Tales of the Parodyverse >> View Post
Post By
HH
In Reply To
-M-

Subj: Re: I write here and reply here to be part of a community.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 at 06:46:59 pm EDT
Reply Subj: Re: I write here and reply here to be part of a community.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 at 05:06:50 pm EDT


> I can understand the frustration.

Then what's the problem with me or others expressing it?

> I would be lying if I said it didn't bug me that more people didn't reply, but it didn't bug me enough to stop me from writing a story I liked.

Poor responses demotivate me. It's the idea that I'm wasting my time trying to entertain people who either aren't reading what I've written or are reading it but can't be bothered even to acknowledge it.

I can and do write things for my own satisfaction, and things for wider audiences, and things just to get them out of my head. Mostly when I come to the Parodyverse I come for specific reasons, and I write for the Parodyverse.

> The great thing was they read and replied to my stuff without ever expecting anything in return. They didn't make passive-aggressive remarks asking for replies in return.

I think you're remembering through rose-tinted spectacles. Nor do I think you can compare a board's frenetic earliest months with an online community getting on towards a decade old, where both relationships and output have evolved.

And why is expressing concern "passive-agressive"? I'd call it "being honest".

Passive-agressive behaviour is defined as: "Passive, sometimes obstructionist resistance to following authoritative instructions in interpersonal or occupational situations. It can manifest itself as resentment, stubbornness, procrastination, sullenness, or repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is assumed, often explicitly, to be responsible. It is a defense mechanism and, more often than not, only partly conscious."

> Back then it seemed to be more about the fun of writing these stories and the diversity of them, then seeing who gets the most replies or chastising those who aren't replying.

Well for me the fun was and is the lengthy banter between posters, the enthusiasm that comes from discussing stories and events (either by a reply thread or in chat), plotting out interesting new stuff by kibbutzing with other writers, and getting surprised by the occasional curve I don;t see coming from someone else's input.

All of that requires interaction. Without that the board is a mere showcase, and I don't need one of those.

> My frustration lies with the fact that nowadays it seems reading and replying is based on a quid-pro-quid system ("I'll only read and reply to what you've written, once you read and reply to what I've written!"). How much validation do those extra replies represent if they're coerced out of people?

With the exception of a couple of two or three month breaks from the board, one due to frustration with the PV and one due to heavy work commitments, I've replied to pretty much every substantive piece of work here since 1999, whether those people have ever read or commented on my work or not - including everything I've ever seen of yours. I see no evidence of a quid-pro-quo system at all. I certainly don't operate one.