Ok this is such a minor thing but it’s smth odd that has only recently (within the last couple years) started happening — people leaving ao3 comments that are just hearts?? I love comments but why do this? Kudos is you hearting or liking the fic already, so why…?? - ThreadSky

eledritch.bsky.social • 75 days ago

Ok this is such a minor thing but it’s smth odd that has only recently (within the last couple years) started happening — people leaving ao3 comments that are just hearts?? I love comments but why do this? Kudos is you hearting or liking the fic already, so why…??

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citbt.bsky.social•75 days ago

It’s a bookmark??? I guess? Is what one of my readers told me

setsss.bsky.social•75 days ago

Sometimes I wanna comment to let the author know my appreciation but I can't always think of what specifically to say.

polarjuniper.bsky.social•75 days ago

I'm very shy & generally I don't have thoughtful commentary after reading a fic I enjoyed like actually no thoughts other than I like this but I don't want to just leave kudos I want ppl to know I'm more engaged in it than just one click so I leave hearts on each chapter & a thank you at the end

polarjuniper.bsky.social•75 days ago

It feels better than nothing I don't expect a reply back but I have had authors that reply back each time & that helped me overcome my shyness to talk to them more & I've actually made some good friends it's just like words are hard especially becz I'm terrified of sounding insulting accidentally

enemytosleep.bsky.social•75 days ago

I don’t always have the brain available to comment in full so I sometimes leave emojis because I enjoyed the fic and a kudos click doesn’t feel sufficient.

eledritch.bsky.social•75 days ago

That makes sense! It’s mainly just interesting to me bc the heart emojis specifically seem like a recent phenomenon, I’ve gotten just-emoji comments (& they’re very fun) in the past but the only-hearts comments are new.

ciete.bsky.social•75 days ago

Someone does that on of my fics and I think it's really sweet, but I don't know what to do with it???
I like responding to comments and it feels rude to just skip one

enemytosleep.bsky.social•75 days ago

Hearts for hearts if you want to reply I think. I think sometimes folks are also anxious to start a convo, but want to show (more than a kudos click’s worth) that they appreciate the author’s efforts, so this is a lower entry to commenting and being replied to.

vixknacks.bsky.social•75 days ago

I do this when I've already commented and kudo'ed but want them to know I came back to reread and still loved it the second+ read 🥺

eledritch.bsky.social•75 days ago

That makes sense & comments are always good, but it just takes me aback bc I think of comments as the space where readers can communicate w the author, & the only thing hearts convey is the same thing as a kudos, for me at least. If that makes sense? Like I don’t know they reread it just from hearts

artmage.bsky.social•75 days ago

Someone else said similiar. There have been a few waves of hearts as kudos comments. I believe started by folks lamenting not being able to leave multiple kudos, especially those who are silent readers and found leaving kudos the easiest way to leave their appreciation.

artmage.bsky.social•75 days ago

In this instance I don't think these readers expect a comment back so don't/don't know how to reply. I'd consider it like another kudos notification and just move on.

artmage.bsky.social•75 days ago

Don't feel bad if you don't/don't know how reply*

flippinpancakes.bsky.social•75 days ago

I am guilty of this 😅 I do it when I’m having a hard time expressing my feelings into words because the story was just so good. Or if I’ve already read the fic before and just want to leave hearts to tell the author “hi I’m back and I ❤️ your work!!”

eledritch.bsky.social•75 days ago

That’s fair!!

nikehalley.bsky.social•75 days ago

I think it was an initiative started somewhere encouraging people to comment as a sort of double kudos?

eledritch.bsky.social•75 days ago

Interesting…hm. I guess all comments are great but I don’t care very much about kudos counts etc, it’s more important to me to see reader thoughts & responses in words (or unhinged memes/emojis/etc). But the desire to leave more kudos is a nice sentiment

naarna.bsky.social•75 days ago

I had one commenter do that for like every chapter in my lomgest fic, and then do a worded one at the end.

It was a bit weird, but I still appreciated it very much 🤗

eledritch.bsky.social•75 days ago

Yeah that makes a little bit more sense to me than only ever leaving the heart comments — it’s just a curious shift I’ve seen in how people are interacting with fics!

avidbeader.bsky.social•75 days ago

I often assume it's someone whose first language doesn't match mine, and hearts are a pretty universal sign of appreciation.

eledritch.bsky.social•75 days ago

That would make sense, but I haven’t noticed any consistent correlation with that, personally 🤔 someone else suggested it’s part of a “double-kudos” trend and that seems more likely to me.

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