The idea of a best feedback giver makes me uneasy because of the potential for people feeling left out. For some people, they have a ton of time to leave thoughtful, detailed feedback. For others, they might only have time for a few nice words before heading off to work, before the kids draw on the walls, etc. It kind of feels biased against people who don't have a lot of time on their hands after reading to write several paragraphs worth of feedback. Also, would it matter if the feedback was on an eligible story versus left on a 15 year old story? What about feedback that is directly emailed or PMed to the writer? How would the rest of us be able to judge that?
You bring up a good point about feedback, but this category isn’t so much about who has the longest and most detailed, thoughtful feedback—it’s not about the art and craft of the feedback itself. It’s about the intent and engagement. We do so much to celebrate the authors of this fandom because fanfic is really the lifeblood of FoLCdom, so it’s definitely deserved. But without readers and feedback, as we all know, the desire and reward in writing for authors decreases. ALL feedback is valuable, whether long or short or analytical or simple reactions.
For me personally, if someone just wants to comment on all my stories and ONLY say “Awww” or “Gahh! Loved it!”—literally just a few words, but they always take just that extra minute after reading to let me know? To me, that would be a contender for best commenter just as much as someone leaving insightful comments or really detailed feedback!!
So yeah, while it is a more subjective category than others, and not all feedback is public, it’s more about nominating and honoring those FoLCs who contribute to the fandom by way of feeding and encouraging the authors—can’t keep the lifeblood of the fandom alive without feedback! In the few years that I was involved in the altKerth committee, I remember this being one of the most popular categories and can’t recall any complaints of favoritism or anything. Again, it’s not that the feedback itself is getting judged and awarded a prize—it’s the FoLC and their efforts to engage in the backbone of our community!.
Sara
