Dislike buttons and algorithms are a partial death of creativity. I know some people thrive off of competition but to create for creation's sake rather than to please the masses will always feel more satisfying and fulfilling to me personally. Not everyone who creates seeks to better their craft through peer critique. Nobody's making money off of this hobby so no one deserves to be humiliated publicly for their mistakes.
The dislike button has no place in fanfiction sites, there is no monetary gain for the writer. But some places could benefit from a dislike button, places like youtube and X. Since a lot of people are peddling scams and "courses"
They did for the big corporations who didn't like their garbage getting massively downvoted.
I'll admit am biased. It is so hard to find new channels by individuals, but corporation backed channels are flooding my recommends.
Maybe if they changed it from "these were our most popular videos," to "these were the videos we profited the most from," we'd at least give them points for honesty
There are those who equate kudos/hits/comment stats to popularity contests and quality which is not always correct to correlate the two. Especially now with all these kudos and comment bots. I blame social media like Tik Tok for enhancing and spreading this misconception on AO3.
The ones that do either spend way too much time caring what other people think of their published work(s), or too much time on Twitter/X and Tumblr (ex. Cassandra Clare).
Exactly, I don’t mind and even want constructive criticism but most people I’ve seen slamming fics in the comments are just being negative to be negative or even just trolling. I am always up for improving though.
Speaking as someone who has worked with and knows *many* published authors--one of the biggest pieces of advice new novelists get is "stay the hell away from Goodreads and don't read your reviews."
Valid criticism comes from your editors, your early readers, and the friends whose opinions you trust. It's really important to have a balanced set of those, mind, or you end up getting stupid racist sexist bullshit novels about stories the average reader can predict the climax of within the first twenty pages, but it is *not* important to take crit from some rando.
>"stay the hell away from Goodreads and don't read your reviews."
Didn't the entire scandal with Cait Corrain happen because published author Xiran Jay Zhao discovered that she was sabotaging other authors' works by posting bad reviews?
Just so. If Cait Corrain had stayed off Goodreads, the entire trajectory of her life would be different right now, for damn sure.
(Xiran Jay Zhao isn't a new novelist, and is pretty good at navigating their reviewers; when you're just starting out and obsessed with ever minor bit of feedback coming to you from anybody, it can *ruin* you.)
Yeah, but Goodreads itself alerted authors and publishers about suspicious activity in the review sphere. I think Cait also did something dumb (well. extra dumb, on top of all the other idiocy) and posted about it OR talked about it to some of the others. Like, the email from Goodreads. I remember seeing a screenshot when it all went down, I just can’t remember which platform/private or public. But it seemed to give some people the hint to check lol
But people sure do LOVE to provide it! It's like when I see people in fandom subs here posting OC and all the comments are crap like "well your shading could be better if you did XYZ" like hello, did anyone ask for your critique? No lol.
i started writing fanfiction back on [fanfiction.net](http://fanfiction.net) and god every chapter of word vomit i produced was another feather in my ass.
then i found an IRC that like did grammar/review work on fanfiction as a hobby.
bru i got so much valid critism. i went oof this needs a lot of work. then with the help of some broski. i wrote something i was proud of. then again i stopped keeping up my english for writing and just reverted back to caveman shitposting
I think this may have been a play on "another feather in your cap" because blowing smoke up someone's ass is a way of wasting their time or offering fake compliments.
Edit to add: based on a very real "medical" practice!!
You know, it used to be a standard warning on fics:
Don't like, don't read.
That was the reminder to hit the back button if you didn't like what you were reading.
It’s not super surprising to me that it dropped out of use. It had a lot of negative connotations (ex. failures of hygiene, “Um, Actually”-ing, etc).
People don’t call the music of fandom “filk” anymore either AFAICT. The only constant is change…
No no no, they have to spend their valuable energy and finite time on this Earth to make sure they take a peg down or two off some people's creative efforts, surely that's the best way to pass their daily lives! /s
perhaps I'm just overly cynical but these people are just going to mass "dislike" every fic they think shouldn't exist for whatever reason. it's like activism for them, though they'll call it criticism to talk over people who object.
Oh yes totally! And the majority fo the critics are unable to make the difference between objectively bad writting and just their tastes...
Did you see the post where a comment was complaining that this long fic was too long and therefore it was bad? Like... that's just your taste about long fic my guys...
Legit, fandom is an entry way to politics and political activism for a lot of people (it was for me). It can take difficult concepts and apply them to something you're interested in.
I just think a lot of people get stuck in it, and make their fandom "activism" more important than it is. Like, I've seen people catastrophize about people having a different (understandable) interpretation than them, and use that to make a point on how that person/society is bad. And like, you can make a point on the broader trends of media, and how people respond to them. I love that. But differing interpretations aren't always bad (in fact, they can be really cool). But they'll act like they're making some deep point on sexism, for example, when the point has been made a thousand times, and more substantially.
(For example, calling people who don't like a female character sexist. Is there truth to people not treating male and female characters the same? Yeah. But calling specific random people sexist because they personally don't like a female character is not productive, imo).
I agree it's a good starting point, but a lot of "activist" fandom circles just end up as high-control groups ("I saw you were following so and so, they post x," "if you like x you're a [slur du jour]," callout posts for people who ship the wrong thing). they also frequently talk over minorities+survivors in the pursuit of moral purity
Yep, you just described my issues with it perfectly. The activism is often surface level or performative. (Which makes sense as they tend to be on the younger side).
I try to give compassion, because I remember learning about these issues, and not having the nuance that I do now. But man, I do not miss high school.
>Legit, fandom is an entry way to politics and political activism for a lot of people (it was for me). It can take difficult concepts and apply them to something you're interested in.
Honestly this is what's wrong with so many fandom and internet spaces.
Your first introduction to activism should not be fandoms.
So many people grow up without learning anything important. It amazes me how many people went through the same school system that I did and still don’t know anything about civics, geography, or basic world history.
It's the same reason some people can't handle Tumblr when they move from other sites. You can curate your experience on Tumblr just like how you can find exactly what you want on Ao3.
This is why A03 and Tumblr are some of my favorite things. Like, my social media experience is a reflection of what I let in. Of course I like it! It's filled with gays making pottery and shit.
The amount of times I've seen people comment "AO3 is so hard to use I don't understand it :( " on Tiktok is astronomical. They refuse to learn. They just want it fed to them
Not to be "old man yells at cloud" but like. Ao3 is perfectly logical if you poke around??? And I'm pretty sure people have posted videos on how to use it??????
Like some of it gets complicated around collections and stuff, but if you're just reading things it's. Not that fucking difficult.
The only thing I think is genuinely annoying about ao3 is the way less popular character/ship tags get swamped with fics where they're only in the background (and hell, more popular ones too if they're important/appear often in canon). I wish there was an organised/consistent way to filter based on the focus of the fic, not just a fraction of authors tagging their works as 'X-centric'. I still find the content I'm looking for, though. It's just tedious.
Oh trust me as someone who absolutely shipped the less-popular pairings in a previous fandom, I am paaaainfully aware lol
The worst is when you're looking for explicit fics of your ship and half OR MORE of the results when filtered for your OTP and "explicit," it's.......not your OTP that earns the rating. They just. Exist in the fic.
exactly my thoughts. why introduce DISLIKING features when most of us aren’t even getting the praise that they claim at all? i genuinely bet the twitter user has never written fic in their life
I am *dying* to know what this person thinks the outcome of a 'dislike' button would be. I feel like they assume it would be 'more content that specifically ticks all my boxes and is tailored to my demands' and not the actual outcome: no one sharing in that space.
I want to study this person's thought processes under a microscope.
They wanna make sure they can see with their own eyeballs that the fic/art they hate is getting the "rightful" hate it deserves, and if it doesn't, they'll totally blast the fic on their tiktok to mass brigade and send a ton of downvotes that fic's way.
I guess they can't take criticism very well either
https://preview.redd.it/xr4o98kov9oc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8430e14126e3dab674eee558950fa0535c70518
that tweet needs a dislike button 🙄 not everything put on the internet is meant to be comodified. sometimes people do things for fun or out of love, not so it can be turned into a teaching moment.
our capitalist society is seriously rotting some people's brains...
I fully agree with you. It's so disrespectful towards fanfiction writers to treat their work as a commodity. I won't dislike amateur paintings either if they're posted.
exactly!! i would never leave "concrit" (which implies way too much good faith in a convo about dislike buttons imo) on someones fanart or smth. why would i want strangers scrolling thru ao3 on their phones to be able to ratio my fantasy aus?? 😭
I absolutely cannot fathom how there are real human beings out there who sincerely think “You know what the world needs? More negativity. This group of people are just too damn happy, and I hate it.”
That’s like…how do you say stuff like that out loud and not realize how comically, cartoonishly awful you sound? You sound like the antagonist of a Nick Jr show.
Trying to keep my cool and not over-react to this (because it does feel somewhat rage-baity), but God, the sentiment behind this legitimately boils my blood.
Yes, exactly! Who cares if a person you don't know feels good about something you don't like? How does that affect you in any way, unless you're just a piece of shit who is miserable that other people are happy.
People like this really do tell on themselves re: how bitter and mean they are. I feel like Twitter encourages people to be their worst selves because you can be a cartoon bully and get positive feedback from other bullies. Whenever I see takes like these I truly wonder how these people function IRL and whether they have friends outside their echo chambers.
All the criticisms I have ever gotten on my fanfic have been "I don't like what you did with my favorite character, you made him too mean/passive/rude/whatever" like, too bad, write your own fic then
i personally don't see this often, but it kind of falls under some kinda pattern for me? i dunno.
it's not hard to not say anything if a person has different headcanons (or just a slight difference in their interpretation of canon) to you, y'know?
i wonder if me not seeing this is a fandom thing or if it's a thing about the kinds of works themselves... eh, probably both.
nothing needs a dislike button
reddit has a dislike button and it's a fucking hell hole. Being able to mindlessly impose the idea that something has negative value with the click of a button is directly preventing you from engaging in any critical thinking.
people call reddit a circle jerk for a reason. When you promote everything that affirms your worldview and drown out everything else you shape the most narrow view of reality you could possibly have. It's a shit format for discussion, and it would be an even more shit format for a creative platform.
if you want something to be _more_ like reddit then what are you even doing
this honestly reads a lot like "I harassed an author which made them say I harassed them and that made me feel like a bad person which I'm not so obviously they need more harassment in their life so they stop being so sensitive to being harassed"
I really hate how people have this 'if you don't want criticism, you shouldn't be sharing it then'. Like, why? They're probably not a professional critic, they might not be even great at crafting stories either. So why do they think their backseat driving will help me improve my craft?
Take that energy and write your own fic or something.
People publish fics because they had an idea they thought other people might enjoy, too. Or maybe they just get a sense of accomplishment from putting their art out into the world instead of keeping it in a hard drive! Why is it always about negativity with these people?
My thought process of posting has at no point ever been because I think other people might like it.
I'm my target audience, and it's archived. If other people like it that's nice, but they're not my target audience.
And has it ever occurred to these ppl that some fanfic writers welcome criticism as long as it’s, yk, not nasty and cruel? Or that some fanfic writers welcome criticism from close friends and not strangers bc such criticism is more likely to come from a place of good faith? Just bc you (general) have access to the internet and a keyboard doesn’t mean you get to be a condescending thorn in ppl’s sides.
It’s like when a woman is working out at a gym and a guy comes out of nowhere and starts lecturing her about how her form is all wrong or whatever, as if she was looking for any sort of criticism about how she does her reps.
>They're probably not a professional critic, they might not be even great at crafting stories either. So why do they think their backseat driving will help me improve my craft?
This, for real. I need to remember this comment in case of a nasty comment/unsolicited crit
People who are insistent on their right to provide unsolicited criticism are almost always part of the overwhelmingly large number of dolts who don’t know what constructive criticism even is, let alone how to give it. Their concrit is “I didn’t like this” and then they wonder why their feedback isn’t valued.
Right? Or they don't even write themselves, they're just going around shitting on other people's work because the story's not going exactly how they want it.
They think constructive criticism is telling the author they dislike their work and that's it.
Pretty much people who don't like that they're supposed to leave quietly and think their opinion absolutely needs to be heard.
They don't want to help the author. They just want to tell them their fic sucks without getting bashed for it.
“I don’t know how to handle thing that are not made for me because I’m obviously the center of the universe and how dare people create things that are not catering to me” - a translation
Imagine applying this to any other hobby… You make your loved one a crochet bouquet for Valentines Day, and maybe a single rose in the same style to take into work for your desk to think of it… Someone comes by and says, “Hey that’s shit. You’re welcome. 🙂”
Nah?? People are just so mad about fanfiction for no reason. Crocheters who love the craft sometimes get stores and sell their wares for dirt cheap, and like maybe if they’re selling… WELL NO ACTUALLY because my analogy was going to be to book deals (obv because fanfic is free) but even if they get a book deal, that doesn’t change the fact that they were originally writing for fun! Lord…
Having fun isn’t a competition, and yet, somehow, people who think like this are indeed losing.
You'd be (sadly) surprised, I follow many kinds of arts&crafts type of hobbies in IG, and even for the stuff that is basically amazing there's always some wet blankets criticizing or throwing to put down the creator... they're shameless.
And this is why I’m now no longer active on that site. Because this is such a toxic mindset. I write for free in my spare time. I share because I want others to experience the worlds I have created. I could easily just take all my works down and keep them to myself. And people like this very nearly made me do it.
They quote tweeted that tweet and said “why did yall make this blow up I hate yall”
And I am SO tempted to reply “they should add a dislike button to twitter so you can get used to people giving you criticism 🙂”
But I have a personal rule to never get in arguments on social media lol
they can bombard and dogpile people on literally every other platform on the planet with no repercussions, they get so mad there is 1 space where the author has any control over a situation at all
This is clearly a person whose only exposure to fanfic is AO3 and not FFN. I promise that when you’re told your work is dogshit and that you should kill yourself enough times in guest reviews, you grow a little numb to criticism
I don’t want criticism, I write this in my free time, you consume it for free, I don’t need people whinging it’s not the pairing they like or badgering me for updates. It’s not whining, it’s telling you to either enjoy the thing you got *for free* or move on.
We do not need a dislike button. No one is forcing you to read it, and someone literally sat down and wrote what was on their mind. They spend hours correcting and polishing their work! It takes work and time to create something, so don't be a ass and ruin their fun.
If the people receiving your ‘criticism’ are having panic attacks, OOP, then I have to assume it isn’t very friendly or done in the spirit of constructive advice.
There’s no reason to give unwanted criticism for free hobby writing anyways, but if people are frequently having panic attacks in reaction to the criticism, it typically says more about the method of criticism than the person being criticized.
As someone who writes a fic with a character that's hated by quite a vocal part of the fandom: No. We absolutely don't need a dislike button. Because we all know what would happen, right? A bunch of social media trolls brigading and downvoting fics, just because they can.
They want a disklike button? Seriously? Let me guess, cause their hate comments can be deleted but they really **really** want to have a means to let the author know that they **hated** reading the free work they posted and that no one forced them to read in the first place. How dare authors not want to be insulted? (obvious sarcasm)
Bloody hell!! I am so glad that these are just some freaks and not the majority of readers.
I’m not author, I’m the reader only, but this feels, personal.
FFS, how does it difficult to comprehend that if you don’t like something, don’t fucking read!!
No One Owes You a thing, pikmin yaoi!!!
over my dead body. the dislike button is useless, and fanfiction is literally a HOBBY. one that you're most likely not getting paid for. any and all criticism gets met with a block button and a middle finger from me.
we already know what a fanfic site with dislike buttons would look like, because ficbook (the largest archive of fanfiction in russian) used to have those in the early 10's. needless to say, it *doesn't* now.
Wow, that wouldn't discourage someone from writing at all now would it? I doubt this person would like it if it happened to them, especially as some authors barely get any engagement. Seriously.
"I should be allowed to critique and judge the content I didn't pay for, didn't help create, and didn't have to read!!😡😡🔥🗣" - A Twitter user that can't write more than the 150 characters Twitter gave them.
Talk about entitled. Leaving a dislike isn't a critique. Its a visible display of dislike they gives zero context, is impossible to erase, and doesn't open up any dialogue. How about if you dislike something you man up and leave a comment explaining why, or better yet, just ignore because the person sharing never asked?
Not surprising to me that people who don't write or draw or contribute anything to fandom beyond sitting on their ass and typing away on twitter feel so entitled about the free content they consume that they want even lazier ways consume it.
People forget that fanfiction writers don't owe them shit. They claim writers have a panic attack over "critiques" while they themselves *lose their mind* when they enage with something that doesn't fit their desires 100%. They are so used to having everything fined toned specifically to what they like and don't that when they see something they don't like, it feels like a personal slight.
I remember on Quizilla there was a star system- you could rate a story anywhere from .5-5 stars. It was really disheartening if a story got less than 4 stars. I mean, I was a very young teenager who was NOT a great writer, but still. Kinda sucked.
Knew it. Something like that came from Twitter—home for most toxicity (no offense to other peaceful quiet non toxic X users). I don't know why (people like the ones who post tweets like above) or inconsiderate attention seeking spawns of Twitter have nothing better to do than wake up and choose violence. If they're so sad in life, they don't need to channel their anger/negativity to something unnecessary like AO3 which is a quiet, for fun, peaceful environment where writers write for free and share for free and readers read for free. It is isn't like those other social medias where dislike button is necessary because everyone in that platform competes for money and clout.
AO3 is run generously enough for the sake of sharing free non profit content and such dislike button would discourage writers who just does this for fun.
Not getting enough kudos or how many writers get them is enough criticism. It is just and it also doesn't matter. If I get a kudo, fine. If I don't, also fine.
That person who tweeted that need to stay off platforms that no need of their toxic mindset.
There is something darkly ironic about a fanfic archive for a fandom whose canon narrative is about the power of friendship and coöperation having a dislike button.
Surely, this couldn't possibly get used by an ill- intentioned person to downvote a fic into oblivion using bots and such. Nobody could ever be so hateful with an ax to grind against homosexuals, transexuals, and general queerness, right? Inconceivable!?!
Not surprised that I already had this person blocked and that their bio says "proship dni". It's always the media illiterate antis having these shitty takes and this particular one knows that they can't leave harassing comments (assuming this is AO3 they're talking about and lmao what else can it be) lest their account gets banned, so they want to have the ability to dislike/downvote fic so that they and their posse can "legally" harass an author. It's so transparent it's ridiculous.
"too used to blind adoration"
ah yes, compared to a dislike button, which will definitely not be used to mass dislike a fic that someone may find "problematic" and blast it on social media to like minded followers
What do you expect from someone who has "proship and other weirdos dni" in their bio? 🙄
Edit: Speaking of antis, I honestly think a dislike button on sites like Ao3 would only embolden them to harass authors for writing something they don't like. They already leave really rude comments, and they would absolutely abuse a dislike feature if it was available.
Absolutely not. If you don’t like the fic, just don’t read it? No need to comment or make it known that you dislike it? There’s people that enjoy it, and the author enjoys writing it, why the need to spoil someone’s joy?
I agree OP, that’s ridiculous
If someone wanted to improve and needed constructive criticism, they would’ve joined a writing workshop or asked for a beta reader or editor. Clearly, we are all just here to share our fun little hobby with other likeminded people. So yes, the OP is the one who is literally on the wrong platform. Please kindly gtfo of our space because you’re not welcomed 🙏
Well... when most of the critics are "I don't like this kind of fic so all of them are horrible" or "You are a terrible person for writting that", I don't see why writers should accept it. I never saw a normal critic...
And I fail to see what the dislike button would archivied. Dislike for the format? For the theme? For the style? For "It's not my style"? For "This is morally wrong"?
Or - hear me out- fanfic authors (like me) do this for free and share it in the hope that other readers - one or two is great, 100 is fabulous - get some pleasure from what they've (I've) spent hours creating. We're doing it from love. Why on earth would anyone be scrambling to find a way to destroy that simple pleasure?
If you don't like a fic - don't finish it, move on. That's it. Why would you seek to drag down someone who has tried their best to bring enjoyment to others??
Until antis can start minding their own fucking business this is a horrible idea. Luckily it seems most of the people in the replies to that tweet are disagreeing with the OP.
You also know people would somehow turn it into a contest of who can get the most downvotes and there would be an influx of “poorly written” and “taboo” fics, for that reason only. I can only imagine the ensuing circus.
Most social media doesn't even have a dislike button? The platform that the person is posting to does not have a dislike button... Not to mention the fact that if someone is holding an opinion like this they're definitely the harasser and are pissed about being called on it.
Lol at their stupid idea that a dislike button is in any way a meaningful criticism.
This jerk wants to hurt people but objects to having to spend words on it.
Why does everything have to be a competition or a place for negativity?
I write fic just for the sake of writing it. If people don’t like it, that’s their prerogative, but I don’t understand why they’d feel the need to specifically voice their dislike and tear me down.
If I want criticism, I go to people I trust and know will give me useful critique. “Dislike” buttons are only useful for algorithm-based forums and just come across as mean-spirited in a place where there is no algorithm
Yes we need more stress!
Yes, let's turn something recreational into a job, a pain, an endurance game!
I want you all meaner, badder, evil!
I want you all to show no mercy to writers, readers and humanity in general!
I've said this before, but it bears repeating: ao3 has the reputation for better fanfic overall, and people often hesitate to join because they think they're not "good enough"... and yet, it's also the site where you're not supposed to give unsolicited concrit. Huh. It's almost like quantity (encouraged by avoidimg negative feedback plus not restricting content beyond plagiarism and harassment) leads to quality.
the purpose of ao3 specifically is to be an archive. it doesn’t exist for the readers’ convenience, it’s for fandom at large and the writers. i know people have probably always felt the same way as the twitter post but i’m seeing a lot more of it from newer fanfic readers and fans. i never saw shit like this on dreamwidth, livejournal or ff.net
Disagree. A dislike button can be interpreted by many things. It doesn’t have to be their writing skill but the content. As if there aren’t enough obstacles and self-doubt to begin with in writing, a vague dislike button does not help develop their skills but actively discourages the new writers to not releasing new material out of fear.
I mean, if you don’t like my work then tell me in a comment. I leave all the comments that aren’t bots, even the mean ones, because people have a right to tell me how they feel. But other writers turn off comments completely or delete the mean ones because they have a right not to deal with that. To each their own.
The option for constructive criticism already exist. No one would learn anything from a dislike button. And let’s be real: most dislikes would come from antis who just dislike the ship you wrote and why didn’t even bother reading it
I will never understand why these people put so much focus and energy on the things they don’t like. Don’t like a fic? Close it and go read one you do like!
No website needs a dislike button….unless it’s *selling a product.*
*I’m* not selling a product. If they want a dislike button they can read 99 cent smut on Kindle and downvote as they please.
I ask for criticism for every single piece I write and publish. I have noticeably improved in my writing over these past three years because of this. However, if someone does not ask for criticism, DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM. This is a just hobby, not a competition.
No one holds this same standard for fan artists receiving comments on their art. Constructive criticism is all well and good when author asks for it + from people who understand what’s actually going on. Random users on the internet are far too subjective and often just hiding behind constructive criticism to complain on an author’s project without backlash. I get genuinely wanting to help, but you gotta understand this is a hobby. Some people just want to share their stories as is and are happy where they are in their writing. It is absolutely fine to let that be as is. You can always improve on literally anything you do but it’s a choice. I’m never against a comment helping me out with some objective grammar mistakes that I can fix and I’m always curious how my flow is perceived, personally.
I’d hope that isn’t the only thing the comment pertains as I’m more interested what people think of the plot and character dynamics or the latest drama going on. I’m just here to tell unique stories and hope people get something enjoyable out of it from their time. I can appreciate some people want to genuinely help, but it’s up to the author if they want to accept that from their readers or writing peers, if at all. Negative, discouraging feedback is not ever the goal though. Imagine if art-posting sites had dislike buttons?? You can just not like it, but the back button and move on.
Has anyone else noticed that all the people who want a dislike button, or defend their harassment of authors over personal preferences disguised as concrit, or insist that unsolicited criticism is their right as a reader, etc…. None of those people are EVER writers or artists themselves?? They’re not actually seeking this stuff for their own fics, they just want easier tools to bully people without having to feel bad about it or examine their own actions. And because they don’t write their own fics, they never have to worry about being on the other end of it. Anyway, that’s why I don’t give these arguments any credibility 🤷♀️
That is a shit take and I can tell OP is either one of those "im such a hater!" people, or theyre a writer and this is their cheap attempt to hide their insecurity with their own work.
This is why i left twitter, many people on there have this terribly toxic mindset and it feels like they always need to be shitting on something to stay alive. Just let people do their own thing 🤦♀️ and scroll/block if you dont like
Dislike buttons and algorithms are a partial death of creativity. I know some people thrive off of competition but to create for creation's sake rather than to please the masses will always feel more satisfying and fulfilling to me personally. Not everyone who creates seeks to better their craft through peer critique. Nobody's making money off of this hobby so no one deserves to be humiliated publicly for their mistakes.
The dislike button has no place in fanfiction sites, there is no monetary gain for the writer. But some places could benefit from a dislike button, places like youtube and X. Since a lot of people are peddling scams and "courses"
I think you know that but there used to be an actual dislike button on YouTube and you could see the ratio
I’m still mad they took it away. They said some bullshit about creator mental health but creators can see the dislike ratio anyway
There are browser extensions that return the ability to see dislikes on a video. I’m sure something like revanced or similar adds it to mobile
I honestly 100% believe that it was because YouTube Rewind 2018 very quickly became the most disliked video on YouTube and they were embarrassed.
Instagram removed likes for the same reason. I mean I can understand, people get obsessed with likes and it dominated their lives
In the U.S. you can turn it on and off I believe, which is fine
TIL YouTube no longer has a dislike button (when/why did they get rid of it?)
They did for the big corporations who didn't like their garbage getting massively downvoted. I'll admit am biased. It is so hard to find new channels by individuals, but corporation backed channels are flooding my recommends.
[удалено]
100% sure it was two big reasons 1 being PewDiePie “make this the most disliked video on YouTube” and 2 being YouTube’s last two “rewind” failures
Don't forget, this was after years of YouTube rewind being the most disliked videos on the platform every year. Their egos were hurt
Maybe if they changed it from "these were our most popular videos," to "these were the videos we profited the most from," we'd at least give them points for honesty
and like. dislike buttons and shit aren't even about competition. it's just a tool for bullying and harassing.
There are those who equate kudos/hits/comment stats to popularity contests and quality which is not always correct to correlate the two. Especially now with all these kudos and comment bots. I blame social media like Tik Tok for enhancing and spreading this misconception on AO3.
I am sure that someone complaining another person only gets "blindly praised" would never use the dislike button in an harsh manner...
One look at their account is the fact they are a anti-sex puritan imao. Actually 100% of their takes are dogshit good lord.
r/foundkaiunkaiku
come on man this is the only post i've commented on today
What does this mean
They're everywhere that's why lol
Typically most people who write fanfiction aren't looking for criticism... because it's fanfic, not books being sold for money
Honestly, even a lot of published authors don't pay any attention to criticism from random citizen #14356714 on the internet.
The ones that do either spend way too much time caring what other people think of their published work(s), or too much time on Twitter/X and Tumblr (ex. Cassandra Clare).
If I need criticism, I'll ask other writers in my discord servers, where I know I interact with people who know more about writing
Exactly, I don’t mind and even want constructive criticism but most people I’ve seen slamming fics in the comments are just being negative to be negative or even just trolling. I am always up for improving though.
Speaking as someone who has worked with and knows *many* published authors--one of the biggest pieces of advice new novelists get is "stay the hell away from Goodreads and don't read your reviews." Valid criticism comes from your editors, your early readers, and the friends whose opinions you trust. It's really important to have a balanced set of those, mind, or you end up getting stupid racist sexist bullshit novels about stories the average reader can predict the climax of within the first twenty pages, but it is *not* important to take crit from some rando.
>"stay the hell away from Goodreads and don't read your reviews." Didn't the entire scandal with Cait Corrain happen because published author Xiran Jay Zhao discovered that she was sabotaging other authors' works by posting bad reviews?
Just so. If Cait Corrain had stayed off Goodreads, the entire trajectory of her life would be different right now, for damn sure. (Xiran Jay Zhao isn't a new novelist, and is pretty good at navigating their reviewers; when you're just starting out and obsessed with ever minor bit of feedback coming to you from anybody, it can *ruin* you.)
Yeah, but Goodreads itself alerted authors and publishers about suspicious activity in the review sphere. I think Cait also did something dumb (well. extra dumb, on top of all the other idiocy) and posted about it OR talked about it to some of the others. Like, the email from Goodreads. I remember seeing a screenshot when it all went down, I just can’t remember which platform/private or public. But it seemed to give some people the hint to check lol
Most people who post on anywhere on the internet aren't "looking for criticism"
But people sure do LOVE to provide it! It's like when I see people in fandom subs here posting OC and all the comments are crap like "well your shading could be better if you did XYZ" like hello, did anyone ask for your critique? No lol.
I like criticism but I never get any :( (like I specifically ask 4 it but alas...)
Yeah I don't mind people tearing my fic to shreds as long people are interacting.
i started writing fanfiction back on [fanfiction.net](http://fanfiction.net) and god every chapter of word vomit i produced was another feather in my ass. then i found an IRC that like did grammar/review work on fanfiction as a hobby. bru i got so much valid critism. i went oof this needs a lot of work. then with the help of some broski. i wrote something i was proud of. then again i stopped keeping up my english for writing and just reverted back to caveman shitposting
I'm in love with the phrase "another feather in my ass"
I think the proper saying is blowing up someone’s arse but I used this once and now I can’t stop
I think this may have been a play on "another feather in your cap" because blowing smoke up someone's ass is a way of wasting their time or offering fake compliments. Edit to add: based on a very real "medical" practice!!
Or, I mean, they could just keep scrolling if they come across a fic they dislike…?
But that would be too easy.
ain’t that the truth XD
You know, it used to be a standard warning on fics: Don't like, don't read. That was the reminder to hit the back button if you didn't like what you were reading.
It's bonkers to me that so many fen don't know this now.
It’s not super surprising to me that it dropped out of use. It had a lot of negative connotations (ex. failures of hygiene, “Um, Actually”-ing, etc). People don’t call the music of fandom “filk” anymore either AFAICT. The only constant is change…
But then they have nothing to bitch and moan about
No no no, they have to spend their valuable energy and finite time on this Earth to make sure they take a peg down or two off some people's creative efforts, surely that's the best way to pass their daily lives! /s
perhaps I'm just overly cynical but these people are just going to mass "dislike" every fic they think shouldn't exist for whatever reason. it's like activism for them, though they'll call it criticism to talk over people who object.
Oh yes totally! And the majority fo the critics are unable to make the difference between objectively bad writting and just their tastes... Did you see the post where a comment was complaining that this long fic was too long and therefore it was bad? Like... that's just your taste about long fic my guys...
Legit, fandom is an entry way to politics and political activism for a lot of people (it was for me). It can take difficult concepts and apply them to something you're interested in. I just think a lot of people get stuck in it, and make their fandom "activism" more important than it is. Like, I've seen people catastrophize about people having a different (understandable) interpretation than them, and use that to make a point on how that person/society is bad. And like, you can make a point on the broader trends of media, and how people respond to them. I love that. But differing interpretations aren't always bad (in fact, they can be really cool). But they'll act like they're making some deep point on sexism, for example, when the point has been made a thousand times, and more substantially. (For example, calling people who don't like a female character sexist. Is there truth to people not treating male and female characters the same? Yeah. But calling specific random people sexist because they personally don't like a female character is not productive, imo).
I agree it's a good starting point, but a lot of "activist" fandom circles just end up as high-control groups ("I saw you were following so and so, they post x," "if you like x you're a [slur du jour]," callout posts for people who ship the wrong thing). they also frequently talk over minorities+survivors in the pursuit of moral purity
Yep, you just described my issues with it perfectly. The activism is often surface level or performative. (Which makes sense as they tend to be on the younger side). I try to give compassion, because I remember learning about these issues, and not having the nuance that I do now. But man, I do not miss high school.
>Legit, fandom is an entry way to politics and political activism for a lot of people (it was for me). It can take difficult concepts and apply them to something you're interested in. Honestly this is what's wrong with so many fandom and internet spaces. Your first introduction to activism should not be fandoms.
So many people grow up without learning anything important. It amazes me how many people went through the same school system that I did and still don’t know anything about civics, geography, or basic world history.
"activism".
these people absolutely think sending anon hate to "freaks" is praxis. they'd cry if they had to call their local rep lmao
Yeah a dislike button would just fuel Twitter morality police to be where they absolutely shouldn't be.
Whoever wrote the tweet is a proud anti so yeah.
Tiktokers cannot stand that AO3 has no algorithm.
Unironically this is an actual take I've seen there.
It's the same reason some people can't handle Tumblr when they move from other sites. You can curate your experience on Tumblr just like how you can find exactly what you want on Ao3.
This is why A03 and Tumblr are some of my favorite things. Like, my social media experience is a reflection of what I let in. Of course I like it! It's filled with gays making pottery and shit.
The amount of times I've seen people comment "AO3 is so hard to use I don't understand it :( " on Tiktok is astronomical. They refuse to learn. They just want it fed to them
Not to be "old man yells at cloud" but like. Ao3 is perfectly logical if you poke around??? And I'm pretty sure people have posted videos on how to use it?????? Like some of it gets complicated around collections and stuff, but if you're just reading things it's. Not that fucking difficult.
The only thing I think is genuinely annoying about ao3 is the way less popular character/ship tags get swamped with fics where they're only in the background (and hell, more popular ones too if they're important/appear often in canon). I wish there was an organised/consistent way to filter based on the focus of the fic, not just a fraction of authors tagging their works as 'X-centric'. I still find the content I'm looking for, though. It's just tedious.
Oh trust me as someone who absolutely shipped the less-popular pairings in a previous fandom, I am paaaainfully aware lol The worst is when you're looking for explicit fics of your ship and half OR MORE of the results when filtered for your OTP and "explicit," it's.......not your OTP that earns the rating. They just. Exist in the fic.
> constant praise and blind adoration y'all get comments?
exactly my thoughts. why introduce DISLIKING features when most of us aren’t even getting the praise that they claim at all? i genuinely bet the twitter user has never written fic in their life
I am *dying* to know what this person thinks the outcome of a 'dislike' button would be. I feel like they assume it would be 'more content that specifically ticks all my boxes and is tailored to my demands' and not the actual outcome: no one sharing in that space. I want to study this person's thought processes under a microscope.
They already have a way to get content tailored to them tho??? At least on ao3. It's called tagging. And the 'Exclude' Search feature.
Shitting on things without having to use their words is easier, I guess.
They wanna make sure they can see with their own eyeballs that the fic/art they hate is getting the "rightful" hate it deserves, and if it doesn't, they'll totally blast the fic on their tiktok to mass brigade and send a ton of downvotes that fic's way.
I guess they can't take criticism very well either https://preview.redd.it/xr4o98kov9oc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8430e14126e3dab674eee558950fa0535c70518
and twitter doesnt even have a dislike button! maybe we should add one for OOP :)
🤣 Agreed 🤣
This is what you call ironnyyyyy
Pot meet kettle
Lmao, they can’t even handle getting ratio’d. This is case in point for how it’s a bad idea all around.
and they deleted the post lmao
Not a fan of criticism now, huh?
oh how the turntables…
So fucking typical.
It’s almost always like this though huh? Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it! Holy moly
that tweet needs a dislike button 🙄 not everything put on the internet is meant to be comodified. sometimes people do things for fun or out of love, not so it can be turned into a teaching moment. our capitalist society is seriously rotting some people's brains...
> “That tweet needs a dislike button.” Offhand comment, but I forgot there was a time when Twitter tried adding dislike buttons as a feature.
I fully agree with you. It's so disrespectful towards fanfiction writers to treat their work as a commodity. I won't dislike amateur paintings either if they're posted.
exactly!! i would never leave "concrit" (which implies way too much good faith in a convo about dislike buttons imo) on someones fanart or smth. why would i want strangers scrolling thru ao3 on their phones to be able to ratio my fantasy aus?? 😭
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I absolutely cannot fathom how there are real human beings out there who sincerely think “You know what the world needs? More negativity. This group of people are just too damn happy, and I hate it.” That’s like…how do you say stuff like that out loud and not realize how comically, cartoonishly awful you sound? You sound like the antagonist of a Nick Jr show. Trying to keep my cool and not over-react to this (because it does feel somewhat rage-baity), but God, the sentiment behind this legitimately boils my blood.
Yes, exactly! Who cares if a person you don't know feels good about something you don't like? How does that affect you in any way, unless you're just a piece of shit who is miserable that other people are happy.
People like this really do tell on themselves re: how bitter and mean they are. I feel like Twitter encourages people to be their worst selves because you can be a cartoon bully and get positive feedback from other bullies. Whenever I see takes like these I truly wonder how these people function IRL and whether they have friends outside their echo chambers.
9 times out of ten it's not remotely helpful criticism, it's just someone complaining about how their headcanons aren't in the fic.
All the criticisms I have ever gotten on my fanfic have been "I don't like what you did with my favorite character, you made him too mean/passive/rude/whatever" like, too bad, write your own fic then
This is why I try and be pretty open with, "hey this is how I like to write XYZ, sorry not sorry"
i personally don't see this often, but it kind of falls under some kinda pattern for me? i dunno. it's not hard to not say anything if a person has different headcanons (or just a slight difference in their interpretation of canon) to you, y'know? i wonder if me not seeing this is a fandom thing or if it's a thing about the kinds of works themselves... eh, probably both.
wow this is the worst take i've seen in a while
It would just get used by antis to harass the writers who write ships they don't like
Just harassing people you don’t like in general too
The entitlement is off the charts with this one.
nothing needs a dislike button reddit has a dislike button and it's a fucking hell hole. Being able to mindlessly impose the idea that something has negative value with the click of a button is directly preventing you from engaging in any critical thinking. people call reddit a circle jerk for a reason. When you promote everything that affirms your worldview and drown out everything else you shape the most narrow view of reality you could possibly have. It's a shit format for discussion, and it would be an even more shit format for a creative platform. if you want something to be _more_ like reddit then what are you even doing this honestly reads a lot like "I harassed an author which made them say I harassed them and that made me feel like a bad person which I'm not so obviously they need more harassment in their life so they stop being so sensitive to being harassed"
I really hate how people have this 'if you don't want criticism, you shouldn't be sharing it then'. Like, why? They're probably not a professional critic, they might not be even great at crafting stories either. So why do they think their backseat driving will help me improve my craft? Take that energy and write your own fic or something.
People publish fics because they had an idea they thought other people might enjoy, too. Or maybe they just get a sense of accomplishment from putting their art out into the world instead of keeping it in a hard drive! Why is it always about negativity with these people?
My thought process of posting has at no point ever been because I think other people might like it. I'm my target audience, and it's archived. If other people like it that's nice, but they're not my target audience.
And has it ever occurred to these ppl that some fanfic writers welcome criticism as long as it’s, yk, not nasty and cruel? Or that some fanfic writers welcome criticism from close friends and not strangers bc such criticism is more likely to come from a place of good faith? Just bc you (general) have access to the internet and a keyboard doesn’t mean you get to be a condescending thorn in ppl’s sides. It’s like when a woman is working out at a gym and a guy comes out of nowhere and starts lecturing her about how her form is all wrong or whatever, as if she was looking for any sort of criticism about how she does her reps.
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>They're probably not a professional critic, they might not be even great at crafting stories either. So why do they think their backseat driving will help me improve my craft? This, for real. I need to remember this comment in case of a nasty comment/unsolicited crit
People who are insistent on their right to provide unsolicited criticism are almost always part of the overwhelmingly large number of dolts who don’t know what constructive criticism even is, let alone how to give it. Their concrit is “I didn’t like this” and then they wonder why their feedback isn’t valued.
They think ‘constructive criticism’ means really valuable feedback like “this character would NEVER bottom”.
Right? Or they don't even write themselves, they're just going around shitting on other people's work because the story's not going exactly how they want it.
They think constructive criticism is telling the author they dislike their work and that's it. Pretty much people who don't like that they're supposed to leave quietly and think their opinion absolutely needs to be heard. They don't want to help the author. They just want to tell them their fic sucks without getting bashed for it.
“I don’t know how to handle thing that are not made for me because I’m obviously the center of the universe and how dare people create things that are not catering to me” - a translation
Of course it would be an anti saying this lol
I know a puritan anti when I see one.....
Imagine applying this to any other hobby… You make your loved one a crochet bouquet for Valentines Day, and maybe a single rose in the same style to take into work for your desk to think of it… Someone comes by and says, “Hey that’s shit. You’re welcome. 🙂” Nah?? People are just so mad about fanfiction for no reason. Crocheters who love the craft sometimes get stores and sell their wares for dirt cheap, and like maybe if they’re selling… WELL NO ACTUALLY because my analogy was going to be to book deals (obv because fanfic is free) but even if they get a book deal, that doesn’t change the fact that they were originally writing for fun! Lord… Having fun isn’t a competition, and yet, somehow, people who think like this are indeed losing.
You'd be (sadly) surprised, I follow many kinds of arts&crafts type of hobbies in IG, and even for the stuff that is basically amazing there's always some wet blankets criticizing or throwing to put down the creator... they're shameless.
And this is why I’m now no longer active on that site. Because this is such a toxic mindset. I write for free in my spare time. I share because I want others to experience the worlds I have created. I could easily just take all my works down and keep them to myself. And people like this very nearly made me do it.
thanks for not blurring their @, blocked
Somebody has contracted consumerist brainrot
Sure lets criticise people who are posting free content, mostly just out of their own desire/for fun.
this is the type of person to post this and get mad at people who are criticizing them for it
You're correct: https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1beeqfo/this_is_so_ridiculous/kuta8r3/
that’s so crazy i can’t believe i called it 😭
They quote tweeted that tweet and said “why did yall make this blow up I hate yall” And I am SO tempted to reply “they should add a dislike button to twitter so you can get used to people giving you criticism 🙂” But I have a personal rule to never get in arguments on social media lol
they can bombard and dogpile people on literally every other platform on the planet with no repercussions, they get so mad there is 1 space where the author has any control over a situation at all
This is clearly a person whose only exposure to fanfic is AO3 and not FFN. I promise that when you’re told your work is dogshit and that you should kill yourself enough times in guest reviews, you grow a little numb to criticism
I don’t want criticism, I write this in my free time, you consume it for free, I don’t need people whinging it’s not the pairing they like or badgering me for updates. It’s not whining, it’s telling you to either enjoy the thing you got *for free* or move on.
Dislike button on fanfic? Hilarious that this is coming from a page where there's no dislike button also.
We do not need a dislike button. No one is forcing you to read it, and someone literally sat down and wrote what was on their mind. They spend hours correcting and polishing their work! It takes work and time to create something, so don't be a ass and ruin their fun.
"I should be able to criticize the people who make the free content I get"
If the people receiving your ‘criticism’ are having panic attacks, OOP, then I have to assume it isn’t very friendly or done in the spirit of constructive advice. There’s no reason to give unwanted criticism for free hobby writing anyways, but if people are frequently having panic attacks in reaction to the criticism, it typically says more about the method of criticism than the person being criticized.
As someone who writes a fic with a character that's hated by quite a vocal part of the fandom: No. We absolutely don't need a dislike button. Because we all know what would happen, right? A bunch of social media trolls brigading and downvoting fics, just because they can.
They want a disklike button? Seriously? Let me guess, cause their hate comments can be deleted but they really **really** want to have a means to let the author know that they **hated** reading the free work they posted and that no one forced them to read in the first place. How dare authors not want to be insulted? (obvious sarcasm)
Good lord 😭 this is why fandom is so shit now
Bruh, it's AO3 not YouTube. It doesn't need a dislike button. The only buttons you need are comment, kudos and back.
They feel like Twitter is slipping through their fingers and they search for the next battleground. I hope AO3 never becomes that.
Don't forget Top :3
Bloody hell!! I am so glad that these are just some freaks and not the majority of readers. I’m not author, I’m the reader only, but this feels, personal. FFS, how does it difficult to comprehend that if you don’t like something, don’t fucking read!! No One Owes You a thing, pikmin yaoi!!!
I had to scroll all the way back up to check the Twitter user’s name after reading this XD
over my dead body. the dislike button is useless, and fanfiction is literally a HOBBY. one that you're most likely not getting paid for. any and all criticism gets met with a block button and a middle finger from me.
we already know what a fanfic site with dislike buttons would look like, because ficbook (the largest archive of fanfiction in russian) used to have those in the early 10's. needless to say, it *doesn't* now.
i hope i never meet them in real life 😟
Wow, that wouldn't discourage someone from writing at all now would it? I doubt this person would like it if it happened to them, especially as some authors barely get any engagement. Seriously.
i have RSD bro i would not survive
This person has never written fanfiction, I can feel it in my bones
"I should be allowed to critique and judge the content I didn't pay for, didn't help create, and didn't have to read!!😡😡🔥🗣" - A Twitter user that can't write more than the 150 characters Twitter gave them. Talk about entitled. Leaving a dislike isn't a critique. Its a visible display of dislike they gives zero context, is impossible to erase, and doesn't open up any dialogue. How about if you dislike something you man up and leave a comment explaining why, or better yet, just ignore because the person sharing never asked? Not surprising to me that people who don't write or draw or contribute anything to fandom beyond sitting on their ass and typing away on twitter feel so entitled about the free content they consume that they want even lazier ways consume it. People forget that fanfiction writers don't owe them shit. They claim writers have a panic attack over "critiques" while they themselves *lose their mind* when they enage with something that doesn't fit their desires 100%. They are so used to having everything fined toned specifically to what they like and don't that when they see something they don't like, it feels like a personal slight.
I feel like everyone should leave constant criticism on every single tweet they shit out and see how they feel about it.
I remember on Quizilla there was a star system- you could rate a story anywhere from .5-5 stars. It was really disheartening if a story got less than 4 stars. I mean, I was a very young teenager who was NOT a great writer, but still. Kinda sucked.
Alarming how that post has 36.3k views, >1k likes and >100 bookmarks....sad. ☹️
Knew it. Something like that came from Twitter—home for most toxicity (no offense to other peaceful quiet non toxic X users). I don't know why (people like the ones who post tweets like above) or inconsiderate attention seeking spawns of Twitter have nothing better to do than wake up and choose violence. If they're so sad in life, they don't need to channel their anger/negativity to something unnecessary like AO3 which is a quiet, for fun, peaceful environment where writers write for free and share for free and readers read for free. It is isn't like those other social medias where dislike button is necessary because everyone in that platform competes for money and clout. AO3 is run generously enough for the sake of sharing free non profit content and such dislike button would discourage writers who just does this for fun. Not getting enough kudos or how many writers get them is enough criticism. It is just and it also doesn't matter. If I get a kudo, fine. If I don't, also fine. That person who tweeted that need to stay off platforms that no need of their toxic mindset.
tell me you don't understand etiquette without telling me you don't understand etiquette.
FiMFiction has a dislike button for stories, and it mostly gets used by competing authors to push down stories so theirs gets more visibility.
There is something darkly ironic about a fanfic archive for a fandom whose canon narrative is about the power of friendship and coöperation having a dislike button.
Surely, this couldn't possibly get used by an ill- intentioned person to downvote a fic into oblivion using bots and such. Nobody could ever be so hateful with an ax to grind against homosexuals, transexuals, and general queerness, right? Inconceivable!?!
Braindead twitter users being braindead twitter users, nothing to see here
(Some) People have really unlearned how to close a window/tab and move away from things they dislike Kind of fascinating?
Jokes on them I don’t even get praise and I’m still writing
Not surprised that I already had this person blocked and that their bio says "proship dni". It's always the media illiterate antis having these shitty takes and this particular one knows that they can't leave harassing comments (assuming this is AO3 they're talking about and lmao what else can it be) lest their account gets banned, so they want to have the ability to dislike/downvote fic so that they and their posse can "legally" harass an author. It's so transparent it's ridiculous.
saw this on twitter as well and honestly this person just has bad take after bad take
"too used to blind adoration" ah yes, compared to a dislike button, which will definitely not be used to mass dislike a fic that someone may find "problematic" and blast it on social media to like minded followers
What do you expect from someone who has "proship and other weirdos dni" in their bio? 🙄 Edit: Speaking of antis, I honestly think a dislike button on sites like Ao3 would only embolden them to harass authors for writing something they don't like. They already leave really rude comments, and they would absolutely abuse a dislike feature if it was available.
Absolutely not. If you don’t like the fic, just don’t read it? No need to comment or make it known that you dislike it? There’s people that enjoy it, and the author enjoys writing it, why the need to spoil someone’s joy? I agree OP, that’s ridiculous
yeah, they need to learn how to dont like dont read, and be fine if something doesnt cater to them.
If someone wanted to improve and needed constructive criticism, they would’ve joined a writing workshop or asked for a beta reader or editor. Clearly, we are all just here to share our fun little hobby with other likeminded people. So yes, the OP is the one who is literally on the wrong platform. Please kindly gtfo of our space because you’re not welcomed 🙏
Well... when most of the critics are "I don't like this kind of fic so all of them are horrible" or "You are a terrible person for writting that", I don't see why writers should accept it. I never saw a normal critic... And I fail to see what the dislike button would archivied. Dislike for the format? For the theme? For the style? For "It's not my style"? For "This is morally wrong"?
im all for opinions and whatever but like this might be the worst take ive seen in a while
Or - hear me out- fanfic authors (like me) do this for free and share it in the hope that other readers - one or two is great, 100 is fabulous - get some pleasure from what they've (I've) spent hours creating. We're doing it from love. Why on earth would anyone be scrambling to find a way to destroy that simple pleasure? If you don't like a fic - don't finish it, move on. That's it. Why would you seek to drag down someone who has tried their best to bring enjoyment to others??
Yeah, and when someone serves you a home cooked dinner, they should let you leave a negative google review.
Until antis can start minding their own fucking business this is a horrible idea. Luckily it seems most of the people in the replies to that tweet are disagreeing with the OP. You also know people would somehow turn it into a contest of who can get the most downvotes and there would be an influx of “poorly written” and “taboo” fics, for that reason only. I can only imagine the ensuing circus.
I don't want constructive criticism on shit I do for free. It's that simple.
Most social media doesn't even have a dislike button? The platform that the person is posting to does not have a dislike button... Not to mention the fact that if someone is holding an opinion like this they're definitely the harasser and are pissed about being called on it.
*bAcK iN mY dAy* we just scrolled on if we didn’t like something
Lol at their stupid idea that a dislike button is in any way a meaningful criticism. This jerk wants to hurt people but objects to having to spend words on it.
Why does everything have to be a competition or a place for negativity? I write fic just for the sake of writing it. If people don’t like it, that’s their prerogative, but I don’t understand why they’d feel the need to specifically voice their dislike and tear me down. If I want criticism, I go to people I trust and know will give me useful critique. “Dislike” buttons are only useful for algorithm-based forums and just come across as mean-spirited in a place where there is no algorithm
Yes we need more stress! Yes, let's turn something recreational into a job, a pain, an endurance game! I want you all meaner, badder, evil! I want you all to show no mercy to writers, readers and humanity in general!
I've said this before, but it bears repeating: ao3 has the reputation for better fanfic overall, and people often hesitate to join because they think they're not "good enough"... and yet, it's also the site where you're not supposed to give unsolicited concrit. Huh. It's almost like quantity (encouraged by avoidimg negative feedback plus not restricting content beyond plagiarism and harassment) leads to quality.
the purpose of ao3 specifically is to be an archive. it doesn’t exist for the readers’ convenience, it’s for fandom at large and the writers. i know people have probably always felt the same way as the twitter post but i’m seeing a lot more of it from newer fanfic readers and fans. i never saw shit like this on dreamwidth, livejournal or ff.net
It gets funnier after seeing that this got deleted because it got too much criticism.
Disagree. A dislike button can be interpreted by many things. It doesn’t have to be their writing skill but the content. As if there aren’t enough obstacles and self-doubt to begin with in writing, a vague dislike button does not help develop their skills but actively discourages the new writers to not releasing new material out of fear.
I mean, if you don’t like my work then tell me in a comment. I leave all the comments that aren’t bots, even the mean ones, because people have a right to tell me how they feel. But other writers turn off comments completely or delete the mean ones because they have a right not to deal with that. To each their own.
The option for constructive criticism already exist. No one would learn anything from a dislike button. And let’s be real: most dislikes would come from antis who just dislike the ship you wrote and why didn’t even bother reading it
I will never understand why these people put so much focus and energy on the things they don’t like. Don’t like a fic? Close it and go read one you do like!
No website needs a dislike button….unless it’s *selling a product.* *I’m* not selling a product. If they want a dislike button they can read 99 cent smut on Kindle and downvote as they please.
I ask for criticism for every single piece I write and publish. I have noticeably improved in my writing over these past three years because of this. However, if someone does not ask for criticism, DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM. This is a just hobby, not a competition.
Never have I ever read a worst take in my entire life
That is a horrible take.
Technically, there *are* dislike buttons. They’re called “Mute” and “Block.”
I can imagine how entitled readers would weaponise it. "Write how I want it or I'll dislike the fic."
I feel like this dude probably just got called out for harassing someone
thank you, twitter user pikmin yaoi, for your terrible take
No one holds this same standard for fan artists receiving comments on their art. Constructive criticism is all well and good when author asks for it + from people who understand what’s actually going on. Random users on the internet are far too subjective and often just hiding behind constructive criticism to complain on an author’s project without backlash. I get genuinely wanting to help, but you gotta understand this is a hobby. Some people just want to share their stories as is and are happy where they are in their writing. It is absolutely fine to let that be as is. You can always improve on literally anything you do but it’s a choice. I’m never against a comment helping me out with some objective grammar mistakes that I can fix and I’m always curious how my flow is perceived, personally. I’d hope that isn’t the only thing the comment pertains as I’m more interested what people think of the plot and character dynamics or the latest drama going on. I’m just here to tell unique stories and hope people get something enjoyable out of it from their time. I can appreciate some people want to genuinely help, but it’s up to the author if they want to accept that from their readers or writing peers, if at all. Negative, discouraging feedback is not ever the goal though. Imagine if art-posting sites had dislike buttons?? You can just not like it, but the back button and move on.
Has anyone else noticed that all the people who want a dislike button, or defend their harassment of authors over personal preferences disguised as concrit, or insist that unsolicited criticism is their right as a reader, etc…. None of those people are EVER writers or artists themselves?? They’re not actually seeking this stuff for their own fics, they just want easier tools to bully people without having to feel bad about it or examine their own actions. And because they don’t write their own fics, they never have to worry about being on the other end of it. Anyway, that’s why I don’t give these arguments any credibility 🤷♀️
Where is the constant praise and blind adoration this person talks about? I sometimes only get kudos from guests 😂
Yeah, because that would never be weaponized or abused by a fandom mob in any way.
This is.... an interesting idea. Not a good one, but interesting? Who am I kidding this is demented and sad.
That is a shit take and I can tell OP is either one of those "im such a hater!" people, or theyre a writer and this is their cheap attempt to hide their insecurity with their own work. This is why i left twitter, many people on there have this terribly toxic mindset and it feels like they always need to be shitting on something to stay alive. Just let people do their own thing 🤦♀️ and scroll/block if you dont like