podfic feedback: how (when, why) do you do it?

[lomedet]

Amplirecathon is making me think about podfic, feedback, and me. Or, more accurately, about how much I love podfic and how that love is in no way represented by the amount of feedback (read: very, very little) I have left for podfic readers or the authors of stories I have discovered through podfic.

My process for listening to podfic goes something like this: I download a story from the archive or from a link on a podfic community. I close the download tab. I load the story on to my ipod. Then, hours or days later, I listen to the story as I'm riding on or waiting for a bus. Or maybe doing dishes or folding laundry. In any event, I listen to the story when I am far away from my computer, and even if I'm not physically so far away from my computer, I've already clicked away from or closed the page which tells me where I can leave feedback for the author or the reader. And I am lazy, so I don't usually think about going back to look for it when I have the opportunity.

I am contrasting this process with that of reading fanfic, where if I am moved by a story when I finish it, I can click a button and let the author know how I feel right then and there.

So, I want to know: what do y'all do? Have you come up with a successful strategy for leaving feedback that doesn't feel unduly labor-intensive? Have you given up on direct feedback in favor of recs? If you do go back and leave podfic feedback, does it feel strange to do so at a remove from your immediate response? Am I missing something totally obvious that will make my feedback-leaving life ten times easier?

Comments

[dodificus]

I'm always a couple of months behind on listening to podfic, although I'm catching up!

My process is as follows:

1. See a post in one of the podfic coms.
2. If it's something I want to listen to then I bookmark it in my browser under 'download'
3. When I've finished with my current podfic I go to my bookmarks and a) d/l a new podfic that's at the top of my list and b) open up the d/l page for the podfic I just listened to.
4. If I didn't hate the thing I just listened to then I'll leave feedback, which is usually just parts that I found especially funny/scary/exciting and anything that jumped to me about their reading.

This isn't a chore or difficult to me it's just something that evolved naturally and it's what I do, I don't even think about it. The upside is that most podfic I listen to gets feedback from me *after* I've listened to it and not just a generic 'downloaded!' comment.

And of course if I adored it I'll rec the shit out of it as well:)

[jesse_the_k]

Wow, you're tidy!

I make a big effort to feedback because I've learned how rarely it's done. That's one way I can contribute to the gift economy.

[lomedet]

I admire the level of organization you have evolved naturally. *g* I don't think I can replicate your exact process, mostly because I tend to download more than one podfic at a time as part of getting ready for my work week, but I like the idea of cultivating the habit of leaving feedback for the stories I've listened to before/as I'm downloading the next batch. Giving back before I take more.