The Great Comment Challenge of Aught* Five

[sisabet]

movies_michelle has a great idea - continuing along the theme of leaving feedback, sending feedback and commenting. Well, at least I am having a theme week of that. Your theme week could consist of Muppets or Baby!SGA!Animals!OMG and if so, you are having an excellent week - share the love and comment!

Where was I? Right:
Now, a challenge: I challenge everyone on my flist to leave a comment to an author/vidder today for someone they've never commented to. Doesn't have to be long an involved, though that would be great. And it doesn't have to be a recent story/vid. In fact, I encourage you to go back and leave a comment for something you "always meant to comment on" and never have. Believe me, as a writer, I am thrilled when someone comments on something I posted some time before. It's like an extra Christmas present. You don't have to even find the original post about the vid/story, if you can't find it. Just leave a comment in the author/vidder's lj somewhere. I can't speak for everyone, but I know I wouldn't mind getting a comment on a story in a completely unrelated post.


I second her challenge - so this means I need to go and make TWO!!! MUAHAHAHA!!! Two comments. So do you.

I'm thinking it would be really easy for me as until last week I was pretty shy about commenting at ds_flashfiction which is just stupid. I'm still pretty shy about commenting, except now I have actually done it, so I am just not as shy. Again - stupid. But I say unto you - O LJ flist - stupid yesterday does not mean Dumbass Today. I cast out my silliness and embrace appreciation. Or something.

*is that how you spell aught?

Comments

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Well, this hasn't been my experience at all, I must say, in commenting on people's LJs. I do think there is a certain etiquette to commenting and it can seem, to the writer, as if the commentor is being rather demanding if they show up, out of nowhere, on a random post, and ask when X will be updated. I would be especially taken aback if it was someone with whom I had never engaged in a dialogue before.

See - it is really easy for a writer or vidder or artist or essayist or just anyone in fandom, to chafe against a certain sense of entitlement a few other fans might feel. So, especially when as I said before, you've never engaged in dialogue with this specific fan, they come on your LJ and ask about WIPs (which might be tangled in their own emotional angsty drama) it could take you aback. At the very least it could feel as if this stranger was demanding that you update, without ever engaging meaningfully with you over the text.

But this particular challenge?? Has nothing to do with asking what a fandom participant can do for you --- it is just about thanking them for what they have already done. And kudos always goes over like gangbusters.