Thoughts and questions.

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

Me again. I know, I have been posting a fair bit... ;)

Anyway, I have thoughts and questions concerning cyberfunded creativity, especially regarding audience interaction/participation. Of course, as creators, we like feedback and I have experienced that, in various degrees (fanfiction, fiction and photography). However, what happens if your audience is the type who lurks, reads but does not comment or leave any feedback? This sort of audience - and I am not criticizing people's perogatives/rights to read - is the sort I find myself concerned/worried about. I am not saying that I am against lurkers... but the type of response I get is "I do read... but I don't comment often." Sometimes, I feel as if my fiction is going into a black hole.

So, what are your thoughts regarding this?

Comments

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Every audience has some lurkers. Most audiences have considerably more lurkers than active members. As long as there are enough active people, it's okay. But when there is very little feedback, then indeed, the blogger or CFC provider tends to get frustrated.

Audience members need to understand that cyberfunded creativity is a two-way street. If they don't give back something to the projects they like, those projects may disappear. It doesn't have to be comments necessarily -- it can be donations, or promotion, or whatever -- but something. Reading without ever giving back is mooching.

Re: Hmm...

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

Reading without ever giving back is mooching.

Exactly. I mean, if you don't have the means to pay back (in monetarily form), you can do so by other things... But I think there are audience members who do not understand what CFC is. I have a couple of people who expressed a dislike of Paypal which is fine with me. Yet, when it comes to feedback/donation or even promotion, zilch. I wonder if I have more moochers in my audience.

Then again, I am not discounting the facts that the audience might be:

1. Busy.
2. Short of cash.
3. A combination of the two.

The thing is... how do we deal with moochers?

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>I have a couple of people who expressed a dislike of Paypal which is fine with me. <<

So do I. They send me checks. One of my regular donors and several occasional ones don't have PayPal accounts. I amended my fishbowl parameters to specify that other methods of donation are welcome.

Everyone is busy these days. But if you cannot take a few seconds, at least once, to say "I really liked the relationship tension today's installment," or whatever, then you don't care as much about that project as you think you do.

>>The thing is... how do we deal with moochers?<<

There are many options, including:

* Seek out more active audience members. Look for people who comment frequently on other sites and Friend them. I've had people track me down for that reason.

* Make sure your audience does know how cyberfunded creativity works. Tell them what you hope to get out of it. Write posts about how this is supposed to work, and link to other people's posts on the topic.

* When people comment, praise them. Most folks love to be noticed. Some hosts reprint or relink the best comments each month, giving extra attention to top posters. I use the LJ Comment Stats Wizard as a way of showing who's active.

* Post an "honor roll" or otherwise recognize donors. Give them perks. This may gently shame the moochers into contributing something.

* Quietly ask a few friends to shill for you. They should be honest in their comments; the point is just to get some conversation going, which is easier if somebody starts it.

* If you have something that people really want, you can lock it or its nifty features (like polls) so that only certain audience members have access. Plenty of creators do that for donors. Doing it for people who comment regularly would be a new and interesting twist.

Good points!

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

*nods These are good points. I might re-look at other methods of donation (art would be nice, even barter...)

Mind if I link your essay on cyberfunded creativity? :) (http://emg-zine.com/item.php?id=409).

Re: Good points!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Sure, you're welcome to link to that article.

Re: Good points!

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

Linked. :)

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

I have a tendency to be a lurker mainly because I find the talent displayed in this community almost overwhelming. I am late come to the realization that I do have some talent in the area of writing, but I am also fighting decades of negativity surrounding my talent and/or opinions.

Even though the community has been in existence for over a year, I think the concept of the sharing of ideas and concepts with the creators of art - be it written or a tangible product - is novel enough that many are a bit hesitant to offer suggestions or opinions of the work or of a concept that might be tried. I believe that as the community gains momentum we will see more give and take from the audience.

All I can say is that continuing to put your work out there is the only way we will see this format grow and mature.

At this time I will say that I find your postings compelling, fascinating and thought provoking.

Write, write, write. =)

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

I think the concept of CFC is still new (though the concept of busking has been around for eons). So, I accept that people are still coming to terms with the concept. I am, myself. ;)

And please do write. Sometimes... actually most of the time, the best thing a writer can do for himself or herself is to write. We can be our worst critic... but ultimately, we write, we breathe.

And thank you for your comments. =)

Re: Write, write, write. =)

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

My SO (sordak) and I are collaborating on a novel set in an alternate universe he created in his teens. He has written some semi-related stories that he posted in his blog - I have linked them on my links list (M. L. Coburn) on my home page.

I have also 'borrowed' a world in his universe that I have been writing about in a blog called ashantara_tales, which is friends only. I haven't written much in that lately because of a series of life mis-adventures starting with a computer virus.

When we get about 3/4 of the way through "Genesis War" we are going to see about doing a web page and such. In the meantime, we are slogging through it.

Re: Write, write, write. =)

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

Mind if I friend you? :)

Ooo, computer viruses can be such a pain in the posterior. :(

I would like to see "Genesis War". *hint*

Re: Write, write, write. =)

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Please do since we are friended on DW. If you want to read my attempts on ashantara_tales, friend me on that and I will friend you back.

Warning though, I left my main character in a very awkward situation.

Re: Write, write, write. =)

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

Friended you. =)

Would like to read ashantara_tales please. :)

[unmutual.livejournal.com]

I think that many people are so used to reading printed words with no real way of giving feedback. It's easy to forget to comment on someone's post when you're in the mindset of "read and move on," the way you'd do with a magazine article.

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. *nods*