sholio | Kinda general question on AO3 comments

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Kinda general question on AO3 comments

Sometime last winter, or possibly last year (time is meaningless) I mass-turned off non-logged-in AO3 comments due to an influx of spam. I had forgotten about this entirely until this week, and now I'm wondering ... do I want to turn them back on?

This is probably the wrong audience to ask, since most people here who comment on AO3 most likely have accounts. But I'm just seriously on the fence about it. On the one hand: some people who would like to comment will never be able to. And I do get nice comments from non-logged-in users! (Plus, AO3 has currently suspended new account creation, relating to the recent downtime.) But - flipside - it *does* stop most of the spam and trolling, and I *did* occasionally get spam and troll comments, so it's awfully nice not to deal with that.

Poll #29569

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 71

View Respondents

Do you generally think allowing non-users to comment is a good idea?

View Answers

Yes, in general
29 (41.4%)

No, the benefits don't outweigh the problems
27 (38.6%)

Never thought about it/no opinion
12 (17.1%)

My opinions are too complex for your binary poll! (see comments)
2 (2.9%)

Would it benefit you personally, or someone you know, if I turn it back on?

View Answers

Yes
0 (0.0%)

No
48 (68.6%)

Not sure
9 (12.9%)

I would like a pony (i.e. no opinion)
13 (18.6%)

The poll is obviously nonbinding and is really just a way for more people to weigh in on the question without having to comment. At this point I'm leaning towards leaving it off because it's the path of least resistance (I really hate messing around with the mass edit screen) but I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on this that I haven't considered, or if there's like, overwhelming opinion towards leaving them on or something like that.

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If you, personally, are getting spam and troll comments, definitely turn it off, though I think in general it's good to have them turned on. If I saw someone who had non-user comments turned off I would assume they'd been a target of trolling, not that they didn't want comments.

Yeah, I like the option of anonymous comments in concept, and I really wish AO3 made it simpler to turn off and on, like it is on LJ/DW - having a nice toggle for that where you aren't in a screen that could DESTROY YOUR ENTIRE ACCOUNT would be nice! (I've turned it off and on a number of times on DW and LJ, just due to changing circumstances.) But it is awfully nice to not deal with the trickle of WTF comments - I mean, it was never much, like a few a year, but I haven't had a single one since I turned it off, and that HAS been nice.

Agreed.

I have non-user comments on and every now and then I get a nice comment from someone that way, but by far the majority of my comments come from people with accounts. If I had trouble with spam or trolling I’d turn it off without hesitation, but so far that hasn’t been an issue for me. I think fandoms like Biggles might have more readers who don’t have AO3 accounts, but I only very occasionally get comments from them.

(Just looked at the last hundred comments in my AO3 inbox and precisely one is from someone without an account.)

Yeah, honestly my biggest consideration here is that I wasn't in Biggles fandom when I turned it off (I don't think, I honestly don't remember how long ago that was, because Time) and it seems like a fandom that might have a lot of incidental non-logged-in comments, so I was wondering if I was cutting myself off from those needlessly. So it's really very nice to know your stats on it! I think I might leave them off and not worry about it so much, honestly ....

That one comment was on a Vorkosigan fic, fwiw...

I would have 1000% expected Biggles fandom to have a lot, or at least a few, non-logged-in commenters! Maybe the fandom (on AO3) really does consist of approximately 9-10 people who are just REALLY persistent. :D

What we lack in numbers we make up for in ridiculous levels of enthusiasm :-D

When I crosspost Biggles fic to the forum the regular posters there usually comment, whereas even when they have accounts they tend to be shyer on AO3.

I tend to comment on the platform I first read the work on although there are times when I want to mention something more appropriate to AO3 than the forum. A number of forumites are there because it is a safe place and AO3 is outside their comfort zone

It's certainly been my impression that it's just a handful of very persistent people.

Agreed, and I'm impressed beyond all reason that the Biggles fandom has this reputation even among people who are not (as far as I know, anyway) even actually in Biggles fandom. <3333 Truly we are mighty. (And persistent.)

Edited 2023-07-15 12:51 (UTC)

I'm on the more extreme side of things, since I not only don't let non-logged in users comment (I have my fics under lock, so actually only they can see them) but also screen comments. Like you I've had to deal with some trolls or pushy comments (not spam, but maybe it's because I did all this before that got traction), and that's why I chose to do it.

Maybe I'm missing out on some comments but a.) I write niche content, I wasn't getting a lot in the first place, and b.) if someone REALLY wants to comment on a story, they often go out of their way to do it. Obviously rn they can't get registered* lol, but otherwise. So to me the benefits outweight the cost.

*I wonder now if people can still send invites though. I know I had quite a few accumulated.

I think existing invites still work, from what they said. I have a number backlogged too, due to modding exchanges, so those could still be handed out to a person who wanted one.

... but anyway, yeah, valid! Spam got BAD last year, in some fandoms - it was like 8-15 a day at the point where I finally learned how to mass-turn it off - but even before that I had a steady trickle of weird/spammy/trolly comments, and that's all just stopped dead since I turned it off, which has been nice.

Do you generally think allowing non-users to comment is a good idea?

I'd say of all the abusive comments I've gotten over the years, 95% of them were from non-users. Ignoring spam, which has also been a problem. I'm sure I've missed out on a handful of comments because of this, but the peace of mind has otherwise been worth it.

(I just flat out have comments off on older, non-gift fics these days anyway. That has also been nice.)

I have them turned on (I think, not sure how to check this), but then I only get the odd spam here and there and no trolls so far. If I was getting lots of trolls and/or spam, then I'd have to figure out how to turn them off.

Edited 2023-07-15 10:35 (UTC)

In general, IMO the fewer barriers there are for lurkers to delurk, the better. (Log-in barriers are even worse because then you can't even lurk, but I believe in letting people delurk slowly if possible. *g*)

But for any one individual fan, making spam and troll comments go away of course takes priority.

I voted yes, but I've had anon comments off by virtue of being archive locked, and haven't noticed a difference in traffic. I never got very many anyway, and of the ones I got, there was a good portion of them were irritating. So while in theory I support people who don't have accounts being able to comment, in practice, it's not something I personally do.

I've been fortunate not to be too plagued by spammers, though in recent months I've gotten enough to consider disallowing non-AO3 user comments. So I'm theoretically on the side of it's best not to allow non-registered accounts to comment, though in practice, I haven't changed my settings yet. I'm most active these days in such a tiny fandom that I don't really want to go completely private just yet, just in case someone new comes searching out fic.

Back when I still had AO3 accounts (FOR A WHILE), I had issues with troll comments, so I not only had non-user comments off, most of my fic additionally had comments screened. For someone who isn't getting spam/troll, great! But I personally hated that stuff.

Honestly I would be likeliest to drop a comment on DW now, or email you my flattery, unless that's very unwanted?

I get enough comments from non-AO3-logged users on most of my stuff that it would definitely cut down on my comment supply enough that I, addict to such that I am, am not inclined to do it without a specific cause.

I was getting enough shit on the YBEB-verse stuff for a while that it became my default, on the basis of "if you wish to pick a fight with me you have to at least commit to making an account under a stable name", and it pretty much ended that problem*, and with THOSE fics I honestly had enough AO3-logged-in commenters that I didn't necessarily notice the lack. But it was something I was conscious of doing, and held off.

It's a dilemma I'm still currently conscious of: on the one hand I would inherently feel more comfortable even having my stuff locked to AO3 to access period, and definitely to comment . . . on the other hand this inherently decreases the likelihood of getting engagement from readers and I crave that mineral, enough that I still tend to come down on the side of NOT restricting things.

*it's not perfectly formed as a theory but at least in the spaces I'm in, it seems like making someone commit to an actual name - even if it's totally a pseud! even if it's a throwaway pseud! - introduces enough of a level of commitment or identification or something that it cuts down the number of people willing to give you shit. It doesn't remove them absolutely, obviously; some people are dedicated enough to get six dozen sock accounts. But it does decrease.

I may have mentioned this to you before, but I turned off ALL anon comments on all platforms circa 2014 when the hockey troll was really active, and I've never regretted it, especially with the rise and antis and so on. Very occasionally I get a nice anon comment on some fic where I forgot to turn them off (I wish there was a way to change AO3's default), but I'd rather miss the spam and potential flames.

Not a writer and only an occasional reader of fic here! I don't have an AO3 account bc I browse once or twice a year (mostly the Yuletide collection) or read stuff friends send links to. In the time I've been an occasional visitor, I've left many kudos but never actually commented. If I saw comments turned off I'd assume spam was a problem and would understand. I'd be much more sad about access restrictions.

I turned off anon comments early this year, and haven't really noticed any difference. Since you HAVE noticed a difference, and it's been a positive one, I'd keep them off. AO3 accounts are generally easy to get a hold of, even if not right now; the vast majority of people who'd want to leave a nice comment surely have an account already.

I’ve never gotten spam through AO3 comments, so didn’t even know you could turn that off. And a fair amount of the kudos I get, at least, are from guests.

I have anon comments de facto off by virtue of my fic being archive-locked, and I don't think it's really made a difference in comments. But I mostly write niche stories for exchanges (where the recip obviously has an account) and niche stories for 2-3 friends (who have AO3 accounts but are more likely to talk to me about fic in our groupchat). I only had a small handful of weird/trolling comments, and no spam that I remember, but the knowledge that if someone wants to pick a fight with me they have to commit to, at minimum, a throwaway pseud is satisfying.

(I miss guest kudos a bit, but not enough to unlock everything.)

I have anon-comments on on AO3 and it's only in the recent year or so I've gotten any automated spam (of the "come join us on this website glorious author of [fandom]" variety). Previously, I have received extremely good, long comments on anon in other fandoms (MCU) where I think the anonymity was triggered less by the user not having an AO3 account but more not being willing to subscribe to the comment because it was on fic featuring morally questionable topics like infidelity. Which brings me to my conclusion that the times I've felt most like commenting on anon have been where I don't want to deal with the pressure of "being known", such as on kink or on some controversial subject matter. Not quite dead-dove labeled fic because people *expect* that if you like it you like it, but something where you really have to think about where to draw the line.

I actually expect that larger fandoms are more likely to have anon commenters than a small fandom like Biggles where you're more likely to want to make friends with likeminded people and let them know you like their work. I expect wankier fandoms to also have a higher share of anonymity just because people don't want to deal with Fandom Opinion.

I'm currently keeping my anon comments on because I don't have to deal with too much spam or trolling, but I would quickly turn if off if I did get any excessive number of that.

Edited 2023-07-15 16:54 (UTC)

I have comments from guests turned on, but that's because I've never had any significant issues with spam and/or weird/abusive anon comments and these days all my stuff is low-traffic enough that I don't feel I'm very exposed. If I DID have an issue, I'd turn off anon comments at once, because life is too short. Also I hear that there's a new trend of AI-generated comments being left, which I find odd and unpleasant - that kind of thing would also make me lock things down more.

I hadn't much thought about it until I got that unpleasant LLM-generated note. Now, I'm thinking I need to look into learning the mechanisms available, like, whether I can do it one story at a time, or only account wide, or what.

One of the things that I love about fandom as we have known it and desperately do not want to lose is that it has been, at least since zine and letters-columns days and perhaps always, two-way, one-to-one, social -- not one-way, one-to-many, parasocial, like most social media these days. Of course I can enjoy your writing without ever speaking with you -- I'll surely never get to speak with most authors I read, and likely panic standing in line at a con or book-signing -- but... fandom friendships are, like all friendships, whatever the individuals choose to put into them on all sides, and they are real, mutual, touchings of lives, however distant and light or close and deep.

In fandom, ideally, we are all equal before the things we love in common. I don't want to have to hide from my fellow fans.

I got hit by a fake "praise" comment, which I found very upsetting; I suspect spam and/or troll comments would be even worse.

What I did was accept comments only from users... but I added an apology for disallowing guest comments to the end notes of each story, explained why, and finished with a hope they enjoyed the story. At least with that, they understand why comments are blocked. And guests can still leave a kudos if so inclined.

<shrug> There are no perfect answers. But maintaining a hassle-free space is always a plus.

I kept meaning to go in and disable comments on at least a few stories where I was getting...not spam, really, nor anonymous, but duplicate "pay attention to me and my thoughts" rambling comments, but then not only did I get hit by the same spambots as a lot of other people, I also got hit by a spate of persistent trolls, most of them anonymous. I was still thinking of just going and disabling comments/anonymous comments on specific stories, but then I got a fresh wave of trolls on a whole different set of fic, and I just don't have the spoons to play whack-a-mole with that nonsense. So, I disabled anonymous commenting on all my work, and I haven't had to deal with spam or trolls since. Am I missing out on feedback? Possibly, though I can't remember the last time I got actual feedback from a guest comment.

I never get enough comments to have to worry about this! Hurray for getting so many comments!

If it's more trouble than it's worth, leave the comments off. If I can't leave comments because I'm not logged in, I wouldn't be upset. I'd either log in, if it meant that much to me, or more likely not worry about it. The comments are for the writer, and if they're not serving the writer, then it's no skin off anyone's nose.

Yeah, I know, in some ways it's a "my diamond shoes are too tight" problem, isn't it ... xD

Honestly I think the best and most useful thing I got from the above polls is that it wouldn't be personally inconveniencing anyone here if I leave them off, and I'm okay with that. I do think it drops out a tiny bit of potential stress.

Hmm, this is tough! I think it depends a lot on your output and how many hits you get. I have very few fics and they're practically all tiny book ones. I keep anon comments on because traffic is low and people do stumble across my fic for years afterwards and like, no one's flaming me for a small canon extending scene from a book that most people haven't read. But...phew, you have so many more fics in big fandoms (with waaank) and so many people must engage that I feel like it would be overwhelming to let the whole world comment on your stuff!

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Kinda general question on AO3 comments

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