Hope this is the appropriate place to post this, but I wanted to ask readers a simple question. As I've begun posting stories here (4 accepted and posted as of writing this), I've noticed my views going up but very few thumbs up/down and only one comment. I've also seen in general a distinct lack of giving thumbs up and commenting, especially if I compare my less than a week of having a story up compared to those who have had them for longer. I've also never seen a thumbs down on any story. So my questions:
1. Why do you believe it is that people don't comment or rate stories?
2. How often do you comment/rate?
3. What is it that makes you decide to comment/rate?
4. Are you afraid to negatively rate a story that you feel deserves it, and why/why not?
5. What can we, as a community or as the site, do to increase the amount of ratings and comments that are made?
Bonus!
In general, meaning specific tastes change depending on your mood,
A. Are you more likely to read a story with 90% sex/10% other, or 50% sex/50% other (background, lead up, character development)? Why?
B. Are you more likely to read a shorter (<1000 words) or longer (>1000 words) story. Why?
My Answers
1. Why do you believe it is that people don't comment or rate stories?
Most people who you get a view from is checking out the story and doesn't end up reading the entire thing. This gives the impression that more people are reading the story than actually are (my best guess is maybe 1/10th actually reads it).
2. How often do you comment/rate?
Not often on rating, never so far on commenting, but I've only been here a very short time and I've been having more fun writing with the intent to post so I haven't read many other stories.
3. What is it that makes you decide to comment/rate?
Reading an entire story that is more than just jumping right into a cliche sex scene. If a piece of erotica actually has a good story, I'm much more likely to comment or rate it. Comments are much less likely, as I'm not going to post just to say "good story" since I can just like it, but I will post if I have a question or comment to make about something they wrote that was especially well done.
4. Are you afraid/against giving a negative rating to a story that you feel deserves it, and why/why not?
Absolutely. This site seems to have a high standard for writing, but there have been some that I have not liked at all due to the writing style/descriptions. However, I opted to not respond at all due to the small community, highly supportive community. I'm not sure if this is good or bad or just a result of the model that's been created here.
5. What can we, as a community or as the site, do to increase the amount of ratings and comments that are made?
Incentives would certainly help (extra entries for contests for commenting 500 words or more in a week), but that would be added work for the mods/admin and could lead to a lower quality of comments. Overall, getting more people to understand that posting comments is okay will lead to more people posting overall (and yes, I say this with the understanding of what I posted above about rarely liking or commenting).
Bonus!
In general, meaning specific tastes change depending on your mood,
A. Are you more likely to read a story with 90% sex/10% other, or 50% sex/50% other (background, lead up, character development)? Why?
50%/50% personally. I like to get to know a character, especially if it's a female narrator. It doesn't make sense to me why someone would just jump the gun and get in bed with their boss if I don't know why they like him, or anything more than needing a promotion. Also, if a story is ONLY sex, it gets repetitive and boring as sex scenes are written a hundred times in a hundred different, yet similar, ways.
B. Are you more likely to read a shorter (<1000 words) or longer (>1000 words) story. Why?
Longer, if only because they tend to be in the style I prefer as mentioned above.
Thanks for reading and answering!
(Posted Feb 18, 2016)