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?

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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?

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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

[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.