AFF and its forums

[GeorgeGlass]

I'm not sure quite how to put this, but here goes:

AFF's greatest strength is its inclusiveness. It attracts writers from every genre and every fandom and welcomes them all. Content-wise, almost nothing is forbidden. There's a section in the archive for everything anyone might want to write. The forums are similarly designed: lots of forums and subforums for every topic.

But the archive and the forums are essentially separate entities. Becoming a member of the archives does not automatically make you a member of the forums, but you can't join the forums without having an archive account. From what I can tell, the vast majority of AFF's members do not have forum accounts, so the population of the forums is a tiny fraction of that of the archives.

As a result, the forums are a little like one of those huge, old English mansions that has hundreds of rooms but, in modern times, only a few dozen occupants. And sometimes I feel like we're all living in different wings of that mansion. Yes, there are a few people in neighboring rooms on the Naruto floor of the Anime wing, and there's a cluster of occupied rooms around Harry Potter Parlor, but a lot of us are just kind of shouting across the courtyard at one another--we don't have a common fandom or genre to discuss, so we talk some about writing, a little about reviews, and a little about random other stuff.

I know there's nothing to be done about this, and it's not intended as a bash of AFF; if anything, it shows that AFF has incredible infrastructure and a great operating philosophy. And the people here are great. But despite being a member of this community, I don't always feel like I have much to talk about at the dinner table.

I just wanted to get that off my chest. If you have read to this point, thanks. If you haven't read to this point, then...wait, what?

[BronxWench]

One thing I do want to point out is that there is the option, when registering for the forums, to make a "reader-only" account. However, the forums were always meant to serve primarily as a place where authors could find some community.

I think every site approaches the issue of communication between authors and readers, or communication between members in general, on a different level. There are sites where the notion of community is non-existent, and other sites where members could engage in lively conversation right on a reply segment beneath the story. One factor that might affect how a site goes is moderation, and how the site chooses to approach things like negative reviews, trolls, flames, spammers, and so on.

I do think the threads here on the AFF forums, where we could all find some common ground other than fandoms or genres, could be livelier. I'll have to plead guilty to getting caught up in things beyond chatting on the forums. (NaNo is coming, NaNo is coming!)

So, if anyone out there, especially some of the newer folk, want to see if you can start some lively conversation going, I'm all for it. I'll do my best to chime in, and maybe we can make the forums as lively as they should be.

[DemonGoddess]

What it boils down to is that people don't like to register, often. If we had registration for every person who visited, whichever part of the site you want to point at, membership in both parts would be at least triple. Then, you have that people don't want to register on another part of the site. If I could bridge the applications, I would bridge the applications. However, they are vastly different from each other in construct, and it won't work. I don't say this as supposition, I say this because I've tried to create a bridge, many times.

[GeorgeGlass]

I think every site approaches the issue of communication between authors and readers, or communication between members in general, on a different level. There are sites where the notion of community is non-existent, and other sites where members could engage in lively conversation right on a reply segment beneath the story. One factor that might affect how a site goes is moderation, and how the site chooses to approach things like negative reviews, trolls, flames, spammers, and so on.

And each site seems to have a different way of approaching this. Just for fun, I'll break it down for the 4 sites I frequent.

AFF: Archives and forums are separate. Mechanisms for uploading, chaptering, and tagging are highly sophisticated. A feedback system exists, but it's one-way; any discussion must be conducted by other means.

Hentai Foundry: Archives and forums are separate. Mechanisms for uploading and chaptering are sophisticated, but the tagging system is crude. Discussion is possible through comments and replies to comments attached to the story.

Inkbunny: There are no forums; all discussion takes place in the form of comments and replies to pictures, stories, or journal entries in the archive. Mechanisms for uploading are decent, and there is a sophisticated tagging system that allows readers to suggest tags (authors can accept or reject the suggestions), but chaptering mechanisms are nonexistent.

Lolicit: The site is virtually ALL forum. Stories are uploaded in the same way that any other forum post is; the mechanisms are fairly user-friendly but not glitch-free. Discussion takes place in the story thread, and new chapters are uploaded as new posts to that thread. This is crude, but it facilitates commenting; as a result, comments are more frequent on Lolicit than on any of the other sites even though the total number of views is much lower.

What it boils down to is that people don't like to register, often. If we had registration for every person who visited, whichever part of the site you want to point at, membership in both parts would be at least triple. Then, you have that people don't want to register on another part of the site. If I could bridge the applications, I would bridge the applications. However, they are vastly different from each other in construct, and it won't work. I don't say this as supposition, I say this because I've tried to create a bridge, many times.

Yeah, I get that; it must be like trying to sew a giraffe's head to a horse's body and make the resulting creature live for more than 10 seconds.

[DemonGoddess]

Well, I pondered doing that here, using the blog option (subscription based) for the forum. Two things stopped me. One, it's a pay for service, and rather pricey. Two, can't figure out how to import all the archive stuff. Yes, when it (IP Blog) was in beta, I did attempt something offsite, to see if that would work as well. Needless to say, both apps crashed.

[BronxWench]

The biggest hang-up people have is the inability to reply to reviews in the archive itself. I see so many grumbles about it in authors' notes in the stories, and I frequently have to issue warns to authors for posting to their own review boards in the archive.

However, when authors do take the time to create review reply threads here on the forum, or use the Promote a Story thread, or otherwise make their presence known in some way, it helps readers connect with them. Case in point? Magusfang. His review reply thread is lively, he and his readers chat in the shoutbox, and you can see the interactions drawing in new people. Of course, you can't make people respond to a thread you create, but his personality comes through his posts, and that works for his readers.

I think you get out of the forums what you put into the forums.

[DemonGoddess]

Agreed

[GeorgeGlass]

The biggest hang-up people have is the inability to reply to reviews in the archive itself. I see so many grumbles about it in authors' notes in the stories, and I frequently have to issue warns to authors for posting to their own review boards in the archive.

Yes, I actually did that myself at one point, before I realized that it wasn't allowed. (I then deleted that "review.")

However, when authors do take the time to create review reply threads here on the forum, or use the Promote a Story thread, or otherwise make their presence known in some way, it helps readers connect with them. Case in point? Magusfang. His review reply thread is lively, he and his readers chat in the shoutbox, and you can see the interactions drawing in new people. Of course, you can't make people respond to a thread you create, but his personality comes through his posts, and that works for his readers.

I've been making review reply threads (and putting the URLs in the text of the stories) ever since I first heard of the idea, but unlike Magusfang's readers, most of the people who regularly review my stories don't seem to have forum accounts. With the exception of 2 people (Jomahawk and FairySlayer), I have no idea whether anyone has ever read my replies to their reviews.

It probably doesn't help my cause that I write a lot of very different types of stories, which means that readers who loved my last story may hate the next one and not bother looking at the one after that. Come to think of it, there probably aren't many successful professional fiction writers who write in a lot of different genres. How many people would buy a romance novel by Clive Barker or Laura Hillenbrand?

I also never hang out in the shoutbox, and I'll confess that the main reason why is fear that it will become an addictive, time-sucking activity. I have enough temptations of that sort already. But maybe if I get everything on my To Do list done today, I'll give it a try. That might be a big if, though.

Anyway, given all that, I guess I'm pretty happy to have as many regular reviewers as I do. I'm also happy that a good portion of them go into detail about what they liked or didn't like. So I can't complain too much.

[JayDee]

I also never hang out in the shoutbox, and I'll confess that the main reason why is fear that it will become an addictive, time-sucking activity.

Pretty much applies to me for that as well! Plus my tendency to say something flippant and silly without realising that someone's having some major real life issues in there and then cause offence and or awkwardness.

[DemonGoddess]

Thing is, it's set up so your readers don't have to have a forum account to respond to you.

[GeorgeGlass]

Thing is, it's set up so your readers don't have to have a forum account to respond to you.

Hmm. Maybe I just need to get their attention by festooning my sig with pics and quotes like Magusfang's.

[BronxWench]

::snerk:: Maybe...

[Rescue25]

Hmm. Maybe I just need to get their attention by festooning my sig with pics and quotes like Magusfang's.

I think the first time or so it was an attention getter but past that it takes up a lot of screen space. I for one have just gotten used to them. His name logo, like yours, usually pulls me in to see what he has done to us this time,

B

[BronxWench]

I think the first time or so it was an attention getter but past that it takes up a lot of screen space. I for one have just gotten used to them. His name logo, like yours, usually pulls me in to see what he has done to us this time,

B

Interesting! I tend to remember names as well as avatars, and I home in on familiar names.

Of course, being staff, I assume most people see my name/avatar and worry that I'm "after" them.

[JayDee]

No, no, Not at all.

*Flees*

[magusfang]

Never crossd our minds BW,...Pst, he went thatta way

or was it that way?

[Rescue25]

Interesting! I tend to remember names as well as avatars, and I home in on familiar names.

Of course, being staff, I assume most people see my name/avatar and worry that I'm "after" them.

Sorta like seeing an officer in uniform or a marked patrol car and "assuming" they are after you for no good reason. Real world unless you do something to call attention to yourself they basically don't notice you.

B

[DemonGoddess]

eggzackly

[magusfang]

I notice...and when I become emporer of the world, there will be a recconing! Mwahahaha...