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Apr 10

(I'm just asking this now so I don't run into anything later and try to rush to get solid advice. My readers are lovely, and they have done no wrong thus far! lol Though, I had an odd comment once, where a reader ended up misinterpreting what a character was explaining... So I clarified it as a response to them. I felt like I was just re-iterating the page for them, and felt like they didn't actually read what was being stated. Even if that's the case, I have no hard feelings about it. But it definitely has caused me to be a little paranoid about dialogue.)

I'm wondering if anyone has come across "nasty" comments, or even just awkward comments on their episodes where you aren't sure how to respond or if it even warrants a response in any way.

And if a nasty comment occurs, do you just delete it? Or would that be bad form? Would you be put under a microscope if you ignored a bad comment and didn't take charge?

I'd love to hear any advice, or if you guys just have stories of "that one time..." to share with me. :}

Thanks!

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I've had some pretty awful comments under my YT channel, but never under my story, thank goodness. I just delete them. I don't think it's bad form, in a way, it's protecting your other, nice readers from having to see that stuff, so I think it's beneficial

I've had a few. You can delete them if you want, but usually I just ignore them. The one thing you definitely DON'T want to do is respond to them. :stuck_out_tongue:

Hug who needs hugging. Ban hammer who needs ban hammering. Smile kindly at everyone else.

Iā€™ve had a few awkward or unpleasant comments, but I just donā€™t respond to them. I also donā€™t explain anything that I think a reader has misinterpreted unless they ask; if everyone interpreted my favorite stories the exact way the author intended, there wouldnā€™t ever be much to discuss. Not everyone is going to love your story, and those who do love it might love it in different ways. Thereā€™s no use in trying to fight either of those things!

The only time I would 100% suggest deleting a comment is if the commenter is saying something legitimately offensive or creepy. (For example, one of my favorite webcomics had an early comment alluding to sexualizing a young protagonist. I was always disappointed that it didnā€™t get deleted immediately.) It doesnā€™t add anything to the conversation, and it just makes other readers uncomfortable.

Yeah. I'm all up for interpretations differing, but this reader was trying to call me something because they thought I was getting at something negative (and something I am opposed to, as well.) :cry_swag:
Maybe I just should've left them hanging. But I saw others were liking their comment and it freaked me out so much that I had heart palpitations while responding. LOL
Thank you for the levelheaded advice. :coffee_love:

I'll keep that in mind, and make sure to keep it clean in my comments! Gotta show that I care about that.
Yiiiikes. That's an unfortunate turn off. :{

well I have a lot of fans with disabilities, and i've received some haters bullying them, I doubt those were bots

Tapas readers have been really nice so far! I've never had any negative comments on here, but I've been on Wattpad for a while, and when one of my earlier books gained some popularity, I got plenty of rude comments I'd just delete. Mostly, they were homophobic, so a lot of readers would be very vocal in their response if they saw those comments before I deleted them. Honestly, I don't care about rude comments, even got a laugh out of one that told me my writing was terrible and I should drink bleach, but I delete them to avoid readers seeing them and being hurt by hateful words, especially since a lot of my readers are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

For the most part, I let readers do their thing, thank them for their support, and try to answer valid questions. If they're asking about obvious stuff, I leave that for them to figure out or another reader to point out the answer, lol.

I tend to not delete comments unless someone is A) spamming (most likely a bot) or B) writing offensive stuff just to be a little shit.

I had someone on another site, despite them Liking my art, felt entitled to leave a rude transphobic comment on one of my pictures. Stuff like that I would just delete.

Ughhhghghh, why do people feel such a need to say those things Dx
I guess all you can do is laugh at them sometimes with how ridiculous they get. Good on you to clean up the trash. lol

Ahaha, sometimes readers will comment something like, "oh i'm not gonna like this character" and I'm just sitting there thinking about the next 700 pages of character dialogue and development like, "r u sure? :eyes:" As a write, you probably have a lot of those moments. LOL

Ugh!! Sorry to hear that. But you're doing the right thing to just clean up the dookie. :{

It's good to follow the simple rules. One of them being: terfs get blocked. :sip:

I don't think this was a radial feminist. Most likely a teen who is brand new to being online and thought he could just add his unfiltered opinion to things.

Trolls gotta troll, lol. Pretty much, just laugh it off, delete, and block/mute for the really nasty comments. For that story in particular, the MC is a redhead and I'd get so many comments that were like "ew, red hair" or "I'm gonna imagine them with x color hair" and it's so weird. Didn't know it was such a controversial decision to write in ginger characters. :sweat_02:

Those are fun moments, but especially if you plan to make a character really likable and then kill them off or make them suffer. Or maybe I'm just too mean to my readers, lol.

I am a free speech absolutist. Anyone has a right to their opinion. Only time the line is drawn is if there are threats of physical violence (or encouraging others to violence)

I've actually been following your comic for a while, and first off, I want to say I hope hateful comments won't ever enter your readership. :heart: I see you've already received some very solid advice so apologies if it seemed like I'm parroting, but I agree if you do encounter hateful comments anytime in the future, imo it's best to ignore or delete them entirely. Unless they go a step further into spam and harrassment, then they are just trolls who aren't worth your time. If it's an awkward comment and you're unsure how to respond, I think you can just leave a like and let it be. :blush: