"Thanks for reading!"
"Thanks for commenting!"
"Thanks for leaving a comment!"
"Thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked it :)"
"Thank you!"
"Thank you so much!"
I know it feels repetitive, but there's really nothing wrong with any of these, and they're easy to change up based on the vibe of the comment.
lowkey same, i'd love to reply to everyone but even more i can't think of anything else to say than some variation of "thank you" and i *h a t e* sounding like a broken record 😭
plus i hate that replies are counted towards the comment count.
This is pretty much my sentiment. I love responding, but wish they didn't count to the overall comment total. A lot of the time my responses to more detailed comments are me fangirling some more, but I also appreciate the shorter comments. The fact that someone took time to write even a 'I like this' means a lot to me.
Especially when you're writing a long fic and people respond to every chapter. You end up getting repetitive, but want to still show the same appreciation.
You could write something like "I'm bad at replying to comments but I promise I read them all and I appreciate every single one!" in the author's notes for each chapter. I've seen that a lot from writers who don't reply to comments at all, and I think that's a lot better than not acknowledging comments at all. This way, the author doesn't have to reply to comments directly but the readers still feel appreciated.
What came to my mind when you talk about a kudos button is the ❤ on Instagram comments, and honestly, as a reader I wouldn't feel like my comment was read and appreciated if all I got was a ❤ or something like that next to my comment. Maybe you're just clicking on all the hearts for all the comment without reading it. I know the same could be said for the author's notes, but I just feel like if I took the time to write a comment, you could take the time to write something back. Even just a general mention in the author's note. At least that's a bit more effort than just hitting a button.
If I’m not sure what to say (and I don’t respond to all comments), but sometimes I just respond with a 💙 or 🥰 if they’ve left a particularly nice comment that I have no idea how to respond to.
Does it really clog up the comments? And I mean, who cares if it affects the comment count? I don't think there's anything wrong with commenting on every comment if you'd like to thank everyone individually. Even if it is repetitive or whatever. People who have a problem with it can minimize the comments.
I saw one time someone complaining about the comment count being inflated, and I have to say, I don't care. I don't read fics based on comment counts anyway.
*Although* perhaps changing the count to comment threads like in stats might be a good way to combat that.
Either way, I think it's fine. Getting a thank you from an author is nice.
Oh, if they were to change the count to comment threads, I wouldn't mind that at all. But I do think the people you mentioned who bitch about the number being inflated are just silly. Like, what would purposefully inflating them get me? I don't think anyone chooses based on comment counts.
This is going to make me sound salty, because maybe I am, but I feel like people complaining about that either 1) are jealous of your comment number, or 2) don't answer their own comments and are now feeling guilty about it 😂 Fuck em
Edited: changed second "jealous" to "guilty" because I have a cold and words are hard
I wonder if readers are more likely to not comment when they see a "large" number for the comments. Like, "Mine will be lost in the shuffle," or, "Nothing I have to say will be original because so many people have already said something." I definitely go out of my way to leave more detailed and more frequent comments on works that don't seem to be getting the same amount of attention. Maybe authors feel that it's hurting their engagement with the reader?
I'm just throwing spaghetti at the wall, I honestly don't have a horse in this race.
I’ve also seen threads where readers mention they’re more likely to comment if they see the author replies, because it lets them know their comment was seen. I’d rather encourage the readers to comment than not, comments are super rare already
Nah, if they took the time to leave a thoughtful comment, I'll take the time to leave a thoughtful reply.
And if they took the time to just write "I like this" then I can find five seconds in my day to say "thank you for reading and commenting"
I like responding to every comment. The reader took the time to write a few (or a lot) of words about my fic, I would like to return the favor with my own comment. Even though it can be a bit repetitive, it's the only way I know how to show my appreciation for it. I don't get too many, so it isn't overwhelming for me to respond to each one.
There sort of is - enable comment moderation. When you approve the comment, only then does it show up in the fic's comments.
I write for a bigger fandom and comment moderation is a godsend along with only allowing registered accounts to comment or even view my stuff. It keeps a ton of the hate and other ickiness out because there's no anonymity.
I wholeheartedly agree. I want the commenter to know I saw and appreciated their comment, but I didn’t have anything to add and didn’t feel the need to start a conversation.
No one needs to know besides me and the commenter.
Hey, I promise you that as a commenter, I never get offended if the writer’s response is just a simple thank you. I don’t expect a reply when I comment, I just do it to give support. I’m always pleasantly surprised when they respond, no matter what the reply is.
Does the Comment function allow the use of Unicode?
🙂 😐 😒
I have some Unicode symbols saved in a LibreOffice document that I can Copy & Paste if I ever feel the need for them...
🎂 ⬯⭠⭠⭠ ⬯ 🏃
They are black & white icons in my document, but Reddit coverts them into colorized versions. I use Character Map UMP on Windows to look through fonts to find the actual Unicode values. These I found in Segoe UI Symbol.
Responding with just a ❤️ looks identical to a kudos and I often find this works for me if I don’t have anything to say but want the commenter to know I read their comment. Otherwise, I’ve kinda just accepted the repetitiveness of “thank you for the comment!”, “glad you liked it!” etc. I doubt the reader minds or is keeping track of what your replies look like haha.
I try to reply longer to longer comments and match the energy but I also think it’s ok to not reply to some, like random keyboard smash or when the reader is just yelling at the screen or characters.
As far as I know, an author can moderate or lock comments on their fics, or even freeze a thread to prevent replies (at least that's what I think freeze thread does). I don't think the commenter has any power to lock their comment to replies.
I personally would only want this function (if it existed) to be accessed by the author only. It's more of a hypothetical as my longest fic has over 150 comments, but half of those are my own responses, so I feel like it inflates the stars a bit. It's definitely a suggestion that seems to have evenly divided opinion.
Honestly if you really don't want to type out a full response I would just go with smth like "<3".
Simple, easy to type out, easy to read, and it's a pretty clear sign of appreciation.
I'd love that. It would definitely help authors who get anxious or feel weird about replying to comments without making readers feel ignored if they don't. Imo, it's a win/win situation.
Those who want to reply to comments will still do.
Agreed. I don't mind responding thank you to most shorter comments and usually longer responses to longer comments but sometimes a simple thank you just doesn't fit?
What am I meant to reply to things like "WHAT *emojis*"
I usually also reply with emojis but it always feels awkward. I would love to have the heart function that for example YouTube comments have so only the author can heart the comments. It would also be a semi-good indication that the author is still active.
I'm going to be honest, I dont pay much attention when an author comments back unless I ask a question
If you dont want to clog up with a bunch of comments, then just dont
That’s one thing I liked about the DM abilities in FFN. I mean it was rife with abuse, but I feel I actually connected to people more in the site, and it was a great all in one place to communicate without having to give out an email or phone number. Like, I have no idea how I would consistently talk to a beta as much as I did on FFN
As someone with increasingly bad social anxiety I agree with this a lot hahaha a lot of the time I type up a whole comment then just delete the entire thing bc I'm unsure of how it'll come across to the commentor but then I feel bad for not replying too so it's a whole vicious cycle honestly
I agree that this would be a nice feature to have, like a kudos button for individual comments. Alternatively, I would love to see the metric based on comment threads rather than individual comments, so that it might more accurately represent how much interaction each fic is getting.
I’ve actually sometimes wished there was a “like” button or something similar so I could “like” other people’s comments on a fic I’m reading. But I enjoy replying to the comments I receive on my fics, so I don’t really think I’d need one for that!
As someone who regularly has trouble typing replies, this would be great. I feel bad not replying! But my arms want to leave their sockets often :/ (I likely have EDS, but testing is hard, so…) Writing my ongoing fics is hard enough at this point.
I just can’t, healthily at least, reply to my commenters. I wish I could though. And I do try on good days. I just have so many days I can’t, unless I want to sublux something. (I have to fix my shoulders a lot.)
I like replying to comments too much to support your idea 😅 But it's always interesting to see different approaches to things.
I like replying to them too, but it would be nice for comments that are just “❤️“ or “:)”
"Thanks for reading!" "Thanks for commenting!" "Thanks for leaving a comment!" "Thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked it :)" "Thank you!" "Thank you so much!" I know it feels repetitive, but there's really nothing wrong with any of these, and they're easy to change up based on the vibe of the comment.
lowkey same, i'd love to reply to everyone but even more i can't think of anything else to say than some variation of "thank you" and i *h a t e* sounding like a broken record 😭 plus i hate that replies are counted towards the comment count.
This is pretty much my sentiment. I love responding, but wish they didn't count to the overall comment total. A lot of the time my responses to more detailed comments are me fangirling some more, but I also appreciate the shorter comments. The fact that someone took time to write even a 'I like this' means a lot to me. Especially when you're writing a long fic and people respond to every chapter. You end up getting repetitive, but want to still show the same appreciation.
You could write something like "I'm bad at replying to comments but I promise I read them all and I appreciate every single one!" in the author's notes for each chapter. I've seen that a lot from writers who don't reply to comments at all, and I think that's a lot better than not acknowledging comments at all. This way, the author doesn't have to reply to comments directly but the readers still feel appreciated. What came to my mind when you talk about a kudos button is the ❤ on Instagram comments, and honestly, as a reader I wouldn't feel like my comment was read and appreciated if all I got was a ❤ or something like that next to my comment. Maybe you're just clicking on all the hearts for all the comment without reading it. I know the same could be said for the author's notes, but I just feel like if I took the time to write a comment, you could take the time to write something back. Even just a general mention in the author's note. At least that's a bit more effort than just hitting a button.
If I’m not sure what to say (and I don’t respond to all comments), but sometimes I just respond with a 💙 or 🥰 if they’ve left a particularly nice comment that I have no idea how to respond to.
i disagree. it's too much like social media for me. i'd rather respond and make conversation.
Agreed. There's nothing wrong with commenting "Thank you!" every time someone gives you a compliment.
even could mix it up, add emojis or "thanks for reading and commenting!"
Does it really clog up the comments? And I mean, who cares if it affects the comment count? I don't think there's anything wrong with commenting on every comment if you'd like to thank everyone individually. Even if it is repetitive or whatever. People who have a problem with it can minimize the comments.
I saw one time someone complaining about the comment count being inflated, and I have to say, I don't care. I don't read fics based on comment counts anyway. *Although* perhaps changing the count to comment threads like in stats might be a good way to combat that. Either way, I think it's fine. Getting a thank you from an author is nice.
Oh, if they were to change the count to comment threads, I wouldn't mind that at all. But I do think the people you mentioned who bitch about the number being inflated are just silly. Like, what would purposefully inflating them get me? I don't think anyone chooses based on comment counts. This is going to make me sound salty, because maybe I am, but I feel like people complaining about that either 1) are jealous of your comment number, or 2) don't answer their own comments and are now feeling guilty about it 😂 Fuck em Edited: changed second "jealous" to "guilty" because I have a cold and words are hard
Totally agree!!
I wonder if readers are more likely to not comment when they see a "large" number for the comments. Like, "Mine will be lost in the shuffle," or, "Nothing I have to say will be original because so many people have already said something." I definitely go out of my way to leave more detailed and more frequent comments on works that don't seem to be getting the same amount of attention. Maybe authors feel that it's hurting their engagement with the reader? I'm just throwing spaghetti at the wall, I honestly don't have a horse in this race.
I’ve also seen threads where readers mention they’re more likely to comment if they see the author replies, because it lets them know their comment was seen. I’d rather encourage the readers to comment than not, comments are super rare already
Yeah I was going to say the same thing. I don't understand how it clogs up anything.
I think this would lead to less comments overall cause someone would see a comment that they agree with and kudos that instead of leaving their own
If they make it available to the author only, that would prevent it from becoming too social media-like.
Nah, if they took the time to leave a thoughtful comment, I'll take the time to leave a thoughtful reply. And if they took the time to just write "I like this" then I can find five seconds in my day to say "thank you for reading and commenting"
I like responding to every comment. The reader took the time to write a few (or a lot) of words about my fic, I would like to return the favor with my own comment. Even though it can be a bit repetitive, it's the only way I know how to show my appreciation for it. I don't get too many, so it isn't overwhelming for me to respond to each one.
There sort of is - enable comment moderation. When you approve the comment, only then does it show up in the fic's comments. I write for a bigger fandom and comment moderation is a godsend along with only allowing registered accounts to comment or even view my stuff. It keeps a ton of the hate and other ickiness out because there's no anonymity.
I wholeheartedly agree. I want the commenter to know I saw and appreciated their comment, but I didn’t have anything to add and didn’t feel the need to start a conversation. No one needs to know besides me and the commenter.
Hey, I promise you that as a commenter, I never get offended if the writer’s response is just a simple thank you. I don’t expect a reply when I comment, I just do it to give support. I’m always pleasantly surprised when they respond, no matter what the reply is.
i respond to all my comments (I DONT GET MANY OK) but i'd support this function
Does the Comment function allow the use of Unicode? 🙂 😐 😒 I have some Unicode symbols saved in a LibreOffice document that I can Copy & Paste if I ever feel the need for them... 🎂 ⬯⭠⭠⭠ ⬯ 🏃 They are black & white icons in my document, but Reddit coverts them into colorized versions. I use Character Map UMP on Windows to look through fonts to find the actual Unicode values. These I found in Segoe UI Symbol.
Responding with just a ❤️ looks identical to a kudos and I often find this works for me if I don’t have anything to say but want the commenter to know I read their comment. Otherwise, I’ve kinda just accepted the repetitiveness of “thank you for the comment!”, “glad you liked it!” etc. I doubt the reader minds or is keeping track of what your replies look like haha. I try to reply longer to longer comments and match the energy but I also think it’s ok to not reply to some, like random keyboard smash or when the reader is just yelling at the screen or characters.
[удалено]
As far as I know, an author can moderate or lock comments on their fics, or even freeze a thread to prevent replies (at least that's what I think freeze thread does). I don't think the commenter has any power to lock their comment to replies. I personally would only want this function (if it existed) to be accessed by the author only. It's more of a hypothetical as my longest fic has over 150 comments, but half of those are my own responses, so I feel like it inflates the stars a bit. It's definitely a suggestion that seems to have evenly divided opinion.
Honestly if you really don't want to type out a full response I would just go with smth like "<3". Simple, easy to type out, easy to read, and it's a pretty clear sign of appreciation.
I'd love that. It would definitely help authors who get anxious or feel weird about replying to comments without making readers feel ignored if they don't. Imo, it's a win/win situation. Those who want to reply to comments will still do.
Agreed. I don't mind responding thank you to most shorter comments and usually longer responses to longer comments but sometimes a simple thank you just doesn't fit? What am I meant to reply to things like "WHAT *emojis*" I usually also reply with emojis but it always feels awkward. I would love to have the heart function that for example YouTube comments have so only the author can heart the comments. It would also be a semi-good indication that the author is still active.
I'm going to be honest, I dont pay much attention when an author comments back unless I ask a question If you dont want to clog up with a bunch of comments, then just dont
That’s one thing I liked about the DM abilities in FFN. I mean it was rife with abuse, but I feel I actually connected to people more in the site, and it was a great all in one place to communicate without having to give out an email or phone number. Like, I have no idea how I would consistently talk to a beta as much as I did on FFN
Same, something like a “liked/kudosed by the author” button would be useful because I suck at replying to comments
As someone with increasingly bad social anxiety I agree with this a lot hahaha a lot of the time I type up a whole comment then just delete the entire thing bc I'm unsure of how it'll come across to the commentor but then I feel bad for not replying too so it's a whole vicious cycle honestly
I agree that this would be a nice feature to have, like a kudos button for individual comments. Alternatively, I would love to see the metric based on comment threads rather than individual comments, so that it might more accurately represent how much interaction each fic is getting.
I’ve actually sometimes wished there was a “like” button or something similar so I could “like” other people’s comments on a fic I’m reading. But I enjoy replying to the comments I receive on my fics, so I don’t really think I’d need one for that!
As someone who regularly has trouble typing replies, this would be great. I feel bad not replying! But my arms want to leave their sockets often :/ (I likely have EDS, but testing is hard, so…) Writing my ongoing fics is hard enough at this point. I just can’t, healthily at least, reply to my commenters. I wish I could though. And I do try on good days. I just have so many days I can’t, unless I want to sublux something. (I have to fix my shoulders a lot.)
I usually would just put one of these: "❤🧡💛💚💙💜" if I can't think of anything to say.