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It occurred to me the other day that I met many of the people on my friends list (and many of my non-LJ internet friends) through feedback: I sent them some or vice versa and we started writing back and forth.
Not to reopen the great feedback/response debate, but this is probably why I think that sending feedback and replying to it are so important: not because of an obligation on either side but because it's a way of establishing a connection, a kind of social glue in fandom. Even the shortest "I liked it," "thanks for saying so" exchange has that effect, which may be part of the reason many authors don't care very much about the length or depth of the feedback. It shifts the person at the other end from "unknown author" and "unknown reader," to something more familiar. Sure, a longer, more detailed piece of feedback has a greater chance of developing into a conversation, but the key point is to humanize the person at the other end.
(This, as an aside, is probably why I've never felt entirely comfortable in the review-system typical of the Harry Potter fandom, and why I prefer offlist feedback--it seems, by definition, more personal. But then, LJ comments are quickly becoming one of my favorite formats for feedback, so why knows...)
The issue is probably at the top of my mind right now because I'm dipping my toes into a new fandom, and for me that involves sending a lot of random feedback out into the ether and sitting back to see what happens.
Not to reopen the great feedback/response debate, but this is probably why I think that sending feedback and replying to it are so important: not because of an obligation on either side but because it's a way of establishing a connection, a kind of social glue in fandom. Even the shortest "I liked it," "thanks for saying so" exchange has that effect, which may be part of the reason many authors don't care very much about the length or depth of the feedback. It shifts the person at the other end from "unknown author" and "unknown reader," to something more familiar. Sure, a longer, more detailed piece of feedback has a greater chance of developing into a conversation, but the key point is to humanize the person at the other end.
(This, as an aside, is probably why I've never felt entirely comfortable in the review-system typical of the Harry Potter fandom, and why I prefer offlist feedback--it seems, by definition, more personal. But then, LJ comments are quickly becoming one of my favorite formats for feedback, so why knows...)
The issue is probably at the top of my mind right now because I'm dipping my toes into a new fandom, and for me that involves sending a lot of random feedback out into the ether and sitting back to see what happens.
