Fandom Snowflake 05 - Shouting into the void is no fun at all - until it echoes

[silveradept]

Leave feedback for a fanwork. Or multiple fanworks. It can be as simple as I liked this to a detailed list of all the things you loved about the fanwork. The key is to leave some sort of feedback.

If you've already left feedback in the course of a previous challenge, it totally counts. But you're free to leave more feedback.

The accompanying message for this challenge reminds us of the asynchronous nature of creation and consumption.

Creators create for a number of reasons. Often, we find ourselves inspired, and in the moment, we create. But creation doesn't occur in a vacuum, and it's too easy to walk away from a fanwork without saying anything.

Creators create for themselves, but they need to know that they have an audience and that their fanworks are being enjoyed by others. Feedback is a way to get some validation that what you've created is good.

Sometimes we go to comment on a fanwork and we find ourselves without the words to express how we feel about the fanwork. Or we become overwhelmed by all the amazing comments the fanwork has already gotten. 

Don't let either of these things stop you from leaving a comment. There's no prize for the Best Comment Ever, and the creator just needs to know that you enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

Since the only people who seem to have unlimited surveillance powere are government agencies and advertising corporations, the rest of us have to rely on someone telling us that they've experienced our work. This is the basic intersection of fandom - I'm brave enough to put this item out here, and hope you're brave enough to let me know you experienced it. Because commenting requires bravery, too - going on the record that you like something, or offering criticism, or your own perspective, is a brave act, with how many ways it could go pear-shaped through no fault of the commenter.

Which is why i also wanted to talk about a most useful post on this subject - trascendenza posted about anxieties and commenting on other people's work, along with an idea of creators making an explicit statement about what kinds of comments and feedback they would like and having it somewhere handy so that people who are new to the space can feel more confident in leaving comments. I think it's a wonderful idea, and that's why it's my sticky post for this space. Because I want people to comment and feedback on what they see in these entries, instead of worrying about what would be appropriate comments.

So go! Leave comments! Create culture statements to go with your transformative works statements. And enjoy the shared experiences of fandom.

Comments

[oswulf]

This, this, this. And this is why I stumbled my way into Snowflake. This is why I'm so filled with ideas and desires to write but never do.

And I was about to decide that I wasn't saying anything particularly interesting or insightful & delete the post and then my mind returned to the point--that is exactly the sort of intellectual abandonment I need to stop doing. Except for relatives' political posts. I should probably keep my filter in place for those. Tangent: rant against CIPA & filterning generally

[silveradept]

A lot of creators do not require interesting or insightful, even though it seems like that's the requirement for commenting. It's a bit hard to wrap your head around the idea that ! is just a valid a comment as a long piece.

Agreed on filtering familial politics and the general uselessness of CIPA and the filtering software that usually gets used to comply with it.

[oswulf]

It also helps to be reminded to get out of my own head. It's not "I'm not saying anything useful so I really shouldn't be wasting people's time." It's "If it were me, I would want to know that people are actually reading what I wrote, and if nobody responds I'll just assume that they aren't."

[silveradept]

Definitely that. Even if I'm not really comfortable with asking other people to leave comments, it's possible to try for a "lead by example" idea.

[oswulf]

Where you lead, I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to
If you need, you need me to be with you
I will follow where you lead

(Yay, me. Following by example.)

[scripsi]

Thank you so much for linking to the post! I never thought of Writing such a statement, but it's brilliant!

[silveradept]

That's pretty much the same reaction I had to seeing it the first time. I look forward to seeing what yours looks like.

[trascendenza]

Yay for fostering transparent commenting culture!! \o/