Motivation and Feedback - Authors, Choose Best Answers

[Myr]

I am checking to see what keeps us going as writers.  People that are writing and posting, please take a minute to answer these.

[JamesSavik]

Feedback is fun. It helps me know if the reader’s are understanding what is is happening. 

[Kitt]

I didn't answer above since I am not an author and no one really wants my opinion. I can tell you, however how much of a turn off it is to post multiple prompt responses and I think the one with the highest number of reactions was five. Makes posting not worth the time if no one reads.

[Zuri]

If people just give you a thumbs up—okay, be my guest. But that doesn't tell you if they did that because they

• like you
• like that you post at all
• like the storyline
• like your craft

That's why I prefer comments to reactions. They tell you if your readers understood the chapter and that they thought about it as well. Comments like "Good! More!" could have been sent by a bot just as well. So if I see, this really came from a human being who cares about my work, I'm very happy.

[Laura S. Fox]

Any kind of reaction is better than none whatsoever  I personally enjoy seeing likes and other reactions left on my story, but naturally, the comments left by the readers - especially those that are detailed - really make the effort of writing (which exists, even if I enjoy it) feel more worth it.

[lilansui]

I love feedback from readers in any form, likes and/or comments. It is lovely to know that the reader took the time to like a chapter, especially on a binge read. You can sometimes read a story moving through and forget to like as you read, but then you go back and like all the chapters. I really love it 😁 and take that as an awesome thing.

[Ronyx]

I don't think readers really understand how important it is for writers to hear from them. Most writers, like myself, never receive a penny for what we do. We spend long hours writing, proofreading and editing so that we can present the best possible story for our readers. Other writers spend hours interacting with proofreaders or beta readers. We take great pride in what we do. There is nothing more discouraging than posting a work we've labored over for weeks, and then sit back and wait for responses that never come. One of the greatest rewards, and most often the only one, is corresponding and interacting with our readers. I love it. I've been a successful writer. My stories have been read by thousands of people from all over the world, so I know they are well-received. But I can't count the number of times I've lost motivation knowing that thousands are reading, but then I'm receiving only a few or sometimes no responses. I completely stopped writing a few years ago because I lost all motivation. Yet, almost weekly I would get emails from people who had never written asking why did I stop, and others wanting to know when is the next story coming. They seem to imply that I am being selfish. I want to scream at the screen, "Where you when I needed the motivation?" I don't think readers are being rude or inconsiderate. I know they have busy lives, like myself. However, if I can sacrifice weeks writing and editing a chapter, they can at least spend two or three minutes writing and telling me they enjoyed it. I can only imagine how many great writers began writing and stopped for lack of encouragement and positive feedback from readers. And another irritation while I'm on a rant- a reader should never tell a writer that readers aren't important. Don't tell us we write only for ourselves because we have a desire to fulfill some need. We write hoping that just for a little while we can take the reader from the real world to our imaginary world where they can find enjoyment and escape. Feedback is important!

[Kitt]

11 minutes ago, Laura S. Fox said:

Any kind of reaction is better than none whatsoever

Exactly, and to get 5 react emojis on something I spent time and effort on...

Even if you hated it - you got the little bomb face and the check mark to let me know you were there.

I would put money on the idea that most of the people I interact with have no idea I ever posted anything, and that the lack of response at all is why I stopped bothering to post what I write. Quite obviously I was not worth their time.

I

4 minutes ago, Ronyx said:

they can at least spend two or three minutes writing and telling me they enjoyed it.

I would settle for 2 or 3 seconds to click a reaction.

 

 

 I started out saying I knew no one wanted my opinion and here I am spouting off. I'll shut up now.

[Parker Owens]

24 minutes ago, Ronyx said:

I don't think readers really understand how important it is for writers to hear from them. Most writers, like myself, never receive a penny for what we do. We spend long hours writing, proofreading and editing so that we can present the best possible story for our readers. Other writers spend hours interacting with proofreaders or beta readers. We take great pride in what we do. There is nothing more discouraging than posting a work we've labored over for weeks, and then sit back and wait for responses that never come. One of the greatest rewards, and most often the only one, is corresponding and interacting with our readers. I love it. I've been a successful writer. My stories have been read by thousands of people from all over the world, so I know they are well-received. But I can't count the number of times I've lost motivation knowing that thousands are reading, but then I'm receiving only a few or sometimes no responses. I completely stopped writing a few years ago because I lost all motivation. Yet, almost weekly I would get emails from people who had never written asking why did I stop, and others wanting to know when is the next story coming. They seem to imply that I am being selfish. I want to scream at the screen, "Where you when I needed the motivation?" I don't think readers are being rude or inconsiderate. I know they have busy lives, like myself. However, if I can sacrifice weeks writing and editing a chapter, they can at least spend two or three minutes writing and telling me they enjoyed it. I can only imagine how many great writers began writing and stopped for lack of encouragement and positive feedback from readers. And another irritation while I'm on a rant- a reader should never tell a writer that readers aren't important. Don't tell us we write only for ourselves because we have a desire to fulfill some need. We write hoping that just for a little while we can take the reader from the real world to our imaginary world where they can find enjoyment and escape. Feedback is important!

You spoke with words I would have used. Thank you. 

[Myr]

This has been a struggle since the get go.  I'm a writer myself, even if I struggle to find the time between working full time and keeping GA up and running.  I know feedback is important.  But each other has a different level of desire and need for it. I've been wracking my brain on how to:

1. Lower the barrier on providing feedback.
2. Overcoming the majority of readers high threshold for free writing a comment.

For security sake, I can't allow guests to post.  The staff would be chasing spam 24/7.  Reactions only work when people log into their account.  Reactions aren't quite enough of a threshold of feedback except the grudging "a reaction is better than nothing at all".  Readers, especially on chapters when there is more to read, just don't stop to write something.

Theoretically, I could force a pop-up box when a reader hits 'next chapter' that says something like "The Author would really like to know what you thought of this chapter" with perhaps a poll like checkbox.  If we forced people to type something to continue, you'd just get spam and nonsense.  or anger. 

I think we could do something like the recommendations system, but at the end of each chapter.  It would be more relevant than a reaction, but not as hard to do as free write text that many people just struggle with.

Keep the comments and votes coming please.

[Ronyx]

Perhaps you could include a statement at the end of each chapter submission that reads something like:

The mission of Gay Authors is to provide you quality stories. To insure this is successful, we strongly encourage interaction between reader and author. Feedback is  important for the success of our mission. Comments are a motivating factor, and they are greatly appreciated by this author.

I've been doing this for a long time, and if readers don't want to interact, they won't for many reasons. However, if they are reminded each time they read something they enjoy, perhaps it will motivate them to comment and participate more often.

[Rigby Taylor]

You've given an excellent list of possibilities regarding feedback. I am sometimes dissuaded from commenting when there are several pages of comments, and I'm not sure how to find the  place to comment. Yes, I'm a bit slow with some things. 

As for motivation, a strong motivation for me is responding to writing 'challenges'. [ a word I prefer to competitions]. When given a topic, it's  fun to see what I can make of it, and equally interesting to see what others have done with it. Instead of providing a comprehensive list of ideas, however, perhaps sometimes an interesting photo might work as an equally good trigger of the imagination?

Personally, I've always thought  GA was the absolutely best site I've encountered for writers, especially  when it comes to comments and feedback. It makes writing here a joy. You guys can be very proud

Rigby

[Thirdly]

Always good to know 30% think like me. Write or die; all comments welcome (good or bad).

[WolfM]

3 hours ago, Kitt said:

I started out saying I knew no one wanted my opinion and here I am spouting off. I'll shut up now.

I always value your opinion, Kitt.

[WolfM]

I enjoy the interaction with my readers. I've met some wonderful people on GA as a result of their comments, both positive and negative. It helps me grow as a writer to hear what works and where I'm screwing up. That said, I know a lot of people don't actually log in to read. I'm guilty of that a lot of times. I have to remind myself to log in and go back to those chapters to comment or at least leave a reaction. It can cause a writer to grind their teeth when people try to guide the story where they feel it should go, but that's part of doing this. Writing is my hobby, something I won't ever get paid for, and I offer it free to anyone who wants to read it, so in the end I guess all I should care about is seeing the view count increase. Anything else is a bonus.

[lomax61]

Great post.

I value the feedback I receive from readers on GA. Quite often the freely given comments (@Myrplease don’t force comments)  and guesses from readers at how the plot will develop, helps me to keep a story fresh. Honestly, without feedback, and especially without comments however short and succinct, I would stop posting stories here. What other benefit is there for a writer? 

But giving feedback effectively is an art. As an writer, I am putting my heart on the line every time I post or publish a story. If I am being given feedback on GA, particularly constructive feedback, it should be considered and sensitively delivered with the aim of helping an author to improve the story. It should not be an opportunity for a reader to climb on their soapbox, to vent to other readers about their personal beliefs or opinions. When published, we have to suffer enough fools commenting on our stories, but at least they have paid.

As writers we can also help ourselves by soliciting feedback. I always leave a footnote on my stories with something like “Thank you for reading. What do you think will happen next? Please let me know what you thought of this chapter by leaving a comment, or at the very least, a reaction, and any suggestions you may have for improvement.” A fellow member also suggested leaving a message about PM-ing (private messaging) the author if they find any glaring mistakes or silly typos, to save us embarrassment.

I do agree with @Zuri comments about the thumbs up symbol but I dislike even more the introduction of the tick/check symbol. Why was that introduced? Are we giving readers who don’t want to leave reactions or comments a marker so they know which chapters of our work they have read? I would rather have the angry symbol each time than the tick/check.

[Myr]

1 hour ago, lomax61 said:

I do agree with @Zuri comments about the thumbs up symbol but I dislike even more the introduction of the tick/check symbol. Why was that introduced? Are we giving readers who don’t want to leave reactions or comments a marker so they know which chapters of our work they have read? I would rather have the angry symbol each time than the tick/check.

As has been discussed on the forums reactions are site wide.  The main intention of the "I Read it" is for the forums and acknowledging something.  We don't have the ability to use them selectively on different parts of the site.

1 hour ago, lomax61 said:

Quite often the freely given comments (@Myrplease don’t force comments)

As I specifically mentioned that all we could expect was spam or anger if we forced comments, the apparently not clear enough implication is that No, we're not going to force commenting.

[Myr]

I have used the disclaimer feature of our story archive to add a note at the top and bottom of all chapters in the "Fiction" category.  This is the largest category.

I will continue to monitor our comments and if they go up, I'll look into deploying this in more places and getting an update to the system for prompting feedback.

[astone2292]

Feedback is crucial to the development of a novice writer, like myself. I want to become better. I want my writing to go from hobby to job. I believe enough has been said that there should be a change in regards to turning guest readers into account holders, or something of the sort. 

As a former salesman of incredibly overpriced mattresses, I firmly believe that a group discussion must take place. While I don't think this thread is the proper place, I'll leave some suggestions:

-Allow guest readers to have access to the Like button, but not the reactions. This provides incentive for initial guest feedback, but leaves the guest to want a more descriptive reaction or comment, especially if they want to express "love" or "funny."

-A more drastic suggestion, but one no less. Borrow the "5 Free Articles" concept from popular online newspaper companies. This will turn some guest readers away, but if this site truly wants feedback, it will encourage guests to create accounts. I would stress in the "You've reached your weekly/monthly limit" message the words FREE ACCOUNT. 

I do agree with @Zuri and @lomax61 on the tick mark reaction. It's not a proper "reaction." The like button serves the purpose well enough. Perhaps another strong emotion, such as "flustered" or "ill" (not saying that's a fantastic addition, but there was a chapter ending in a bloodbath, I'd be ill).

This is a phenomenal discussion and I can't wait to read more!

[Headstall]

7 hours ago, Ronyx said:

I don't think readers really understand how important it is for writers to hear from them. Most writers, like myself, never receive a penny for what we do. We spend long hours writing, proofreading and editing so that we can present the best possible story for our readers. Other writers spend hours interacting with proofreaders or beta readers. We take great pride in what we do. There is nothing more discouraging than posting a work we've labored over for weeks, and then sit back and wait for responses that never come. One of the greatest rewards, and most often the only one, is corresponding and interacting with our readers. I love it. I've been a successful writer. My stories have been read by thousands of people from all over the world, so I know they are well-received. But I can't count the number of times I've lost motivation knowing that thousands are reading, but then I'm receiving only a few or sometimes no responses. I completely stopped writing a few years ago because I lost all motivation. Yet, almost weekly I would get emails from people who had never written asking why did I stop, and others wanting to know when is the next story coming. They seem to imply that I am being selfish. I want to scream at the screen, "Where you when I needed the motivation?" I don't think readers are being rude or inconsiderate. I know they have busy lives, like myself. However, if I can sacrifice weeks writing and editing a chapter, they can at least spend two or three minutes writing and telling me they enjoyed it. I can only imagine how many great writers began writing and stopped for lack of encouragement and positive feedback from readers. And another irritation while I'm on a rant- a reader should never tell a writer that readers aren't important. Don't tell us we write only for ourselves because we have a desire to fulfill some need. We write hoping that just for a little while we can take the reader from the real world to our imaginary world where they can find enjoyment and escape. Feedback is important!

This, right here. Thanks, @Ronyx. Reactions and comments are fuel for me... and if someone was to ask how many are enough, I'd say there are never enough. It is maddening when a reader consumes sixty chapters and leaves a reaction on the final one, or none at all. It is maddening too, when PMs come in relentlessly for more of something, and the reader asking(and keeps asking) has never bothered to leave comments. If they can write a PM, they can write a comment. I hope that doesn't sound harsh. I'm just being honest.

Right now the system is going through a needed purge, and because of that, we authors are losing reactions. @Myr explained it to me, and I totally understand and accept the reason for it, of course I do, but it doesn't change the fact that waking up a couple of days ago to see eighty more story/chapter reactions have disappeared overnight caused me to go into a little tailspin. These and comments are like gold to a writer... the only tangible benefit for, in some cases, years of hard work and dedication to writing and posting the best story we can. 

I appreciate this attempt to help the writers, but I have been very discouraged of late, and have come to think of online writing as an often thankless job, so I too understand why some writers walk away. I have three partially written multi-chapter stories, yet I am having a hard time seeing the point in finishing them.

Reading this over, it feels like I'm whining. Yes, I do get lots of comments and great support from some wonderful readers. I should say those readers are also gold to me... and are greatly appreciated. They have given me fuel ever since my first attempt at writing. Cheers.   

[astone2292]

8 hours ago, Headstall said:

If they can write a PM, they can write a comment. I hope that doesn't sound harsh. I'm just being honest.

I wholeheartedly agree with this! I adore positivity, sunshine, and rainbows, but I'll be brash and truthful in a heartbeat! Aside from leaving a reaction, if someone is going to write out a PM, a comment isn't much more work.

Personally, I look for recommendations, and it blows my mind how it isn't utilized by readers more. To me, it's a few clicks, and it's a great way to describe whether the story is action-packed, smoldering, or a tear-jerker. Considering recommendations are a way to sort stories in the archive, as well as the deciding factor on featured stories in the monthly newsletter email, I'll ask for a recommendation over a review. 

Another suggestion came to me, and I'm curious to see other opinions. I'd like to see a version of a "Promising Author," but designed for passionate readers on the site. Requirements would include consistent comment, recommendation, and review quotas being met on a monthly basis. I'm unsure of benefits for the title (comparing banner privileges in the Promising Author status, for example), but this would cause an increase in those statistics that authors are looking for. I can think of a few potential readers I'd hand the title "Avid Reader" to.

[Myr]

8 hours ago, astone2292 said:

-Allow guest readers to have access to the Like button, but not the reactions. This provides incentive for initial guest feedback, but leaves the guest to want a more descriptive reaction or comment, especially if they want to express "love" or "funny."

Likes are also reactions.  The system is not capable of separating these as the system does not see them differently AND it fundamentally requires a member account, otherwise it would be purely spam.

8 hours ago, astone2292 said:

-A more drastic suggestion, but one no less. Borrow the "5 Free Articles" concept from popular online newspaper companies. This will turn some guest readers away, but if this site truly wants feedback, it will encourage guests to create accounts. I would stress in the "You've reached your weekly/monthly limit" message the words FREE ACCOUNT. 

I am reviewing options to add to the system that would allow guests to read the first chapter of a story and then require you to be logged into your free account to proceed.  (except for FanFiction categories, as there are rules on any sort of content gating on that).  Another option I'm considering is allowing an author to opt in/out of this.  The more generic 5 free articles is harder to do for a small independent like us.  Due to being a guest, controlling that is time consuming and ever evolving.

9 hours ago, astone2292 said:

I do agree with @Zuri and @lomax61 on the tick mark reaction. It's not a proper "reaction." The like button serves the purpose well enough. Perhaps another strong emotion, such as "flustered" or "ill" (not saying that's a fantastic addition, but there was a chapter ending in a bloodbath, I'd be ill).

The "I read it" reaction is neutral and was member requested.  (Like it is positive and Angry is negative). We could technically remove it and put another type of reaction in place, but it would cause reaction counts to change. (leading research says 5-7 reaction options are optimum)

8 hours ago, Headstall said:

Right now the system is going through a needed purge, and because of that, we authors are losing reactions.

We completed the system cleaning on Monday and there has been no changes on our end since.  It will be some time before this is looked at again and never again on the scale of what we just did.

 

8 hours ago, Headstall said:

eighty more story/chapter reactions have disappeared overnight caused me to go into a little tailspin.

You have no idea how ironic I find it that you are so focused on a number that we had to specifically code into the system due to the reputation system skewing caused by your COTT chat threads.  We use the reputation to help new authors get used to the system and keep them in the moderation queue to weed out spammers and people trying to post porn.  Prior to us separating out this number, all any new person had to do was post a couple times in your COTT thread and they'd have enough reputation to skip the moderation queue altogether. 

So I am sorry that we had to spend time and money modifying the story software system in an odd way to specifically counter an issue that your chat threads highlighted and then have that modification affect you in a negative way.  I'd put the numbers back in for you, but there isn't a little database field I can go to to do that. I spent over an hour looking last night instead of writing like I had planned.  This specific reason is why I do not like trying to mess with the underlying code of the forums.  It has unintended consequences. 

Speaking of unintended consequences... some folks have mentioned their dislike of "I Read It" reaction.  If I were to delete that reaction, then it would drop the reputation counts of people, also including the story reputation. Do the people that dislike it really want the "I read it" removed and replaced? @astone2292@lomax61

7 minutes ago, astone2292 said:

Personally, I look for recommendations, and it blows my mind how it isn't utilized by readers more. To me, it's a few clicks, and it's a great way to describe whether the story is action-packed, smoldering, or a tear-jerker. Considering recommendations are a way to sort stories in the archive, as well as the deciding factor on featured stories in the monthly newsletter email, I'll ask for a recommendation over a review. 

I am brainstorming on a way of doing feedback on the end of a chapter that would prompt people to select by checking boxes similar to the story recommendations.  Perhaps going as far as having an author select feedback levels (opt in/out, positive/neutral, constructive responses)

I also highlight the most recommended stories of the month in the monthly newsletter we email out.

19 minutes ago, astone2292 said:

Another suggestion came to me, and I'm curious to see other opinions. I'd like to see a version of a "Promising Author," but designed for passionate readers on the site. Requirements would include consistent comment, recommendation, and review quotas being met on a monthly basis. I'm unsure of benefits for the title (comparing banner privileges in the Promising Author status, for example), but this would cause an increase in those statistics that authors are looking for. I can think of a few potential readers I'd hand the title "Avid Reader" to.

We have tried this a few times over the years, but thus far have not had a lot of success.  We're definitely open to trying again if there is anyone out there that would fit the bill.

Invision Community software has announced that version 4.6 is adding Achievements and Badges.  We have begun work on identifying ways to use this.  The primary focus for me is increasing content (authors) and increasing feedback for content creators (from readers).  These have a very split reaction depending on our levels of gamification interest.  @wildonehas gone on some truly impressive... um... rants... on the topic.  I got hooked into Xbox Achievements long ago, so I get how they can be motivating for some people.  Two examples - Sci-Fi Writer Badge for 10 stories posted within sci-fi genre.  Sci-Fi Reader badge for reviewing 10 sci-fi genre stories.

[astone2292]

30 minutes ago, Myr said:

I am reviewing options to add to the system that would allow guests to read the first chapter of a story and then require you to be logged into your free account to proceed.  (except for FanFiction categories, as there are rules on any sort of content gating on that).  Another option I'm considering is allowing an author to opt in/out of this.  The more generic 5 free articles is harder to do for a small independent like us.  Due to being a guest, controlling that is time consuming and ever evolving.

I totally understand how the 5 free articles concept would be difficult, but I am quite interested in the "First Chapter-only" option! With the ability for the author to opt in/out, I'm down for this! Ultimately, the only negative I see is fewer added views, but I wouldn't be too concerned with that statistic.

36 minutes ago, Myr said:

If I were to delete that reaction, then it would drop the reputation counts of people, also including the story reputation. Do the people that dislike it really want the "I read it" removed and replaced?

The reputation count does not bother me, but I know it is a beloved factor to others. I've only received 27 "I Read It" reactions out of my entire time on this site, but I am not the only voice that matters. There are many other authors who have been here much longer than I have, and I look to them since they've been around the block.

Seeing the lead research suggesting 5-7 reactions made me giggle (not in a bad way of any kind) as I immediately thought of how many emojis exist in the world 😆5-7 reactions is optimal and the current ones are spread out perfectly in a range of emotions. I see the purpose of "I Read It." I'm going to leave this particular topic for others to voice their opinions on.

52 minutes ago, Myr said:

Invision Community software has announced that version 4.6 is adding Achievements and Badges.  We have begun work on identifying ways to use this.  The primary focus for me is increasing content (authors) and increasing feedback for content creators (from readers).  These have a very split reaction depending on our levels of gamification interest.  @wildonehas gone on some truly impressive... um... rants... on the topic.  I got hooked into Xbox Achievements long ago, so I get how they can be motivating for some people.  Two examples - Sci-Fi Writer Badge for 10 stories posted within sci-fi genre.  Sci-Fi Reader badge for reviewing 10 sci-fi genre stories.

I've never had a craving to hunt for achievements/badges in games, but they always provide a nice and joyful moment when you inadvertently earn one. I'm for this, especially if it means authors and readers will be rewarded. I look at it as something we didn't have before. 

1 hour ago, Myr said:

I am brainstorming on a way of doing feedback on the end of a chapter that would prompt people to select by checking boxes similar to the story recommendations.  Perhaps going as far as having an author select feedback levels (opt in/out, positive/neutral, constructive responses)

I'm also interested in this concept. I'm down for a brainstorming sesh (I am super unaware of what the site's software can and can't do, but I'm happy to pull ideas out all willy-nilly). I'm thinking a heavier emphasis on the end of a story, possibly links/ability to leave a recommendation and review from the last chapter's page before you hit the comment section? (I think I'm aiming for a "Well, you read the whole dang thing! While you're here..." kind of vibe). I would say this would auto-implement once the story is registered as complete.

This concept of polling for the website is quite refreshing, as I don't see it very often. I would love to see more polls regarding GA/site maintenance. Anytime y'all are needing some feedback from us, give us another poll! This is very fun, even though I've heard how busy Myr can be. 

[Myr]

1 hour ago, astone2292 said:

Seeing the lead research suggesting 5-7 reactions made me giggle (not in a bad way of any kind) as I immediately thought of how many emojis exist in the world 😆5-7 reactions is optimal and the current ones are spread out perfectly in a range of emotions.

In this context, reactions and emojis are treated rather differently.  Reactions are more directly tied to the emotional archetype, such as love, hate, sad, etc.  Emojis are more intended to cover the details or spice up plain written text.

1 hour ago, astone2292 said:

I'm thinking a heavier emphasis on the end of a story, possibly links/ability to leave a recommendation and review from the last chapter's page before you hit the comment section? (I think I'm aiming for a "Well, you read the whole dang thing! While you're here..." kind of vibe). I would say this would auto-implement once the story is registered as complete.

This we already have.  Though it could be more 'in your face'.   I love using @Carlos Hazday in my examples...

The "Review" button appears on the last chapter of a story at the bottom when the story is marked as complete.

1 hour ago, astone2292 said:

I would love to see more polls regarding GA/site maintenance. Anytime y'all are needing some feedback from us, give us another poll!

I do when there are relevant things to ask.  A lot of things are driven by the underlying forum software and don't leave us with any option, except, perhaps, turn it on or turn it off.

12 hours ago, Headstall said:

Right now the system is going through a needed purge, and because of that, we authors are losing reactions.

I have been able to track down exactly what is going on.  This is a follow on to my previous post above about why we have a separate story reputation number.  To summarize what is going on:

• Normal reputation, shown on all the posts, is cached by the server. 
• When a person reacts to something, the content creator's reputation count goes up.
• If a person reacts to something and then removes the reaction, the content creator's reputation goes up and then down.  (It can't go down only.)
• If a person reacts to something and then leaves the site and we remove the account, the reputation does not change unless we do a reputation recount. This is because the value is cached.  There was not an order to lower the reputation count because the account removed didn't ask to remove the reaction, the account was just removed.
• The admin control panel allows us to adjust that cached value at any time to any value and it would only be reset during a recount.

For Story reputation:

• When deployed, story reputation was needed to address the moderation queue issue we had where the site reputation was being severely skewed because of the chat threads.
• Reputation is not displayed outside of the author profile and did not need to be cached.
• This means that every time you look at the author page, it is getting a fresh current count of reputation.  Which is to say, it is doing a recount every time you look.
• Ergo, when we removed the abandoned accounts, a small number (we removed 16,000 accounts or so), did have reactions on stories and that is where the comparable drop came from.

Correction:

I have added an action for our programmer to cache the story reputation and treat it like the main site reputation.  When that occurs, I'll add 100 rep back in for @Headstall to address his concern.

[CassieQ]

IMO, negative feedback is better than no feedback at all.  Constructively, it can help strengthen your writing,  unconstructively, it can make you take a second look at the story you are trying to tell.  Either way, it shows that someone cared enough to respond.  No feedback is Indifference, which is worse.