Meaning of Kudos

[littlemousling]

Poll #10088 Meaning of Kudos

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 369

When I click the Kudos button, it most often means (one or more of) the following:

View Answers

Good job!
261 (70.7%)

I liked this!
339 (91.9%)

I finished this and didn't hate it!
60 (16.3%)

I ADORED this!
204 (55.3%)

I like clicking buttons and assign no meaning!
4 (1.1%)

None of these options apply
6 (1.6%)

This is a sort of follow-up to bethbethbeth's great Kudos/Comments poll here. There are a number of comments there discussing the various reasons people click the Kudos button, some of which may be more common reasons than others.

Feel free to expand on your answer!

Comments

[zillah975]

I often just don't have it in me to leave a comment. Usually it's because I have so much to say but not the energy to say it and I can't boil it down to just a few words that I do have the energy for. Sometimes I'll leave both Kudos and something short like "I loved this!" but yeah. See, even right now, I'm all, "I should just delete this comment, it doesn't add anything," which is a lot the same reason why I often just leave kudos. :)

[zebra_in_dream]

Due to various reasons I seldom comment, so Kudos for me are a way to leave a positive feedback I wouldn't have left otherwise. It means anything from "This story has some problems, but I enjoyed something in it" to "I like this story so much I have no idea what to say".

It has also made me more likely to leave a comment, as it takes the scary out of commenting and means I have a feedback fallback without feeling guilty that I commented on one story but not another.

I'd also like chapter kudos back, because I would like to say "Still reading, please write more" without having to either say that phrase every chapter or having to come up with something new each chapter, even if I don't have anything to say at the moment.

[beanarie]

I'd ask "Are you me?" but I know you're not because I could never word that so perfectly. Social anxiety is the absolute poops. I never know how to respond to comments without sounding flightily ungrateful with the endless thank you, thank you, thank yous or somehow coming off arrogant. Kudos are my most favorite thing. I was so happy when I made the switch to AO3.

[torachan]

Okay, well, if I ever see your name on a fic, I'll be sure not to leave you any feedback, since nothing but long, detailed comments is good enough.

[zebra_in_dream]

This is one of the reasons I may not feel up to leave a comment and a reason I like kudos.

[zebra_in_dream]

There's an archive I'd like to post to, but I'm neither posting nor commenting, because to post I'd have to make my email address public and to comment, the author would get it. My email address isn't a random persons business whom I just wanted to tell that I liked their story.

[torachan]

I don't think feedback should be a chore. I loathe the idea that a reader (whether that reader be me or someone reading my fic) is obligated to compose a long, detailed comment and anything else is worthless. Fuck that thinking, seriously.

I have enough stress and obligations in my life that I do not need to add another one for something that is supposed to be a way to relax. And as an author, while of course I love long, detailed comments, I know that if I were to demand only that, I would be lucky to get one comment per fic, if that, because other people also don't want reading to be a chore. I really want to know that people are enjoying my fics, and kudos gives me that information.

[hardboiledbaby]

Ditto (and Kudos!) to this comment! :)

[sophinisba]

Same here. I don't generally read fic that I don't like.

[sophinisba]

Heh, this is how I always always feel on meta posts. *fist bump*

[qem_chibati]

Hear, hear.

[qem_chibati]

I am suffering from major insomnia/stress right now so writing comments, is hard compared to the umber of stories I want to read, and the amount of things I want to do.

I also do a lot of reading on the train, and typing on an phone can be seriously dodgy/ frustrating, or I'll have it typed out and lose it. :( so I kudos first to show I had appreciation of the story (and I only kudos stories I liked, maybe not unreservedly but at least a little) and Ill comment if I have the energy / something I explicitly want to say. Most of my comments tend to be short though.

I feel like I leave comments in about a 1:7 ratio to kudos.

Kudos actually got me reading a lot of fic again, which I like. I also have started leaving a lot more comments than before - partly because Im reading a lot again and...

It helped take away that element of stress, that I can just hit the button, that I can just leave something short, that I don't have to leave 50 tabs open, then have firefox crash. because copy pasting comments really depresses me if I have to resort to that, which puts me in a better mood - and when I'm in a better mood, I'm more likely to want to articulate my thoughts and want to leave a comment.

[isis]

Oh, man, I'm going to have to find my similar polls. Because I know I did a whole bunch of posts and polls like this!

[shinetheway]

...yeah. Sure. [sighs] Because that's EXACTLY what I said, obviously.

This comment seriously isn't even worth me trying to respond.

[amaresu]

Yes, all of this. I can, and have, met people by commenting on fic, but it's not my perfered way of meeting people on the internet. Combine the social anxiety of meeting people with the anxiety of leaving "good enough" comments on fic and it's just a big disaster.

And sometimes I don't have enough thoughts on a fic to start a dialogue. Often "I liked it" is the extent of my thoughts on the fic.

[copracat]

"Every generation has a new lawn that they want people to get off of."

Thanks for the laugh! What a great way to put it.

[torachan]

"Comments SHOULD require sacrifice"

[shinetheway]

Yeah. MY comments, the ones that I write and edit and C&P little quotes for and format and reread two or three times for the right level of squee before hitting the post button, should require sacrifice. As in, that entire statement I posted was in the context of WHAT I DO. As in, I do feel I need to repeat this since it obviously wasn't clear, ME, MYSELF, AND I. The first person singular.

I feel that sacrificing my time and energy to write a really awesome comment is more fulfilling to both me and the writer than hitting the comment button. I prefer to write comments intead of using the kudos button because I get a kick out of thinking of the grin on the writer's face when they get my 500 words of squee. I get more satisfaction going back and rereading my old comments then I do going back and staring at my name on the Kudos list.

Except somehow you have decided that what I said somehow reflects on what you do. Which is why it wasn't worth it to respond, since anyone who couldn't clearly read the 14 uses of the word I in that comment probably wasn't worth getting into some internet fistfight with.

[torachan]

So you really don't see how saying that you believe comments should require sacrifice and clicking the kudos button is just not doing enough to show appreciation doesn't sound like you'd be super judgy of comments other people leave for you? Really?

Even when you've written it all out here, I am having a hard time believing that if you feel that passionately about long comments being the best, you would be satisfied with anything else that you got as a writer, or maybe like that person ranting on bethbethbeth's post, you would just view it all as spam.

[shinetheway]

AH! Okay. So it doesn't actually matter what I say, you've decided that you know what I really, truly, actually, secretly meant, then. So glad that we've cleared that up. Why bother participating in a debate, when you can just ~know what I really meant to say?

And as an aside, let's all take a moment to savor the irony of being accused of being super judgy by someone who's pretty obviously judging me ("having a hard time believing").

Believe it if you like. Don't believe it if you like. Leave whatever kind of feedback makes you happy to whatever kind of stories make you happy. You don't get to dictate how that writer (any writer) will take the feedback, unfortunately, cause of that whole "we don't control oter people" thing. Just like they don't get to dictate anything to you about how you should give them feedback--if you give anything at all. We're all our own person, we all have our own ways and goals and feelings and thresholds and preferences and lives.

And since apparently taking the time and effort to clarify what I, you know, ACTUALLY SAID AND MEANT doesn't really count for much, I'm leaving it at that.

[jain]

I'm downloading podfic I haven't yet listened to

I'm curious about this reason for leaving kudos. (I'm not a podfic listener myself, so I have no idea what podfic culture is like.) Is it simply because you want to encourage the production of podfic that you leave kudos automatically? Or is the reason more complex than that?

[ladysorka]

Kudos usually mean "I liked this" from me, but, under certain circumstances, they can mean "I adored this." Usually when I like something that much I leave a comment, but the older a fic is, the less likely I am to leave an actual comment. It doesn't matter how much I enjoyed an epic in fandom X that was written in 2002, odds are pretty low I'll leave a comment on it. But I will leave a Kudos.

[anatsuno]

Podfic receives very, very, VERY little comments in general. We're talking a ratio of hundreds of downloads to one comment (there's no way to know if a downloads is equal to a listen, or to ten listens, or what; we have no clue). This is partly because listening happens away from the point of download (in time and often in space too), so what slowly happened is that some people have gotten into the habit of leaving a comment to say 'I'm downloading this, thank you', which is a minimum thing where you get to express that you're happy that that podfic exists, that the podficcer did the work, and that you're anticipating listening to it. Then, you come back later - or you don't - to give actual, post-listen feedback.

This culture/habit has evolved on sites with comments but no easy button, like LJ/DW (many, MANY people don't do it; I don't want to make it look like it's super prevalent… but some of us have the habit, sort of, now)… And on AO3 the Kudos button is a handy way to replace that essentially phatic comment of 'yay, downloading!' that is not really proper feedback.

[anatsuno]

sorry, I failed to answer your direct question, which would be a yes, I want to encourage podfic getting produced :) And also I want to give as much feedback as I can to people who I know from experience don't get enough of it.

[shinetheway]

You make some very interesting points, but speaking only for myself, as a writer I write because I need to write and I have to write and I was born to write, writing's the way I engage the world and explore my fandoms. But I post to interact with the community at large. That's why my fics don't all sit in a drawer once I've created them. I post them to find out what OTHER PEOPLE thought of my vision.

People use the Kudos button for a lot of reasons. I mean, wow, A LOT of reasons. One commenter down below listed about half a dozen reasons why she uses it. And I would be willing to go out on a limb and say that every person who uses the Kudo button has a reason for doing so--their ipad keyboard sucks and tapping a button is easier/faster, the author is too cool and intimidating to talk to, mixed feelings about the quality, adding the cherry on the top of the comment you already read, some sort of anonymous challenge fic, the fact that you finished the fic at all, kinky pairing that feels too personal to have your name attached to, you liked it!, you loved it!, you're adding to the hit count as a mini-rec, you're shy, you don't have the energy, you love the word kudos. Etc. I've seen basically a variation of every single one of those reasons given as a reason to use the Kudos button.

But if I don't have any of those reasons, and if I feel pretty confident that the author's going to like getting a comment--because no one has actually given me a reason to believe that authors prefer to get Kudos over a long comment except maybe for one person I recall who said it was awkward for her to get feedback praising stuff she might have done accidentally--then why should I see any value in me, personally, giving a Kudo when I can and will write a comment?

From wikipedia: "In the social sciences, a gift economy (or gift culture) is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards (i.e. no formal quid pro quo exists).[1] Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community."

It's that last sentence that's the key. No, there's no explicit contract that if I post a story, that anyone's going to respond to it. But WE DO RESPOND. Across all of fandom, I can't think of one where authors routinely don't receive feedback on their work. The implicit assumption is that the author put time and effort and love into writing a story, and then generously and freely gave it to the web. We are not obliged to respond, there's nothing operating but the common social convention of "if you like it, tell the author". But if fandom is a social enterprise* then we act with "enlightened altruism", treating authors as we hope to be treated, giving the gift of our voluntary and uncoerced feedback in response to the writer making the courageous step of posting something instead of just leaving it in a drawer, or inside her head, safe from the world.

* I know some people have said that fandom isn't primarily social for them, that it's the the reading and writing of fics that's the main thing and "making friends" or having a dialogue isn't what they're looking for. I can state that I really haven't a clue how feedback works for them in a non-social context, since that does definitely seem very different and non-relevant to a gift-giving economy, so I won't speculate.