Anonymous Comments

[rodo]

Today, I got two anonymous comments on two of my stories (Well, one HP fic and the essay about male pregnancy). They weren't flames, they were just rather critical and not exactly polite. I didn't mind that at all. What I did mind very much was the fact that I had no way to reply to the criticism, and that really bothers me. Generally, I reply to all comments I receive to say thanks, to reply to questions asked and to respond to criticism, and to these two I wanted to respond really bad. I am even thinking about disallowing anonymous commenting on my fics now, to avoid something like this happening in the future.

I assume both comments were written by the same author. One of them, the one I got on my essay, made it clear that the person didn't really read my essay but just wanted a place to rant about mpreg. Not all that unusual, most of the readers react that way to it. This one, however didn't even understand that I didn't intend to write a "What is good mpreg?" essay but rather one about the phenomenon and why people write it. It's more about the authors and readers of mpreg fic and less about the fics themselves.

The second comment criticised the first sex scene I ever wrote. I agree that it's not a good sex scene and that I could have done a lot of things better. However, the commenter focussed on the mechanics of sex, which, as I learnt on fanficrants, is different for everyone. The statement "anal sex without lube hurts like hell" is not true for everyone. I really want to tell this to the person, complete with links and all, but I just can't. That's really frustrating.

I always thought the main problem with anonymous comments were flames, but I think they are much easier to deal with. You can get them deleted, or you can delete them yourself (depending on the site). This is something different. Am I silly for reacting this way?

Comments

[blnchflr]

It's just plain rude and cowardly to leave anonymous comments - if someone doesn't have an IJ/LJ/whatever account, they can still leave an a-mail addy!

So I could understand turning off anonymous comments.

[rood.insanejournal.com]

The comments were posted on ff.de (http://www.fanfiktion.de), where you have to change the default setting from logged-in-only to anonymous-reviewers-too. I did that because I linked to the stories from some other places and I didn't want to force people to get an account.

So far, all the "anonymous comments" I received were signed at least with a name (I can understand why you might not want to put your e-mail into the open), even if I couldn't find out more. But it really sucks not to know how to reach out to the commenter.

[blnchflr]

Ah, I take it back, then, if it was not on IJ/LJ, and if people did indeed sign a name :o)

[rood.insanejournal.com]

Well, the person I am complaining about didn't sign. The others did though, which is why I am torn between turning off anonymous commenting and leaving things the way they are.

[lilithilien.insanejournal.com]

I would reply anyway. Say whatever you would to them as if they were getting the comment. Sometimes people will check back later. And at the very least, it will make you feel better and hopefully give you some closure.

[rood.insanejournal.com]

Problem is it's not in LJ or IJ. It's on an archive, and the only possible way of answering to comments there is via PM or A/N (both fic and essay are finished).

[lilithilien.insanejournal.com]

Doh! That's very frustrating.

[lenija.insanejournal.com]

Almost the same happened to me (on ff.de, too), and I reacted like you do. I like to be able to explain what I meant to people who didn't get it in the first place, and I like to be able to state that I have a different view of of something. Well, that doesn't work here, and it is frustrating.

Conclusion: You are not being silly. Alternatively: We are both being silly.

(I apologize if this comment sounds weird, and in case I'm not making a point... I just realized I'm too tired to think, but if I don't comment now I won't do it, and I wanted to, because I understand the sentiment. /blah> Sorry.

[rood.insanejournal.com]

Conclusion: You are not being silly. Alternatively: We are both being silly.

I take number one. You're on ff.de as well? Same nick?