Does AπCount As Much As A Detailed Interaction?
And Other Vocal Leaderboard Observations
Introduction
The vocal Leaderboard is about rewarding interaction between Vocal Creators but I have a few questions. Here is the last one if you want to check what I am talking about.
Most Discussed Stories This Week
Very often I see comments that interact with the main story, which is what I see as a discussion, but often, especially when a piece gets awarded a Top Story there are a lot of one word comments.
Now do these carry the same score as the detailed discussion ones which may be three or four lines? I think for a comment to count it should have a minimum length, but I would love to know what Vocal's position is on this.
It makes me think of this Isaac Asimov quote:
Popular Stories with the Most Likes this Week
This is just how much your story is liked by other Vocal creators. Though to leave a heart you don't even have to read a story, just drop in and leave the heart, but it doesn't necessarily count as a read.
Most Subscribed to Creators this Week
I don't know if this is based on new subscribers or a percentage of your subscriber base. Also, I wonder if spammers count. I recently had fifteen subscribers removed, and while I know I am not popular, I don't think I am that unpopular but still have 960 subscribers.
Most Supportive Commenters this Week
This is possibly the most straightforward category, but again I wonder if single word/ short comments count toward this.
Emerging Creators
This has been removed but again it had set rules, but didn't take into account AI spammers.
Conclusion
I know this is mainly questions and I hope it gives some food for thought. I can't offer any solutions here because I am not Vocal, but would love to hear your thoughts.
The music is "Listen" by Collective Soul
Thank you for reading.
About the Creator
Mike Singleton π Mikeydred
A Weaver of Tales and Poetry
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Call Me Les β₯ Gina β₯ Heather β₯ Caroline β₯
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Comments (17)
Congrats π https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/february-top-10-reads-list-for-vocal%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="w4qknv-Replies">.css-w4qknv-Replies{display:grid;gap:1.5rem;}
Brilliant quote there, Mike. Iβve noticed the same thingsβ¦ And of course the answer to your title question is a resounding no! Is a ππ» better than no comment at all? I would argue not. If I spend the time to put my heart into something, there is a heart button for those who can only respond with a thumbs up!! Itβs an emoji that feels cold and, in all honesty, a bit rude to leave all on its own π
what a great asimov quote. re: thumbs up, copied comments, hearts, it is better than asking me to check out their website to buy something ... re AI generated comments / stories: hopefully Vocal can give then another venue...
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! ππππππ
Either they clarify these points, or they should continue to pare down the Leaderboard. Incentivizing engagement is a double-edged sword, and each time someone comments with a vague compliment and then insists I come read their stuff, I am once again reminded of the logical conclusion. The reciprocity debate may continue, but it might not be quite so loaded if people didn't have a secondary (i.e. monetary) motivation for encouraging other creators to read their work. Or at least one tied directly to engagement stats. You, I, and others have another monetary motivation in the form of book sales, but those aren't directly dependent on the number of comments/hearts I receive π Speaking of, just borrowed a second book of yours with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, so expect to see those royalties soon
Well said Mike. I think there has developed a group of creators that just go from story to story dropping a thumb here or a clap there, perhaps without even reading the story, just to collect the $10 or whatever it is for most comments made. I love the interaction on Vocal; I think it is one of the strong points. However, it is a real landmine. If very few people leave a comment, does that mean it is a bad story or has just gone unnoticed? If you regularly comment on someone's work because you think they are a good creator, is there some sort of moral obligation that they might at least look at some of your stories, even if only occasionally? I guess it is the nature of the game.
It'd be nice if vocal would answer these and other questions
I try my best to do a full comment, sometime it may be brief but I wish to let the creator know I actually read their work. It has to be hard on Vocal as well, all these are well intentioned yet scammers seem to take advantage
Good job. Sometimes I do reply to comments with a thumbs up and usually give two or more with an okay symbol and sometimes a heart. I believe I leave pretty good comments.
Thanks for putting into words some of my thoughts on this matter - particularly the part about the comments. Although I am so happy to get any interaction, I'll be happy with a one-word or emoji comment.
Once again, you confirm your status as a sagacious commentator upon, and analyst of, the vicissitudes of Vocal. I regret that, on occasion, I read and enjoy a story and limit myself to a simple "like" because other matters demand my attention at the time. I will strive to offer more substantive responses in the future.
I had some thoughts, but I want to more fully digest what everyone has said here. I agree with you all that Vocal is ambiguous about a whole slew of issues. I end up writing support more often than I should. As an example-- my Vocal plus is supposed to renew in a couple weeks. I just got paid and I only get paid once a month. My money evaporates pretty quick. So one of my priorities was to get my next year's subscription out of the way. I tried to figure out how to do it. I couldn't. It's easy to cancel! But not renew! I sent Vocal a petition. They responded three days later, to say it can't be done. I can't renew in advance. Gotta wait for them to take the money from my account automatically. Just another example, it seems to me, of a lot of stuff being automated... never touched by human hands. I have other observations but I'll just end with this.... As I write this, it's 4 am. My sleep schedule has gradually changed. Part of the reason is I take meds for both epilepsy and being bipolar... and they make me sleepy. There are many days I will write all day, all day, and then when I'm too weary to keep the creative brainpower working, I'll switch to reading. I try to read as many people as I can, and I'll often leave just emojis. That's especially true of new writers I'm not that impressed with. It at least shows support. I leave emojis when I'm exhausted. And I often don't know what to say about short poetry. I could say "outstanding" or "excellent" and I do say "love it" but are those comments really any different than leaving a heart and a lightning bolt? You tell me. I would LOVE for Vocal to have something similar to Facebook, where you can put your cursor over the Like/Heart button to see who liked the post! I feel leaving emojis in the comments at least shows a Vocal author who one of those likes was from. I'm going to sleep now! πβ‘
I guess clearer guidelines are necessary, what with the ongoing discussion about AI use and all. And, as you say, it extends to other things like comments. Is a π a comment?
Who knows? I don't. It all seems bonkers to me. In some ways, I'm gratified that I'm on the Leaderboard but at other times, I look at some of the writers that are there with me and think "Really?" Writers I rate are often there; writers I don't rate are often there too. I've never been clear on what Vocal's expectations for this site are. I think it's a mass of contradictions.
As always, interesting questions I've on occasion pondered myself.
Vocal has mentioned that a comment that says congratulations for a Top Story or just emojis don't count as a comment. But now I'm not sure if what they meant is for Most Discussed Stories or Most Supportive Commenters I too had a drop in followers and it made me very sad. Then I realised that it may have been due to Vocal removing/banning spammers or AI frauds
Great points! I think there are algorithms used and they count interactions but not length. We wonβt know unless we work at Vocal. Everyone would like clear, standardized instructions that are adhered to in judging and for the monetary rewards - Vocal, we hope you are peeping into these convos. π π