reasons why people don’t comment on fics

salt-of-the-ao3:

ao3commentoftheday:

ao3commentoftheday:

an incomplete list based on observations via this blog

• enjoyed the fic but didn’t have anything to say
• worried that a general “I love this!” wasn’t a good enough comment
• not a native speaker of the author’s language
• so overcome by emotions after reading that words were impossible
• reading on a device where commenting is difficult
• intended to come back later and didn’t
• intends to come back later and hasn’t yet
• doesn’t have an AO3 account (+ doesn’t know about the guest option or isn’t comfortable using it)
• was going to say something but another reader already commented it
• not enough mental/emotional energy to try to craft a ‘good enough’ comment
• worry about bothering the author
• shy / social anxiety
• reading fic before bed and fall asleep
• reading fic while sick and in a haze
• interrupted while reading the fic and thought they finished it/commented but whoops!
• didn’t like the fic / didn’t finish reading

Just to be clear, this was in no way meant to be a call-out post on readers. It was intended to explain to writers that there are dozens of reasons why people don’t/can’t comment. Writers tend to assume commenting is a binary: if you like the fic, you comment and if you don’t, you don’t. I wanted to show that there’s a lot more to it than that. 

this is a good and important post, thank you OP!