The reason I ask this as I have picked up several anonymous 444 or better votes on a few of my songs recently( not that I am complaining about that ). I know that a 111 almost never gets a real name left behind, though I have seen maybe 6 real authors names in over 1000+ parodies reviewed who left a written 111 vote down.

Why is it embarrassing to leave a name when you vote 444+? You don't have to leave your written vote but I always leave the comments box checked so I can get feedback on my parodies.

I have voted a 312 before and left my real name and written vote and that author did not get upset about it.

Is it just preference or what? Do you fear some kind of retaliation from that author if you leave a less than 555 vote that they will start slamming your work? And if you do 555 it why not leave a name ( even a pseudonym ) saying what you liked about it?

I almost always leave my written vote down with my name and a comment that relates to the parody ( even if isn't politically correct-the parody ).

PS- Obviously I have a few friends who know my real name and that I write parodies on www.amiright.com However I have already asked them about this and they said they didn't vote.

Opinions or preferences?

The reason I ask this as I have picked up several anonymous 444 or better votes on a few of my songs recently( not that I am complaining about that ). I know that a 111 almost never gets a real name left behind, though I have seen maybe 6 real authors names in over 1000+ parodies reviewed who left a written 111 vote down.

Why is it embarrassing to leave a name when you vote 444+? You don't have to leave your written vote but I always leave the comments box checked so I can get feedback on my parodies.

I have voted a 312 before and left my real name and written vote and that author did not get upset about it.

Is it just preference or what? Do you fear some kind of retaliation from that author if you leave a less than 555 vote that they will start slamming your work? And if you do 555 it why not leave a name ( even a pseudonym ) saying what you liked about it?

I almost always leave my written vote down with my name and a comment that relates to the parody ( even if isn't politically correct-the parody ).

PS- Obviously I have a few friends who know my real name and that I write parodies on www.amiright.com However I have already asked them about this and they said they didn't vote.

Opinions or preferences?


a.  Laziness
b.  Decide they have nothing to say beyond the vote, so they don't type "good job" when they leave their 5-5-5
c.  To make you angry  :)

I think most of the authors who vote probably leave comments.

In recent weeks, I have felt compelled to rate low some parodies because I disagreed on their quality against majority opinion (what they specifically were, I wouldn't tell you now, and I can't even remember which ones they were anyway). To avoid a backlash, I chicken out leaving a name under those circumstances.

Other times, I can't think of anything remotely clever to say as a comment, or I am in a hurry.

a.  Laziness
b.  Decide they have nothing to say beyond the vote, so they don't type "good job" when they leave their 5-5-5
c.  To make you angry  :)

I think most of the authors who vote probably leave comments.


a and b are the same to me . c doesn't make me angry, just curious.
The last line I believe is true.

In recent weeks, I have felt compelled to rate low some parodies because I disagreed on their quality against majority opinion (what they specifically were, I wouldn't tell you now, and I can't even remember which ones they were anyway). To avoid a backlash, I chicken out leaving a name under those circumstances.

Other times, I can't think of anything remotely clever to say as a comment, or I am in a hurry.


Well, I do not know what you personally consider low. As far I go, low is less than a 4 on pacing and an unbalanced overall. Everyone has a different sense of humor. I have received some 512s and other odd votes but no comments. I HAVE ruined a few strings of perfect 555s on humor which may get a 4 or 3 from me ( such as a 545 or 535 ). I can understand about avoiding a backlash though.

As far as clever goes, you are smarter than that Agrimorfee. You have commented on a few of my parodies and left me baffled.

Also I understand you cannot type out 10-30 personalized replies to every parody every day.

From MooRocca: All numbers are from her, the A: part is my response.

I don't know if any of the ratings you're talking about came from me, but I do a LOT more rating than I do commenting.  It's not the least bit embarassing to leave a comment, but I do have several other reasons:

A: I wouldn't know if you voted and left no comment as I do not have any type of software to track such a thing

1.  I have "shy days" when I don't feel like talking -- out loud or in text -- to anyone outside of my immediate family and don't, unless I have to because it's part of my job or an emergency. 

1A: Understandable

2.  If I say things like "nice job" too much, they lose all meaning...

2A: True.

3.  Sometimes no comment pops into my head.

3A: Understandable

4.  Sometimes the numbers say it without my having to spell it out, too... especially true with high ratings.

4A: This is a sticking point with me. If I have say 20 444+ and only 6 comments, it will look like vote inflation. I'd almost rather get 20 comments and 6 votes.

5.  Sometimes what I would have wanted to say has already been said better by someone else... or a lot of someone elses. 

5A: True

6.  Sometimes I just don't feel like announcing that I'm reading parodies or which order I'm reading them in or even which ones I liked most.   

6A: Understandable enough

7.  The more time I spend commenting, the fewer parodies I'll get to read before I run out of time or my eyes tire and the page goes blurry... I can't make out the words from the shapes of the blurs in time to the beat of the original song, so when my eyes wear out, I'm done reading parodies  -- and it's the reading I enjoy so much.

7A: Limited time is a good reason. Reading them is good always.

8.  I also seem to have a bad habit of typing comments, then instead of hitting "submit," hitting the back button and moving on to the next parody.  So, I'll think I've commented, when I haven't.   I'm up and down, up and down, never just parked here, so I almost never do anything in one sitting and I lose track of whether I've submitted or not.  I do the same thing over here. 

8A: I have done this a few times. I have also noticed a few people will leave a written down vote but not a recorded one. Doesn't matter to me reallly as I know what that person thought of my parody

9.  I use a so-called "indestructible" jelly board, instead of a regular keyboard because I type so much at such a high rate of speed that I was wearing out several regular keyboards/year.  (I wore the letters off this one the first week I had it) The drawback to this keyboard is that it's flat and typing on it is like playing basketball with the "medicine ball."  My hands can get very sore after awhile, so sometimes I don't leave comments just because I've already done a lot of other typing and I know there's other typing yet, that I want or have to do before the day ends, and I'm either conserving my hands or letting them heal up. 

9A: I fingertype at about a whopping 30 words a minute,but have hand problems as well. If you type that fast either:

A: Enter into the Guiness records or
B: Stop taking stimulants ( just kidding )

10.  If I'm hitting a back catalog I'm relishing every parody of, I prefer to be an anonymous benefactor... I know it always feels nice when I see I've gotten a bunch of brand new, decent ratings spread out over my own catalog, from an anonymous fan who enjoyed something of mine enough to go read more of my stuff.   :) 

10A: Understandable but again I like the comments to get feedback. Some songs I parody I only have downloaded lyrics to work with which can sometimes be very poor/inaccurate, though I usually state in the foreword that the parody was made from lyrics or that lyrics from websites will make my parody look bad as there are many mistakes.


As for retaliation if I left a number someone didn't like... what are they going to do, type something mean at me?  OooOOOoooOOh... I'm trembling in my boots.   :D   If something's not worth a fairly decent rating, I usually stop reading before I finish enough of it to bother rating.  ----

Well, unless you leave your name I don't see how they can do anything at all to you. It's a chance I take when I vote against the " norm " of votes for that parody. I usually explain why I docked you a point on whatever. Just a day or so ago I ruined a streak of 9 555s with a 545 because I didn't find it hilarious. I have seen one parody that dissed another amirighter's band and they gave a written and recorded vote of 511. The author didn't hold it against them.

I do rate all the songs I know( and even a few I do not ) regardless of topic or author.I do look at EVERY song every day. I do not vote on songs hardly ever without comments enabled because if they can't take the good or bad then they have just wasted my time ( exceptions like William Tong are understandable though ). If it is not good I will let you know why ( not that you/they may care ). If it is good I will let you know why. I also try to put my comment into the "feel" of the parody.Some people leave brief comments and some go into detail. If I know that parodist I will try to follow their pattern of comments so my words are not wasted.

Atleast you aren't one of the ones who see a topic or author on scroll past the parody to 111 a person.

Thank you MooRocca for such a comprehensive response and going into detail about this issue. You cleared up alot for me. :) :) :)

Hey, don't worry about it looking like vote inflation.  You can't track IPs, but Chucky can and does.  If someone thinks a parody looks fishy, they say something, he checks and lets us know if there was or wasn't anything amiss. 

You know, it dawned on me awhile after I sent my reply that it could also be people from outside who read it and rated it, but didn't notice they could also leave comments.  Like the opposite of the drive-by "one"ings that cruise through the joint.  If someone from outside likes one enough, it stands to reason they might e-mail their friends about it and bring in a few more ratings from outside, so you might even pick up a handful at once, that way.  Or I may be wishful thinking, again.  :)




 

As for retaliation if I left a number someone didn't like... what are they going to do, type something mean at me?  OooOOOoooOOh... I'm trembling in my boots.   :D   

I'm somewhat confident that this has happened to me, but with a retaliation of low ratings on one of my parodies and not a mean comment.

Sometimes I just can't manage to think of a witty or original comment, and though I've certainly left my share of 'good job!' and 'great stuff!' comments, there are times when I'd rather shoot myself than leave another meaningless comment, just for the sake of saying something.

Usually, if I hate a parody, I'll just vote but leave no comment, because what's the point?  There are enough meaningless flame wars going around.

Yes, I kinda dislike a short two or three word comment like " Good Job " but that IS better than nothing to me. It atleast showed me who read my/your parody.

Here are 3 of the shorter but relavent-to-the parody comments I have made recently ( unedited, copied and pasted ):

I'll keep it short: LOL and 5's. :)
5's. Way to turn a sappy OS into a stinky parody. :)
10 Almond Joys, plus 5 more in hiding for a snack later.

Not too hard. The smileys were not added by me just translated from the colon/right parenthese

Usually, if I hate a parody, I'll just vote but leave no comment, because what's the point? There are enough meaningless flame wars going around.



Leo, I do not hate ANY parody or parodist, though I dislike some of the parodies I read.

Flame wars are for the immature ( which is almost nobody here that I know of ). Yes, I have participated in a few of them but they were short and AFAIK they have all been resolved. Nobody is perfect and AFAIK nobody has held my comments and written votes against me.

Thank you for your post on this thread.

BTW, I'd never 'hate' a parody just because I thought it wasn't skillfully done.  Everyone has different skill levels, so I wouldn't hold that against someone.  I usually only hate them if they seem really, reallly carelessly thrown together and/or if they're inexcusably mean-spirited.

I get a bit nervous when we start to "create" rules for something so creative.  If I don't like the work or don't think it's any good, I don't vote.  There are some writers who consistently pump out good material - I'll vote without comment if the current work is on par with their past performances; I'll vote with comment if there is a particular good line or if the parody is above and beyond their own bar.  For these same writers, I'll leave constructive criticism (if warranted, but who the hell am I to be telling some of these people how to write).
A good writer will know when they've hit on something - it doesn't take me or anyone else to point this out. 
bob

I get a bit nervous when we start to "create" rules for something so creative.

I am not trying in any means to create, make or enforce a rule on commenting.
If I don't like the work or don't think it's any good, I don't vote.

If I know the original song I always vote it. However I respect that as I would rather someone like yourself skip a parody entirely than 111 it.
There are some writers who consistently pump out good material - I'll vote without comment if the current work is on par with their past performances; I'll vote with comment if there is a particular good line or if the parody is above and beyond their own bar. For these same writers, I'll leave constructive criticism (if warranted, but who the hell am I to be telling some of these people how to write).



Yes, there are several writers who pump out consistently good work. RARELY though will I not leave a short comment on the parody. About the only times I do not is on political parodies as I do not want to get into a debate on whatever with someone else.

Leaving contructive critisicism has been mostly for newer authors such as myself. On one I have voted a 455 but explained the point dock on pacing.

I appreciate the construcive criticism especially from the more experienced parodists on why my parody could use improvement. It has helped quite a bit personally.

A good writer will know when they've hit on something - it doesn't take me or anyone else to point this out.
bob


True, but without comments to back that up somewhat the votes themselves are not as meaniful ( to me ) which is why I suspect nearly every well known parodist enables comments.

Thank you bobbypags for posting on this.

Red:
Obviously, you are a writer who can take and even enjoys constructive criticism (as I do, by the way).  I generally won't vote 111 - instead of trashing a parody, I just won't vote.  Just because I don't like something, doesn't mean that it isn't good.  And, the last thing I want to do is discourage people from the creative process.  Again, who the hell am I to tell someone how to write, or be funny or be creative?  I know that when I submit that I'm trying to do different things with different parodies - (which is also why I'll submit under other names) - perhaps I'm trying to solicit a negative response from a certain group or maybe I'm trying to find a common denomenator that will appeal to everyone.  So I agree with you regarding the value of the comments.  I think, however, that there are times when we put too much emphasis in votes or ratings.  My advice is to cherish the comments and criticism that you get from those who you respect as writers.
Later.
bob