My Opinion on Writing Comments

Something I'm sure we all hate is when people write stupid and useless comments that show no criticism and are just pointless insults.
1. They're just being stupid and trolls (yes even Newgrounds has trolls)
and 2. Most of the time if you look at their pages the have no movie submissions and poor art.
[The comments I'm talking about here are the generic pulling words out of your ass saying :This stucks, stop animating because you're a failed abortion (and yes I have gotten this comment before on Youtube)]
My thinking is: Don't leave a comment on something that you yourself can not do or can not do well.

[Note: Everything after this note is the part of the journal of why I do not leave comments on animations, art, ect.]
Which is why I stay away from leaving comments on animations and keep my OPINIONS to myself. Why? Because most people will yell at you and call you an intolerant bastard that doesn't know what they're talking about. I don't leave comments on posts mostly because what I write, someone else may have already told the person. So what's the point of me repeating what they have said? Sure it's nice to have someone who thinks the same way you do. But think of the authors who might get annoyed of seeing the same comments over and over again and not seeing anything to help them get better. How far would animations go if all you saw were "This is great", "This is great", and "This is great"? It probably only progress as far as the creator would think it should and not have any input from the fans.

Comments

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NMLD 2012-08-30 12:43:37

Totally true, what a breath of fresh air.

TheMAM 2012-08-30 13:57:24

You may have a point there; but believe it or not, comments on Newgrounds have had a big purpose change since the progression of this website. It is intended for good and helpful reviews with serious criticism, But haven't you noticed that after the redesign, we've come a little closer to what Youtube comments are all about: telling a good joke and not being serious?

These comments give us a laugh after what we just saw of a flash movie or a game and give the situation irony, which most of us, including me, seem to enjoy. If the comment were to be serious and thoughtful, no one except the flash maker would show interest. The whole "People find this review helpful" has gotten to all our heads and is convincing us that if one person were to upvote it, that would mean that the meaningless comment you just wrote would be beneficial; and maybe it is not by criticism, but by entertainment.

Nowadays, the whole comment system isn't really a big deal. People don't really pay attention much (except for popular artists reviews) and tend to never have to think of them again. However, whatever crap we write in our comments is simply stuff we would like to say, and possibly have someone agree with us and click on us and fan us. It doesn't matter what comments we write when it comes to gain. What matters is we wrote a comment. That was our opinion. Cool. Ok.

So know this. Even if someone did say something already and you don't feel like repeating it, wouldn't that mean that people have a similar opinion as you do? That would be nice.

Thanks for reading. :P

JohnTheHedgechidna 2012-08-30 13:57:24

You have a valid point here. I first started my animations and shown them only on Youtube, and now here to Newgrounds so I understand the funny comments and the useful comments. Maybe I should have been more specific in what I was referring to. I was talking about comments that are neither and just say "This stucks, stop animating because you're a failed abortion" (and yes I have gotten this comment before".

TheMAM 2012-08-30 13:58:59

By the way, nice movies. :)

RazzleDazzleBeatz 2012-08-30 14:03:48

I've got to disagree with you here. If you don't care what the people think of your flash, then ok, say that in the author comments and ignore all criticism. If you do care, then listen to the people. Most criticism is just criticism on what the people want, as in the popular vote. I get it, some people don't care what the people think, but a lot of people do. What if people weren't aloud to comment on actual films without getting told that they can't do it so shut up? That's pretty similar, in my opinion.

JohnTheHedgechidna 2012-08-30 14:03:48

I do care what people of my flashes, but I want an actual thought process shown in their comment. Not some thoughtless rabble that says "Oh this sucks do something different". If it;s actual constructive criticism, yeah I'll listen. However, if it's nothing more than a useless comment that seems like it's just the person getting words out of their ass and not their head, I will pay no attention to it

TheMAM 2012-08-30 15:06:13

WHAT? Are you saying that if many people say "This is great" over and over again, then it would be unsuitable? Now I agree that that comment isn't very constructive, but come on! Who wouldn't want people to keep saying great job on your work. It's not supposed to be constructive. It's supposed to be Goddamn inspirational. You feel like many people out there like your stuff which makes you more confident and more ready to progress in whatever your doing.

And the thing about the authors getting annoyed? What if you get the same review over and over again that makes a valid point? Wouldn't it convince the author that the people out there making that point are right? I mean, sure getting "you suck" over and over again is annoying, but I think enough people out there know better than to take the word of trolls. This isn't DeviantArt, you know...

I'm not arguing with you completely. That might not be a comment that would educate you, but who wouldn't want to hear the word great once in a while?

teejay-number13 2012-09-04 23:07:19

I agree with you on the part about people writing useless reviews. That's why on most of my submissions I write in the description: "If you liked it, tell me what you liked. Or if you hated it, tell me what you hated." Saying "This is great" over and over is nice, but I really want to hear what people's favorite (or least favorite) parts are.
However, I don't agree with you on not leaving comments because the author may berate you. As long as you review is mature, then who cares? That just shows other what kind of person the author is. And it doesn't matter if you comment on the same thing as someone else. That helps the author see what really needs fixing. For example if one person says that my animation needs work, but ten people say my voice acting needs work, that tells me that I really need to focus on fixing the voices. That also helps differentiate between legitimate issues and just people's personal opinions.
Main point is, don't be afraid to post an honest (not hateful) review because you don't want to annoy the author. If they can't handle mature criticism, tough! They dshouldn't submit content.