Anonymous asked:
ao3commentoftheday answered:
Kudos are a good thing.
I get excited by my AO3 “You’ve got kudos!” just like I do for comments, and I know other writers do too. I think the issue stems from a difference in perspective between writers and their audiences.
Writers see giving kudos as meaning, “This fic meets my minimum requirements for liking a thing. It’s not great, but it’s not that bad. I can give it a thumbs up, sure. Why not?”
On the other hand, readers often mean, “This was great! I really liked it! Good job, Author! Thumbs up for you!”
Because authors know how important feedback is to us, we tend to write comments for the good stories and kudos for the “okay” ones. If we don’t like it at all, we pretend we never read it by doing neither.
Unfortunately, we assume readers approach things the same way. That’s why we can sometimes be dismissive of kudos. We’re looking at it from our perspective rather than from the reader’s.
This is also why we get discouraged if we have 1000 hits and 20 kudos. To us, that means that 980 people didn’t feel like our story met the bare minimum requirement to be considered “okay.”
This is such a fascinating discussion. As a redear/fic reccer I have never ever imagined that authors treat kudos as “This fic meets my minimum requirements for liking a thing. It’s not great, but it’s not that bad. I can give it a thumbs up, sure. Why not?” This thought is an eye opener and a little bit of a bummer, tbh.
I personally give kudo when I liked/ loved the fic and want to support the author. Maybe I’m spoiled because my OTP has too many fics on AO3 and I can easily ignore fics that meet my minimum requirement? Also, as a reader, I see kudos as a bat-signal to other readers - come here, read this fic! A good amount of kudos tells that this fic is appreciated by many readers. I’m not saying that a lot of into kudos = good fic (or even the fic I will like), that is not the case. Still, a lot of readers pay attention to the amount of kudos, not comments, when deciding to read a fic. So, for me it boils down to comments are personal and emotional (and then the discussion about how authors respond to comments is important) and kudos is my thank you to the author + me giving boost to the fic to get more readers.
I’ve read some discussions on anon meme about kudo vs comments practices.. And yes, some readers will leave kudo if they simply managed to finish the fic, others treat kudos as a thumbs up, good job! button only when they liked the fic. And some folks said that they leave kudos if the fic was adequate and comment if they really loved the fic, but they don’t give kudos when they comment (since kudo is impersonal). I wonder how writers feel about getting a lovely comment but not kudo from the same reader?
Nearly every writer I know, myself included, has said to me at one or another that we ourselves kudos as a “this fic meets minimum standards.” Basically any fic I finish, I kudos. I now try to comment also, and if it’s a friend I comment as much as I can (often every chapter).
Honestly I’ve never once checked to see if someone who left a comment also left kudos. A comment is enough for me, even if that happened I don’t think I’d mind. (But it’s impossible to tell especially if the comment is anon, they might have left guest kudos…)
But basically: as a writer the original reply completely reflects how I feel about it. Kudos are awesome, I do love them, but it’s not the same…
as i writer, i barely pay any attention to kudos. i don’t look at how many my fics or other fics have. kudos could mean anything, after all (as pointed out above), ranging from meh to awesome. comments actually require you to make an effort, so it means the fic is better than “meh” to my eye.
i also want to clarify what i mean by “barely any attention.” i do look at some things in particular when i get my daily kudos email: if the same person has left kudos on multiple stories; if one fic got several kudos (especially if it’s an older fic). and that’s about it.
honestly i would never go through the trouble of looking to see if someone who left a comment also left a kudos. i suppose i kind of assumed that was a given? if they went through the effort to write actual words in response to my story, why wouldn’t they go through the effort of clicking a button?
All of the above. Kudos basically tells me “It was okay enough I was able to finish reading it rather than quitting.” It does not actually speak well of your opinion on the fic. It tells us it was subpar and tolerable. You were able to finish it.
Comments let us know if you actually LIKED IT. I’ve finished plenty of fics I actually didn’t enjoy and regretted reading. And even then, I do the polite thing and leave kudos and a general comment thanking the author for their time and effort.
Kudos are great, people found and read your fic. YAY!!!! But they only left Kudos, meaning they managed to finish it without hitting the back button, but it didn’t make any sort of impact. Damn. I failed as a writer.
As a reader I DO NOT give kudos just because I managed to finish something. It’s not a “good job, you meet my minimum requirements”. I give kudos because I liked it, and I know that other readers (especially those new to the fandom) often sort fics by how many kudos it has, and I want to add to that number to give it a good reputation. If you get a kudos from me it means that I think other people should read the fic too. And if I really really loved it I’ll add it to my bookmarks too.
As a writer I fucking love seeing the kudos go up on my fics. Since hits are skewed by chapters, age of the fic, serial posting vs finished posting, etc, I don’t pay attention to them. But kudos give me an accurate number of how many people liked my fic. Comments are lovely because they give a personal message, and on a small scale give me an idea that someone enjoyed my fic. But I can look at my kudos and be blown away by the sheer number.
That many people liked my fic?? Holy. Shit.
I’m lucky to have very verbal readers who leave lots of comments. I have seen authors I adore get less feedback, so I know just how lucky I am. But those kudos also mean the world to me.
I love comments, but if all you’ve got the spoons to do is click the kudos button, you can trust that I notice and appreciate them :)
Whether it’s “meets minimum standards” or “I really liked it”- does it matter, honestly? To me, as a writer, I see a kudos as “someone cared enough to interact with what I put out there. That’s awesome.” If the kudos isn’t anonymous, add on to that “they cared enough to be willing to have their username publicly associated with this piece.” Even more awesome.
I remember when we didn’t have the option of kudos, and the result wasn’t more detailed feedback- it was less knowing if anyone even GOT to the end of your fic. Kudos are great. I hate there are readers out there who feel guilty for leaving kudos, when they’re doing an incredibly kind thing.
I don’t know who all these writers are who consider kudos as nothing or just tolerable, but I am a writer and love kudos. Please stop speaking for me as a writer. I love kudos, they aren’t substandard or the bare minimum, they’re awesome.
STOP SPEAKING FOR ME AS A WRITER AND MAKING READERS FEEL LIKE SHIT. YOUR DISDAIN IS NOT UNIVERSAL.
Another pro-kudos forever writer here. Pro-any kind of communication, really. Pro-you do you, I’m not entitled to your interaction, too.
Also, kudos doesn’t mean ‘minimum’ by any definition. You’re writers, you should know that. If readers are saying it means ‘I really liked this,’ then, uh, why not believe them?
hawberries
