Listen up, silent majority!

Ahhhh, you didn't have to "hang around," your comment would've eventually been validated and posted even if you weren't still signed into the Library.

AFAIK the comment-validation process is applied only briefly to new members, I'm guessing to prevent newcomers from possibly posting 'trollish' comments, until the Library staff becomes convinced that their commentary won't be intentionally troublesome... --C.K.

Well as long as you weren't treating the subject flippantly, CK that is perfectly okay!!!

I know. There was a fellow that used to contribute to this forum that was always plugging his own stories!! Totally ridiculous! I wonder what happened to him?

We can only hope that Februs banished him to the outer darkness. He sounds boorish.

Commenting isn't a competition! I just say what's on my mind without regard to the other comments. Sometimes it's a paragraph or two, sometimes it's just a few words. Often I read the previous comments, but feel no particular duty to do so.

Also, there is nothing wrong with repeating what has already been said. In fact, that can be very significant! When several commenters say the same thing about one of my stories (be it positive or negative), I sit up and take notice!

Now who in this civilised community would ever dream of posting 'troublesome' comments?

I think we all know who SHE is!!!

I'll admit I didn't start commenting until I bumped into the ratio rule - but I'll also admit that I wasn't aware of the ratio rules until I bumped into them. While I'm not worried about it now (the library would have to about triple in size before it would affect me), a few words in defense of the seldom commentors:

1. "Stories Read" is not necessarily representative of stories read: I pop in here almost every day, and check the latest. If you get there before the stories are validated, you never know what you're getting - so while my stats may reflect that I've read a story, if I find it's not one of the categories I enjoy, I'll "read" it for about 15 seconds (or less), when I identify that it's not my cuppa tea. And when I read comments, I hate reading "It's not my thing" (unless it's "not my usual thing, but this was really good!") - because why did you bother reading it, much less commenting on it, just to say it's not your thing?

2. I actually read comments, too. If I'm to that point, chances are I'm going to make my own comment, but I like to make my comment unique, and something more than "Great story!" - I try to let the author know just what I liked about it, or how it got my mind going. But if my unique perspective has already been expressed, I guess I don't like to be repetitive. And I could see feeling a little bad if all I had to say was "Great story!" or "Really hot!" when I can tell how much work went into it.

3. Serials can skew things. If it's a new serial and I'm reading it chapter by chapter as it comes out, I'll usually comment on how much I enjoy each part, and that I'm looking forward to the next installment. But if I'm going through archives, I may just leave one comment at the beginning or end of the serial. The numbers show more "reads," but I'm reading the 8 parts as one story.

Despite all that, I do try to comment regularly, and I especially enjoy the feedback authors give to my feedback - and that makes me more likely to continue leaving comments, because it creates more of a connection to the author. I don't necessarily "favorite" every story I comment on, but I'm currently going through and trying to leave a comment on each story in my "Favorites" folder - if I enjoyed the story well enough that I want to keep coming back to it, then I owe it to the author to express my appreciation. In fact, maybe that would be a way to encourage comments - disable the "Add to Favorites" button until a comment has been made on the story or serial.

Good points, TM. But it's hard to believe that would account for those members who have read - or at any rate glanced at - well over 1000 items, and still not felt it worth leaving a single comment....

paddlerouge
When I first started to comment, my comments were, at times, longer than the actual stories. Now, I make them short and sweet. I only say what my opinion is and what I particularly liked about the story.