Lurkers

I will admit I'm a silent reader, I try and comment and least every other chapter so the author knows I'm still reading, but most of the time I'll screen shot the chapter, and read it at night (parental settings.. my internet goes off at a certain time ) So every now and then I'll go through all my subscription's and make a comment, on the ones I know were previously updated and mention my favourite parts from the past few chapters.

I have a lot of silent readers (my most popular story has over 250 readers, over 50 subscribers, but only 40-something comments, and as a lot of the comments come from the same people, probably only about 30 people have ever actually commented on it). I have to admit; this annoys me. I don't care if the comment is critical; I also don't care if it's very brief, but I would like to know what people think. It's the best way to improve your writing, after all.

I try not to be a silent reader. I always try to comment if I find a story even vaguely interesting, and I always comment on the stories entered into my contests, as I know how much it annoys me to have readers that haven't commented. I think Mibbians should be strongly encouraged to comment on the things they read, but forcing people to comment could put people off of coming on here.

I'm a silent reader when I want to be. If a story has something worth commenting about, I'll comment. If it doesn't, then I won't. And when the author is basically pleading for comments and is holding that against their readers in order for them to get an update, it turns me off in terms of commenting. I won't comment at all if an author does that.

Although I do think that writers who are dedicated to writing do deserve some comments. But - they need to get their readers to comment, make an update worth commenting on. And when I see a story that's really good but has basically no comments, I'll comment because I feel like they deserve some feedback.. Also, I only comment when I feel like my comment will actually benefit the writer or story in some way. I'm not going out of my way to just write a simple, 'great, update soon!' because I'd rather write a comment with actual content in it. (okay I'm rambling on...)

I get that silents readers might be annoying to some writers but hey, if you're writing, you shouldn't be writing for compliments.

Well, I 22 subscribers of mine have not commented on my story :)
I am okay with that, seeing as some others comment every chapter :P
but I would love to hear from them :) I like to know who is reading my stories...

I don't have a problem with silent readers because, though I don't read as much on Mibba as I used to, when I read fics on other sites, I'm generally a silent reader because, for the most part, I don't have anything to say. I have to admit that what really irritates me isn't silent readers, but silent subscribers and silent reccers. I feel like if you like something enough to rec it or to subscribe, you should probably tell the author why.

I honestly don't mind silent readers because I am sometimes one. I understand where they are coming from; sometimes they might not have anything to say about a story, which is maybe why they don't comment. I've done that loads of times, especially if there is only one short chapter to a story or not much happened in the chapter.

I don't really think mibba should discourage readers from being silent readers. I mean, some people would rather not have silent readers, but not everyone has something to say with every chapter that they read.

Despite me wanting a little more feedback. I actually prefer if my silent readers at least pop up and say what they liked about the story once in awhile, just to let me know that at least ONE person is enjoying my stories. But overall, people should decide for themselves whether they want to be a silent reader or not because I've been guilty of being a silent reader plenty of times.

I am a silent reader and I have been for a very long time. At first, I was just terrified of talking to anyone and reviewing made me so anxious I would freak out. I have gotten better, but most of the time I still don't review because I'm awful at it (and still a bit nervous). I don't want to write a one sentence review when I can't think of anything really meaningful to say.

I find it kind of insulting when people threaten the silent readers or try and force people to review. I understand why, but it just makes me not want to do it even more and sometimes I just stop reading all together. There could be a lot of reasons why someone doesn't comment, and it's just off-putting when authors make it seem like you're not welcome to read their stuff unless you review for them.

I think feedback is a vital part of sharing stories online. As a writer I appreciate feedback, no matter the content. For me its a way of knowing to keep writing for this audiance. However, I understand the whole silent reader thing and I get that people don't nessacerily want to comment. I'm not much of a huge commenter myself, but when I really like a story, I've subscribed and I read it I like to comment and let the writer know that I like it. At one stage I was getting a lot of feetback and now I get none. I'm lucky to get a comment from comment swap when it decides it wants to work. When I update I don't write anything in the Authors note anymore because I use to say 'thanks for reading, let me know what you think' and I might add when I might update next now there's no point because most of the readers who subscribe to my stories- now- are silent readers. I don't force them to comment because I understand they might not know what to say. But it would be nice to get some indication as to if I'm pleasing them or my content is good.
Point I'm trying to make is that I refer to my feed back (comments, subscribers, recs) to continue writng and updating. It's encouragement. And I appreciate that.

I have a fair few, but I would never want Mibba to ban them. Some people are just really shy about posting things on someone's stories or posting in the message boards. However, I don't think they should be banned, because if they really wanted to comment something they would. I don't think it's right to make someone comment on a story.

I know I've got a good amount of lurkers if i looked at the number of people that read my stories and don't comment, and I honestly don't mind. 2/3 of the stories I have written or am writing are kind of gruesome and I don't expect people to really know what to say about the stories. Though I do get really happy when I get some comments, I don't feel like I really need them to know to continue writing if I've got people subscribed to the story.

I think that commenting on stories should be encouraged but I don't think that if someone reads something and doesn't leave comment, they should be banned or anything like that. Sometimes your dont know exactly what to think about a story and therefore no comments were written.

I think if someone has something to say, then they will. Making them feel bad isn't going to make thoughts pop into their head.

Feedback is nice, but readers shouldn't feel obliged to comment if they have nothing to say. To be honest, forcing people to comment isn't going to produce much valuable feedback on their part.

I try to comment on as much as I can, but I click on a lot of stories, and I don't always have time to do so. I don't think that being a silent reader is a bad thing. I'll admit to encouraging my own readers to comment when I know that there are silent readers out there, but I won't stop writing over a lack of comments and I won't be holding my story hostage or being rude in the a/n. If someone has something to say, they'll say it. I'd rather have one decent comment on a story that one hundred one-worded comments.

I think they're adorable I imagine them sitting behind the computer like

From a writer standpoint, I can understand that it can be frustrating to not get feedback from the people reading or recommending or subscribing to your work. We'll only improve through a few aspects (writing being one, reading being another) and feedback is one of them. It's always nice to have a push in the right direction.

However, from a reader standpoint, I completely understand the silent reader. I'm prone to being one, after all. I rarely comment on things because I like to sit down and give detailed comments but often I don't have the time or the motivation to. I don't mind silent readers in the slightest because hey, they're still reading my work and recommending it and subscribing to it. That generally means I'm doing something right.

Ultimately, it is up to the reader if they want to comment or whether they have time to comment. I'm not going to hold my story back for the sake of comments, nor am I going to bash them or whatever some people do.

Feedback is love, but I understand not every person likes to speak up and give it or sometimes you read something and just don't know what to say as a comment. I generally try not to be a silent reader, but sometimes I am, so yeah I get it.
I will say though, if you read something and you liked it, please at least give it a rec or a kudos or a like or whatever equivalent there is on whatever site you're reading on. Otherwise, if I have like 20 readers and 2 recs or whatever, I'm gonna assume people are reading it and not liking it (which if you are reading and not feeling it, that's cool, you do you, boo) but a rec or whatever is it's own small form of feedback, so please at least consider leaving one. I pretty much always do unless I just really didn't feel a story.

Still, with all that said, I just wanna say that I genuinely appreciate every reader I ever get on any story at any time. I don't ever wanna sound like I don't.