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Wanted feature: concrit comments
I've been considering what AO3 could do that's unique & different from other archives, rather than just "improve searches" and "more display options" which are indeed nifty goals, but I was trying to think of something different.
And I realized one of the reasons I sometimes don't leave comments is that I want to leave concrit/corrections, which some authors welcome, but it feels really really *weird* to say, "there's an obscene typo in paragraph 3, and also the dog's name was Indiana, not Illinois," and have that left in the comment stream for all future readers who would otherwise never know the author had a facepalm moment before fixing things.
I think I'd like something like screened comments, where the commenter could say "screen this thread." Mark it as "concrit" rather than normal-story-comment so it doesn't clutter the comment-stream, and so the purpose is obvious. I know I'd be more likely to leave critical comments for those authors who welcome them if it didn't feel like I was calling them out in front of all the other readers.
I could see there'd be options for abuse; people could leave hate speech in screened comments. But authors would have the normal option to report those; they're not much different from what people could do now.
I don't know if it's really feasible, or if there's some other way to implement it. I'd like features that encourage more feedback, of any sort; a section for "concrit goes here" for those authors who'd actively like it could be part of that. Because even with authors who avidly seek concrit and proofreading and some level of after-publication beta, it's hard to say "honey, your ESL is showing" in public, especially to a friend.
Does it sound interesting? Nifty? A feature we want next week? A horrible opportunity for vicious wank that I've somehow overlooked? This is in the "idle thoughts/brainstorm" stage, not an "I want to propose an official change" situation.
(FWIW, I'm not thinking of any particular stories or authors at the moment; I was going over some past entries in metafandom about concrit.)
And I realized one of the reasons I sometimes don't leave comments is that I want to leave concrit/corrections, which some authors welcome, but it feels really really *weird* to say, "there's an obscene typo in paragraph 3, and also the dog's name was Indiana, not Illinois," and have that left in the comment stream for all future readers who would otherwise never know the author had a facepalm moment before fixing things.
I think I'd like something like screened comments, where the commenter could say "screen this thread." Mark it as "concrit" rather than normal-story-comment so it doesn't clutter the comment-stream, and so the purpose is obvious. I know I'd be more likely to leave critical comments for those authors who welcome them if it didn't feel like I was calling them out in front of all the other readers.
I could see there'd be options for abuse; people could leave hate speech in screened comments. But authors would have the normal option to report those; they're not much different from what people could do now.
I don't know if it's really feasible, or if there's some other way to implement it. I'd like features that encourage more feedback, of any sort; a section for "concrit goes here" for those authors who'd actively like it could be part of that. Because even with authors who avidly seek concrit and proofreading and some level of after-publication beta, it's hard to say "honey, your ESL is showing" in public, especially to a friend.
Does it sound interesting? Nifty? A feature we want next week? A horrible opportunity for vicious wank that I've somehow overlooked? This is in the "idle thoughts/brainstorm" stage, not an "I want to propose an official change" situation.
(FWIW, I'm not thinking of any particular stories or authors at the moment; I was going over some past entries in metafandom about concrit.)
no subject
On further reflection, I wonder if this could fall under the umbrella of some sort of private messaging system. (I don't know if there's already a plan in the works to allow users to send direct messages to each other.)
I think what I'd prefer is the option to send a comment straight, and only, to the author's inbox, preferably still with sort of referring link to the work that notifications have now, so that when an author with 30 works gets a comment about a misplaced word, there's less chance for ambiguity.
There's a bit of awkwardness about posting something screened when you don't know whether or not its going to remain screened. It's no more fraught than your average comment on a journal, but at least in my head, AO3 is a low-confusion, less-drama space. There's no telling what you'd end up with when you explicitly open up to concrit though, so whatever.
The rest of this is all off the main topic, but your comment sparked something...
I just had a thought about the beta-reader thing, actually. I know that you can indicate coauthors when you're posting a new work, but I'm not sure whether that means that a saved draft is editable by any or all of those authors before it goes live. You'd have to communicate outside of that to avoid simultaneous editing, and drafts are only saved for a week.
I know that Fanfiction.net hosts beta reader listings, but I can't remember whether they have an internal display of works for beta readers, or whether you have to communicate outside of that.
no subject