Author Topic: Feedback discussion in outro  (Read 4648 times)

eytanz

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on: February 25, 2007, 05:33:38 PM
I've decided to take this discussion out of the commentary for "Last Wave", where it doesn't belong, and start a thread of its own. Anyway, in that thread I said:

I really hope that instead of introducing one more week of delay between a story post and the time its feedback is discussed, that Steve just gives the feedback for both "Acid Test" and "Boy who cried Dragon" next week. A four week delay is just too much - three weeks already makes it difficult for me to remember the details of the story discussed.

to which Thaurismunths replied:


I suppose I haven't been paying attention to when feedback was and wasn't given. I thought that Steve mentioned the feedback when there was something worth mentioning. If I'm curious about other's feelings on a piece, I just read these forums.

I think the feedback is important, in and of its own, for three reasons:

A - I can always go to the forums to read the feedback itself, but I am usually in interested in hearing Steve's reaction to the feedback. It usually gives some insight into the story selection process, and occasionally makes me understand the editorial choices a lot better. I find that pretty interesting on its own.

B - More importantly, however, when I just started listening to Escape Pod, I didn't bother with the site - I got it through iTunes. I became interested in the Escape Pod community to a large extent because of Steve's discussion, and the feedback recap was a *major* part of that. After hearing about the feedback for a bit, it made me want to join in, so I did. People who are already part of the forums may not benefit directly as much from the feedback discussion, but I think it is important to the growth of the community and as such benefits us all.

C - I like reading horror stories nearly as much as I like reading SF. But I find that I listen to Escape Pod entries as soon as I can, while I let pseudopod languish on my ipod for much longer. I think I am currently four stories behind on Pseudopod, and 0 behind on Escape pod. The lack of substantive discussion in Pseudopod is one big part of that. With Escape Pod, I feel that if I don't listen soon, I'll miss out on something. With pseudopod, I don't. The bigger the delay between the story and the discussion thereof, however, the less I feel committed.

So anyway, my point is - the feedback discussion is important. Allowing it to lag too much after the story will decrease its value, and in such hurt Escape Pod. At least for the portion of the audience whose listening habits resemble mine.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2007, 05:52:40 PM by eytanz »