Why do Most Readers Not Comment?

[BenJepheneT]

Broken image

Only the worthy may see it

 

[ludagad]

Two reasons: I haven't read the story yet (got some lined up in my library). Or I've read a chapter and thought it would be better not to express an opinion, and just bail.

If I like it in terms of writing style, premise, and main characters, I'll write comments on every chapter. I'll even write a review after I've read enough to judge the story's potential.

 

[Deleted member 40682]

I can only speak for myself from both reader and writer perspective, but I only ever been motivated to comment when something in the story made me lol really hard or if I found something about the MC or other story plot points to be really frustrating. So basically, I would say strong emotions will guarantee a comment, whether it's positive or negative. The only problem is that every one have different g-spots so you don't know if a scene that you wrote is just as funny to you as to another.

 

[Typing...]

The vast majority of people simply don't have anything to say. No matter what the medium is, lurkers exist. The silent group who is either happy or unhappy with your work and don't say a thing. In marketing this is known as the Silent Majority. A term which has been abused recently to the point it has lost its meaning.

If you want data you have to get it yourself. An easy one is to embed a Web Beacon.

In fact there is one in this very post.
(

)<- It's right there. Do you see it?

It's a bit.ly url that leads to a 1x1 transparent pixel. Meaning that anyone who loads the image will create analytics for the url. Such as how many times the image was loaded, when it was loaded, and from which country they are from. It's not much but it's better than not having it.

 

[minacia]

I find it interesting because people do respond to polls, so they do have opinions, although I guess they don’t feel like it’s important enough to put into words.

 

[Laeyioun]

This is something I found to be consistent across almost all novels. Chapters with thousands of views and no comments, stories that have been running for months but only have 3-4 comments.

Honestly, I did not at the past because I personally feel confused about my opinions about the novel - as in not objective enough in seeing flaws, not knowing what to talk about, low confidence about my own opinions. Favoritism and attachment is a large part of my judgement too so I was self-conscious about what I'm going to inadvertently spout. I learnt that you can express your opinions and no one will chastise you for it if you're respectful and informed.

Readers can also not care like I did in the past either because they're lazy, busy, or don't know the significance of commenting. This is such a widespread reasoning because people generally just want to wind down with a novel and not think about anything else. It changed for me once I reaffirmed my love for novels.

 

[Basiun]

This is something I found to be consistent across almost all novels. Chapters with thousands of views and no comments, stories that have been running for months but only have 3-4 comments.

Uhh, there are many reasons, but in general I'd say that you can correlate it to something like a youtube video.
A youtube video with 1m views usually has roughly 100k likes/dislikes (go confirm), (not accurate on music videos due to playlist reasons). It's quite accurate to say that only 10% of viewers bother liking a video, and usually only 1-3% post comments (a bit less accurate).

Now when it comes to novels it's really quite similar. 99% of people don't leave a review on a story, but they're slightly more inclined to comment on a chapter.
If you're a new reader reading from c1->c74 which is the "newest" chapter, you're likely to breeze through all the way to c74 before you think about leaving a comment, as any "discussion" is 1year old and any comment/joke you could've made has already been posted by someone else. On top of this you kind of realize that "thanks for the chapter" wouldn't really make sense on a chapter that's 1 year old.
This type of reader is by far the most common, and even if you caught up to the fresh release, many of them either drop the novel or wait for a month to get 10 new chapters rather than reading 1 every 3 days.
We can therefore theorize that of the.. 5% of people who should normally write a comment, most will skip their comment until they catch up, leave a comment and go awol for 10 more chapters.

There's also differences in types of novels and the "impact" they have on a reader. Some novels are merely fast-food and you don't put any thought into them, while others are "quality" to the reader, making them a bit more likely to comment or leave a review as well as keep updated.
It's like comparing "Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God" to "The Wandering Inn" > A very unfair comparison, but point proven. One of those novels will just be binge read and tossed aside, while the other has a more interested fanbase.

 

[DivineEternal1]

As a writer with issues of insecurity, I appreciate not getting comments. When I do get comments, I'm often too scared to read them in the off chance its someone saying my chapter or story sucks, even though most of the time it's just someone saying "Thanks for the chapter" or responding to my chapter comment. I have five comments from the chapter I just posted, but I can't bring myself to read them...

 

[tridetect]

There's not much to comment. If I like the novel then I favorite it and continue reading, if I don't then I drop it. Besides, most authors can't handle criticism towards their novels.

 

[ForestDweller]

Remember that the more you comment, the less chance for the author to abandon the story.

 

[NotYourTypicalMan]

True, that really means something.

 

[Aoibh]

because they rather give 1 star to a random novel without saying anything?

jokes aside, i think it's probably 'cuz they're lazy, don't want to get too much involved, or the author didn't really care or reply to the comments at all. like, if the novel had hundreds of chapters, it's kinda iffy if you want to share your insights at the beginning chapter but you'll end up getting ignored.

I've commented on chapters and have not.been ignored even when I've been 100 chapters behind, people won't know unless they comment.

 

[Aoibh]

The only time I comment is because I feel strongly about some aspect of the content. If it causes controversy and people want to argue about it....so? If you cant handle a different opinion...you probably aren't mature enough to be online. So I find people deleting comments because they are worried about disputes kind of... strange. It's an opinion. Why have one if you aren't going to stand up for it?

As long as it isn't absurdly outrageous, (and anyone who is mentally well-balanced enough to a decent degree will be able to differentiate what is absurdly outrageous and what isnt.)

there is a difference between constructive feedback and being a cunt.

The latter one you should delete.

But you can leave your wishes down you don't need to delete those nor are they cunty things.

 

[Discount_Blade]

there is a difference between constructive feedback and being a cunt.

The latter one you should delete.

But you can leave your wishes down you don't need to delete those nor are they cunty things.

I stand by my earlier statement. Deleting comments is childish. It's weak. It's a sign that you aren't capable of handling differing opinions without falling apart.

 

[Freesia.Cutepearl]

I find it interesting because people do respond to polls, so they do have opinions, although I guess they don’t feel like it’s important enough to put into words.

I've been using a poll for every chapter I've made. At first it was just, did you enjoy this chapter, yes, no, not sure, but lately I've been trying to get more info from it. Like this:

It's been reasonably successful.

 

[DevilPogoStick]

Yeah, not many people will read and well...Leave a thanks for the chapter.

It sucks but yeah, it happens.

 

[NotYourTypicalMan]

Even a simple "Thanks for the chapter" already boosted up my mood to keep on writing.

 

[DevilPogoStick]

Even a simple "Thanks for the chapter" already boosted up my mood to keep on writing.

If only people do that most often and not just assume just reading was enough...

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Readers are shy. They don't comment, unless they really like it or really hate it.

 

[TheTrinary]

I think it's like when I was in school and you would have teachers who WANT questions. Sure, I could ask one. But I'd rather not unless I have something I absolutely want to say.