! :)

[deird1]

I get really thrilled at comments on very old fics - because often I've totally forgotten about the fic, and it reminds me that it was actually kinda worth reading...

[frayadjacent]

Yay, good to know!

[ruuger]

I recently got a long comment to one of the very first fics I'd ever written and it really made my day that not only was someone still reading my old fic, but they liked it enough to leave a comment.

[frayadjacent]

Awesome! I can imagine I'd feel the same way about my early vids -- though with a touch of embarrassment on the side. ;)

[endeni]

I personally love any kind of feedback on my stuff, both old and new. Except when leaving feeback on other people's older works I happened more than once to receive answers like "oh, that old thing, I'm no longer in that fandom/I no longer think that's good stuff, but thanks anyway" and that generally holds me back from commenting, I admit. Though I received enthusiastic answers as well and I know it's a stupid reason but I don't really want to feel uncomfortable if I can avoid it - especially since leaving comments takes time after all so nowadays I mostly (not always though) leave comments on new fanworks I'm afraid.

Talking about older fanworks, if you want I have loads of btvs and farscape old fanworks collected in my pinboard bookmarks (though not so much xena stuff I'm afraid). I check every so often and every link should be working.
I also have saved some stuff that's no longer on-line if you're interested - though mostly ats stuff. ;) LOL, the Buffyverse it's one of my favorite fandoms and each time I see that the link to a fanwork I love isn't working anymore - nor it's available anywhere else - I feel a sort of pain...

[frayadjacent]

RE your first paragraph -- that's pretty much exactly how I feel, though I may have done a bit of "oh thanks but I don't even think it's that good anymore" myself in response to comments on my first few vids. Oops! I do feel a bit embarrassed by them but I don't want to take them down. I don't hate them, I just...see their flaws very clearly.

RE your second paragraph: OMG THANK YOU! What a treasure. I am very happy to see this. Very happy indeed. :D :D :D

[endeni]

OMG, that icon. *g*

- Farscape-wise there are a couple of beautiful vids by Aruna7, their site went down some years ago and the vidder is very slowly re-updating stuff on their youtube account but not everything is up there yet.

- Buffyverse-wise there are some vids by E^y, whose site faced the same fate - "Have You Heard" in particular (a remix of the amazing Two words by sisabet) is such a masterpiece!
Also, a few beautiful vids by Robert Flannigan, that are apparently no longer available anywhere else: Angel - NFA Trailer, Angel, Illyria, Wesley.
Jesus Walks by mimesere, another vid masterpiece.
The Fiddle And The Drum by gwendolynflight - A beautiful Wesley vid (again, same story, the vidder site went down and downloading is no longer available).

Regarding fics there are a few Angel/Wesley fics by Fia Reynne:
two abandoned (but still very enjoyable) ones, Of medicine and magic and Unforeseen;
plus a fabulous (if too short LOL) Illyria!Wesley fic, Tangled up in blue.

Lastly, there are eleusis_walks's terrific meta posts (plus a couple of ficlets), since his journal is no longer in active use and most things are sadly no longer available.

And that's all for the Buffyverse and Farscape, I think. ;)

[frayadjacent]

Wonderful, thank you!

[lilacsigil]

The oldest fic I have online is from 1996 and I still get comments on it, which is great! I had to put a few warnings on it, but no-one has objected to it.

[frayadjacent]

Hee hee, that makes me feel much better about commenting on things 10 years newer than that. And it's so awesome you still get comments on your oldest fic!

[raven]

I love old comments. :) I cringe a little when I get comments for fics that are more than about ten years old, because who likes being reminded of their 16-year-old self, but you know, I'm still delighted people are liking the stories.

[frayadjacent]

Cool! Also, I'm super impressed that you have stuff you wrote when you were 16 up on the internet. That's so cool! I think the last of my 16 year-old self's writings were tossed in the recycle bin when I moved to Australia. :D

[st_aurafina]

I always love comments, doesn't matter how old the fic!

[frayadjacent]

Cool! I seem to have officially lost any excuse to not leave a comment on an old fic. ;)

[silverr]

Honestly, I still enjoy getting comments on things I wrote/posted in 2002. :p ~ Then again, I've never been shy about going back and tweaking a story a little after it's posted if I happen to re-read it and find something I decide needs fixing.

[ruuger]

I do that too! Pretty much every time I reread any of my stories for whatever reason, I end up fixing a typo or an awkward sentence or something :D

[frayadjacent]

Ah, I wish I could easily do that with my old vids. So many metaphorical awkward sentences. :D

[likeadeuce]

I think the ONLY issue with older comments is when the commenter suggests the writer should write a sequel and/or should write more in the fandom. That's kind of pushy ANYWAY but if something's 5 years old, even if it's a WIP, chances are there isn't going to be more.

It's true that some people might not be thrilled about their old fic/fandom but they chose to archive it/ make it commentable so if they expect people to magically intuit they are not interested in hearing more about it, that's not the commenter's issue. I am sure the majority of people are happy to get those comments.

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, asking for sequels does seem even more annoying in those cases.

I am sure the majority of people are happy to get those comments.

That is certainly what the polls seem to show! I know I am happy to get comments on any vid, even my early ones, but a small part of me does cringe and want to say, "oh but I could do so much better now!"

[isis]

Even if it's a comment on a fandom I've long since abandoned, I still love comments!

[frayadjacent]

Yep! (Though I don't have any long abandoned fandoms that I've made fanworks for, so it's more of a hypothetical "yep".)

Also, what a great icon!

[thirdblindmouse]

I'm assuming by "concrit" you mean criticism that treats the work as still in progress or as a practice piece for future work. I post my finished works as finished, even if they're crap. Critical comments along the lines of disagreeing with my work or wanting clarifications are always welcome.

[frayadjacent]

No, I meant any kind of criticism that's, like, not assholish or some kind of off-hand put-down or something like that. I definitely see those sorts of things more with fic than vids, and every time I do I feel glad for my relative invisibility as a vidder (and a non-BNV).

Most criticism generally seems to be framed as "if you did this again, here's something I think you should change", i.e. treating the fanwork as a WIP or practice piece. When I started vidding I explicitly asked for concrit on my vids for exactly that reason, even though the vids themselves were always finished. Now, I'd feel more like you.

However, what I'm calling concrit could also just be criticism that's part of a conversation about the fanwork as piece of art, in which case the concrit exists as much for the commenter or other readers as for the creator. That could include criticism besides disagreeing with the work or wanting clarifications. I think it's fine for people to not want that on their fanworks, or at least on their own post on their journal. And there doesn't seem to be much of a culture of doing that in the LJ/DW vidding fandom world so it's kind of a moot point. But it strikes me as a valid response to a fanwork, on paper at least.

[thirdblindmouse]

I'd call that non-hostile criticism. Constructive criticism has a specific meaning.

[ghost_lingering]

With the caveat that if someone is commenting on an old *fic* of mine it probably won't even register. I still get comments (& kudos) on fic on the AO3 sometimes and I don't pay much attention. (I am the worst.)

But vids are different! I'm still terrible at responding to comments, because I am always terrible at responding to feedback no matter when I get it, but I still care about all of my old vids, so I will make more of an effort to respond back and I will be ridiculously excited when I see feedback. Actually I kind of like belated comments on vids! It makes me happy that people are still watching/finding them.

[frayadjacent]

Heh, your Moya vid is definitely on my list of "old" vids to give feedback on. It's so good! OK, saving the rest for your own journal. :D

[jadelennox]

I'm always really chuffed when I get kudos at AO3 on some --ahem-- mediocre fic I wrote more than a decade ago. It makes me beam that people are still finding and enjoying that, especially given how much fannish tastes change. Really, you liked my fluffy Spander noodling? Really? Well that's just COOL.

Though when people bust into 10 year old meta to tell me I'm evil, then I just block 'em. (Due South has some people still fighting the Ray Wars after all this time. They are very odd.)

[frayadjacent]

Hee hee! I can definitely see how that would be cool. :D

Though when people bust into 10 year old meta to tell me I'm evil, then I just block 'em.

OMG, now I am wondering if there's like, a hierarchy of what type of fanworks attract the most crappy commenters. I was saying upthread that sometimes I'm totally shocked by obnoxious comments people can leave on fic: half-thought, mean-sounding dismissals of the premise, "I don't like this type of story" comments, etc. And when I see those I am SO GLAD I don't get comments like that as a vidder (and a not particularly well-known one at that). But now it occurs to me that people are probably even more intense about meta comments.

Due South has some people still fighting the Ray Wars after all this time. They are very odd.

Heh. I joined a tiny corner of Buffy fandom in 2010, a couple years before I started vidding and got more multi-fannish. In the last couple of years I've found lots of 5-10 year old Buffy meta (on LJ) and for a brief time was following people just discovering Buffy in 2013 on Tumblr. And OMG, the debates and fights and shipping wars I saw in 2010 had already been had in 2005 (and earlier of course) and were happening again in 2013. Obvious in retrospect, but it was something to see.

[next_to_normal]

I don't have any problem with people leaving comments/kudos on old fic. It's nice to know people are still reading, even though I may not respond to them now that I've left the fandom (especially the ones on archives I never visit anymore - comments on my LJ or AO3 are more likely to get noticed). I never get comments on my old meta, I guess because people realize the discussion is over. Comments on icons never go out of style.

Seconding likeadeuce, though - the one thing that will piss me off is someone asking for more fic or a sequel when I have not written fic in that fandom in three or four years.

[frayadjacent]

It's nice to know people are still reading, even though I may not respond to them now that I've left the fandom

Yeah, I've noticed that when I leave comments on older stuff that the writer or vidder is less likely to respond. Which obviously doesn't offend me or anything, but I have occasionally wondered if they were annoyed by my comment. Probably more likely they're just less engaged with the fandom/fanwork, which totally makes sense.

I never get comments on my old meta, I guess because people realize the discussion is over.

Yeah, I never leave comments on old meta for that reason, but it's definitely the old stuff I read the most!

Comments on icons never go out of style.

Confession time: I have totally taken your icons from old posts (with credit, of course) without commenting! Because they're great! The icons, I mean. I resolve to do better from now on.

[next_to_normal]

Probably more likely they're just less engaged with the fandom/fanwork, which totally makes sense.

Yeah, that's some of it. Although for me, it's more that I'm not in the habit anymore. I get comments emailed to me, so I read them, but usually I'm checking email somewhere where I'm not going to respond to comments right away. When I was writing fic, I had comments coming in pretty regularly, so it was a habit to set aside time to go through and respond to them all.

But now when it's just one random comment, I might read it and think, "Oh, I'll go back to it later" and then just never get around to it or I forgot my password to log into the archive to respond.

Confession time: I have totally taken your icons from old posts (with credit, of course) without commenting!

Haha no worries! I mean, it's always nice to know people like them, but truthfully, the best compliment is just people using them. It's always kind of fun to come across one of my icons out in the wild, especially if it's somewhere I don't expect.

And icons are kind of a weird thing, because there's not much to talk about, you know? Like, with fic or a vid, you can discuss theme or plot or song choice, but unless they're icon makers themselves, most people don't have much to say about icons other than "ooh shiny." (Which is fine! But I know some people feel awkward about just saying "pretty!" so they don't say anything.)

HOWEVER, I will let you in on a secret: the more people comment on something, the more likely I am to make more of it! lol. If I don't have anything specific I want to icon, I'll generally go with what people say they want.

[frayadjacent]

Hee, I might have to go comment on all your Farscape icon posts!

[lilly_the_kid]

I'm always happy to recieve comments, it doesn't matter to me whether the vid is old or new. I often got comments for old vids out of the blue and they can really brighten up a day :) I always like knowing that someone enjoyed something I made and I usually also comment on old/older things myself.

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, comments are awesome. I'm gonna take a leaf from your book and try to comment on older stuff more.