Comments - a sad decline

Last month's scant total of 2780 comments was the lowest since records began - barely half the total of the glorious record-breaking month of November 2012. (And that in only 30 days, too.) Hard to know why this should be, or indeed what to say - except let's all try harder....

I've gotten some great comments and given quite a few. I believe it's all in what the reader really has to say in a story. Sometimes (as a few of the authors have said here in the library), if a story leaves a bad taste in their mouth, they just don't bother to comment. It's one of those 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.'

Yes, we've also heard from authors 'well, I'd rather receive negative comments than none at all.' Well, some readers don't see it that way perhaps. I, and I'm sure other authors have stories with well over a thousand reads, and maybe a bit over twenty or so comments. That says a lot. I've never written a story where I didn't get a comment(s) that were great, or one where I wasn't laid in the sweet peas because it didn't sit well with a particular reader. To me, receiving a comment from a valued author of the LSF is an honor. I say that from the heart. The LSF truly has some good ones. No need to name, we all know who they are.

So, I just write what I want, and write what the head librarian allows. I'm not going to worry about stats. Yes, it's kind of sad with the decline, but that's what we writers face every single day.

This is really sad. I wonder if this has anything to do with vacations (fewer people reading stories). I do agree with Bendover, also. I know that I have not read as many stories lately due to health and other commitments, but I have tried to comment on all those I have read. I have only heard back on something like 2 out of 10 comments I have made, which is unusual. I would hate to think people are losing interest because there are so many great authors and members who belong to this great library. This really is disconcerting to me.

Part of it is that the acquisition rate is lower too ... new stories always generate the most comments.

Barb, I'm always glad to hear from you. You're one of the best in commenting, and there are some great ones in the LSF. Jefesse, you're also right. This has been brought up before. However, when someone reads a good 'new' story posted, they tend to look at the author page for that particular author. I've seen that done before, too. Perhaps if the Lucky Dip was used more often (I don't know if it is or isn't - just saying) that would help quite a bit, too. Right now I'm going through A-Z once again.

I think part of it is that some of our champion commenters don't seem to have been online that much recently. Crimsonkid, turk, and tamlynn all seem to be scarce, among a few others.

Actually, the 2,780 in May isn't anywhere close to the lowest since records began, merely the lowest during the time period for which records are displayed. May, 2010, was the first month in which we came close to 1,000 comments, after 8 months of totals in the 200-400 range. The dearth of comments even prompted one author here to write a story on teh topic. In June of 2010, we hit a total of about 2,200, after which began the dreaded "comments slide" that took us (if I remember correctly) down to about 1,400 per month. Then we bounced back to 2,000+, and have been rolling along now for over three years at 2,500+, and about three years at 2,800 plus. So while we are indeed off just a bit, we're still WELL ABOVE where we were BEFORE the first "comments slide." I think we'll survive.

I've modded the software a few moments ago so that the full comment history can be seen. In January 2009 we got a grand total of 4 comments and in July and August of the same year no comments at all were made.

That's a much better solution than relying on my memory, as anyone who checks the actual record against my assertions can easily verify.


Of course, you're not really comparing the same thing, since the creation of the LSF as a separate entity rather then merely a feature in BL didn't occur until the very end of August, 2009. Right?

Wow! I had no idea.