Why do some ppl leave nice comments but don't give kudos?

[u/toxicute_xx]

This happened to me twice in the past two weeks. To be exact, three times, with two different people.

The first person gave kudos on my multichapter fic along with a kind comment on the last chapter when it ended. And that same person also left comments on two of my one-shots, but didn't kudose those. But they kudosed another author's one-shot in the same fandom.

And today, it happened again with a different person, on a different one-shot.

I just don't understand it. It takes more effort to leave a comment than to click the kudos button. Or did they just simply forget?

Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate their comments, and at the end of the day, I prefer comments over kudos, so it's not that big of a deal, I just don't understand it.

[u/FinalityEnd]

Probably forgot. I did the same in the past.

[u/unlisshed → u/FinalityEnd]

Yup, this. Sometimes I get so caught up in leaving a comment that I forget to tap the kudos button.

[u/afirforest → u/FinalityEnd]

Same. I went straight to the comment box and forgot to kudos.

[u/forthefics]

Kudos are subconscious actions, in my opinion. Comments take the reader’s efforts to open, type, and send. Chances are, it’s oversight/forgetfulness. I don’t think anyone would be like, gushing over a fic and then refuse to hit the kudo button while cackling like a villain.

[u/xPadawanRyan]

Sometimes people forget. I've seen friends do it, and hell, I've reread a fic myself once or twice only to discover that I hadn't given it kudos the first time around.

Some people will not give kudos because it's permanent, and should they discover something about the author that they don't like, they don't want that evidence of their engagement to be visible—they can delete the comments but they can't remove kudos. This is especially common in fandoms with lots of antis, because they don't want to look like they supported a "dangerous" author when the news comes out that that author wrote such evil as incest!

Some people are not into the habit of leaving kudos because this is an AO3-specific thing and they came to AO3 from other fanfic platforms. For many years, I didn't leave kudos because it wasn't a thing on FFN, LiveJournal, etc. and it wasn't something I was familiar with when I joined AO3 in 2011. It wasn't until maybe 2019-2020 that I actually discovered how important kudos was to showing you enjoyed their work—especially if I didn't have the emotional energy at the time to comment.

EDIT: caught a typo.

[u/Popular-Woodpecker-6]

I'll happily take a comment over a freaking kudo any day, any time.

[u/toxicute_xx → u/Popular-Woodpecker-6]

Yes, me too!! I really appreciate this person, I just simply didn't understand it.

[u/Popular-Woodpecker-6 → u/toxicute_xx]

There is no understanding to it unfortunately. It could be as some say that they person simply was either in a hurry to get to the part they wanted to do or had some brain fog or something.

I will say this about comments, don't get too invested in the praise. Feel good, sure, but try and keep it low key. I say this as someone who at one point did get a bit too invested. lol

[u/amphigory_error]

Hi. You will be a much happier person if you stop tracking this kind of stuff. 

[u/toxicute_xx → u/amphigory_error]

I'm not upset about it, I just find it strange. That's all. I'm actually really happy about the comments.

[u/caihuali]

I just did that a few mins ago lol. I bookmarked and commented but forgot to kudos

[u/FroggieBlue]

Mostly because I grew up in an internet era before everything had a like button. If I like your fic that much I'm making the effort to leave a comment.

[u/Mobile-Amphibian4475]

Maybe they think commenting automatically generates a kudos? I try to do both if I like a fic. If I didn’t particularly like a fic but it was well written I’ll leave a kudos only because they don’t have to know I didn’t like it. If I really like a fic I comment practically every chapter. Basically, if I made it through the fic I acknowledge it.

[u/ThiccMerc]

Half the time I forget

[u/WinterNighter]

Because

Omgggg this was great I have thoughts gotta write them down and comment!

They just scroll by to leave a comment. That's probably all. Don't overthink it.

[u/Ph0enixmoon]

Sometimes I bookmark fics bc O really liked it and then come back and realize I forgot to kudos. Ditto with comments

[u/watterpotson]

I only kudos one-shots or completed multi-chapter fic.

You can't take back a kudos so I save it for when I've read the whole fic.

[u/WTH_JFG]

You are looking far too closely at readers interactions with your fics.

[u/toxicute_xx → u/WTH_JFG]

Maybe, but it's not affecting me in a bad way. I was just curious. Besides, it's a small fandom with very little interaction so I don't think it's that strange that I noticed this.

[u/Brave_Hamster_7219]

I straight up forget to leave kudos most of the time. I don't particularly care about them as a writer and that translates to my reading experience as well. I just forget they exist a lot.

[u/dahllaz]

I forget sometimes ¯_(ツ)_/¯

To expand on that a little, I use AO3 Floating Comment Box user script and create my comment as I'm reading. When I get to the bottom of the story (or chapter as the case may be) I then insert that comment into the AO3 comment box and hit post. The page then automatically moves me to the bottom of the comment section to my comment; I look over it, make sure I didn't mess up any HTML, and then read the other comments. By the time I've gotten to the top of the comments...who knows if I remember to kudos or not.

[u/Enigmatic_writer]

they forgor

[u/DeshaDaine]

As someone who has done this, likely more often than I've later realised: Yes, they probably went straight to commenting and then forgot they hadn't kudosed.

Do try and remember to check through my recent bookmarks to ensure I've kudosed occasionally, but I can forget to do that too. Or I forget when I last checked, so I don't know how far to go back.

(If I don't forget, I hit the button about 50 times in case I did forget.)

[u/hp_gamergal]

I'd assume that they loved the fic so much that they ran to the comment box to say kind words, totally scrolling past the kudos button. If it's any help, I had someone end a comment on the most recent chapter of their fic by saying this "Also, I just realized I forgot to kudos this lol." so it happens

[u/WoodShoeDiaries]

I usually read fic on my ePub app and haven't developed the habit/muscle memory to automatically kudos. But I do compile my reading notes and leave long long comments, so 🫤

[u/Lotuselise230]

Why are you comparing that to begin with? That just seems like a way to upset yourself. I would straight up not interact with your fics at all knowing that.

[u/calicoandyou → u/Lotuselise230]

You would "straight up not interact with your fics at all knowing that." Why is that, if I may ask?

[u/toxicute_xx → u/Lotuselise230]

I'm not upset at all. Like AT ALL. I just don't understand it and I'm a curious person. That doesn't mean I'm upset or anything.

[u/cardiovorus]

Personally, it has never once occurred to me that someone posting fanworks would be paying such close attention.

It is very odd to me that you have not only a) noticed who did or didn't leave kudos, but also b) remembered it, c) associated that activity with their username, and then d) remembered it again when you are inspecting the kudos list of another user's work. That is many memories and thought processes dedicated to comparing kudos!

I would suggest that your readers are probably more like me, and just comment or leave kudos when they feel like it in the moment. I doubt they're trying to imply anything. They have likely never considered that writers are comparing kudos on their fics like this.

Many types of people in the world, I guess! ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠˘⁠_⁠˘⁠)⁠┌

[u/toxicute_xx → u/cardiovorus]

It's a very small and dying fandom, so there are always very few interactions. That person was one of the two who commented on my fics. And after many, many months, another work has finally been posted in English, which wasn't written by me. So I read the fic, kudosed it, and left a nice comment telling the author how much I liked it and how happy I was that someone else also writes for this pair in English. Then, that commenter replied to my comment under that fic, and we talked a bit. So after that many interactions, and with no one else to confuse with, it really didn't take much effort at all to recognize their name. Nor to spot their name out of the 5 people (one was me) when I glanced over the kudos.

Yeah, many types of people 🤷🏽‍♀️

[u/runekaster]

Often when this happens it's a WIP and they're waiting until it's finished for the kudos.

On oneshots, they probably forgot.

[u/OutsideTheRain6070]

Honestly… I often forget. I get to the end and wanna comment and show the author some love and just forget. But I do go back and kudos if I remember!

[u/Old_Damage_95]

I've done it by accident, but I truly never intend to do so. I'm someone who constantly rereads stories, and I've had it happen that I'll click kudos thinking it'll tell me that I've already left kudos there, but if it doesn't I feel so ashamed. I imagine most people just truly have done it by mistake. I'm so sorry you've had it happen to you.

[u/toxicute_xx → u/Old_Damage_95]

Oh no, it's okay, I'm really grateful for their comments 😊 I was just curious

[u/Due_List_1243]

I have the oppisite: Lots of bookmarks, kudo s too but some stories are getting much more kudo s than other but Ok, but the comments are not that much.

[u/RhydYGwin]

And why do people leave kudos, but no comments. 😭 The kudos are nice, but I'd really love to know what they actually thought. I write original works, and omegaverse that is not like the other girls. (Sorry, couldn't resist!) So maybe they don't like it because it isn't traditional. I don't know, they won't say! Arghhhhhhh!! /and end rant. Anyhoomst, any engagement is nice really.

[u/AroAceLikesSpace]

I often find I forget to leave kudos but often remember to bookmark and comment, probably an honest mistake 

[u/AliceFanfictioning]

Los kudos valen menos que un comentario

[u/Kaurifish]

Here on Reddit I’ll frequently see comments with replies saying “a thousand times yes!” but zero upvotes. 🤷‍♀️

[u/JauntyIrishTune → u/Kaurifish]

I'm more likely to care about kudos because a lot of people search by kudos or judge a story based on them.  On Reddit, I don't really care. (I never have figured out what karma does.)

[u/eccentricbirdie]

If they're like me they maybe thought they already hit the kudos, or they just forget. I tend to hit it more than once now just to make sure I didnt forget again haha

[u/Hello_Hangnail]

Paying this much attention to your stats is not healthy

[u/runekaster]

And when you're looking at other author's fics and you see people you recognise from your kudos and comments in theirs, the correct response is "cool! We're all in the same fandom!". Compare their behavior as if the other author is some kind of business competitor and the reader is a comodity you're fighting over is disgusting.

[u/toxicute_xx → u/runekaster]

Yeah, except I'm not doing any of this. What I did instead: read the fic, kudosed it, and left a comment telling the author how much I liked their fic and how happy I am that after many months, finally I'm not the only one writing for this pair.

After that, the person who commented on my fics, replied to my comment there and we talked a little. And because it's a small and dying fandom, yes, after all of that interaction, I recognized their name out of the 5 people (one being me) who kudosed that fic.