Vocal Creator Chat: 6/27/23

Just a note to Vocal Staff... My story was shortlisted for the first fiction challenge and I don't have a badge on my profile. I was wondering if we could have our top 3 achievements as badges on our profiles, just like the top story badge on the stories?! Love this badge though, it's a wonderful touch! <3

HAve these stopped now?

This is wonderful! A note to Vocal staff, I just noticed about the Top Story badge: on your profile, it supersedes any Challenge banners. So if a work placed in a challenge and got top story as well, it will have the top story banner instead of the challenge banner on the profile thumbnail. It would be great in the future if both could be displayed on the thumbnail or if the challenge banner (which is a bigger accolade) could be displayed instead. Thank you for your consideration! :) <3

It would be good to see a challenge around scientific developments or revelations. The challenge could be based on people having to write about something that they feel will change the world. Will be a great way to get people to really research into what they are writing and it will provide some fantastic educational content that people can engage with. Also, please scrap Stripe, it is so horrible. I even remember emailing you years ago when I signed up to see if you had any other method and you said you were working on it.... how is that going? Haha. The only other thing I would suggest, is sorting out the app so that I can write and edit my stories on the go without having to access it through the general web browser.

Interesting post

Is there any thought to branching out to PayPal for payouts as I'm having tremendous problems with Stripe?

I'm so darn late this week. Oh well, it's worth a post anyway, right? As I mentioned last week, I think the following additions would be super beneficial for Vocal Creators: 1. Direct Message for creators. I'd love to be able to ask creators questions without it being a public comment, and be able to have a back and forth in real time, compared to the inconsistency of comments and the issues that could exist there (more below). 2. Fix notifications so we can keep a comment thread going. Notifications only notify the author of a story and the OG commenter, not people who join a thread. It would be great to be able to have longer threads of discussion between more than 2 people and get notified when someone posts. Discord seems to not be the place for that sort of thing, at least not currently (maybe that will change). 3. Issues with the app. I use the app a lot, and there are enough problems with it, that I've switched to just going online on my phone instead. I like the notifications I get through it, but I can't edit my stories there, I can't search for anything (only browse), there's no way to copy/paste (unlike on a PC), and I can't view the story I'm commenting on because the comments are in a different screen. 4. Filtering stories better on our own profiles. I'd love to be able to filter/arrange my story feed by who I'm subscribed to. It would also be great to filter my own stories by community or date posted or date updated, even to make playlists if I write a series. I think many creators would appreciate a grouping function for their profiles, so readers can more easily find a series they're enjoying. 5. Bookmarking stories we want to read later. I like the way "liked stories" allows me to read a story again later; it's like the history section of my profile. Liking a story implies you've read it; bookmarking wouldn't need to notify the creator at all, and you could read it at your leisure without losing it in your feed. I know I wish for this every time I see a longer story I want to dedicate time to, or if I'm working and a TS comes up that I want to read later. 6. History tab. Finally, I just want to express confusion over what TS actually means and represents. Like, is it a reflection of quality writing or more like a showcase of trending topics? Or, is it mostly a favorites game? It seems like there's a mixture. But some of the patterns I've noticed make it seem like we could learn tricks to game the system. This isn't to say that I don't appreciate receiving TS, or that I look down on anyone who has; quite the reverse. I'd simply appreciate more transparency regarding the process for choosing TS, as I believe it would help creators see it as a goal to strive for or a reward for good writing, rather than feeling like it's a crapshoot OR a rigged game.

Thanks Vocal for the Top Story Badges! It’s an awesome touch to the platform.

Great post!

Also my Insights inconsistently glitch. Now more so than ever. I’m not sure if that is an experienced by others but I will be writing to Vocal+ support in relation to this. Pauline 🌸

It is great to include this opportunity to contribute to ideas on improving Vocal+ based on Members. As we publish and read. I understand because the unique URL and title, this could be the problem, but it would enhance my writing experience if I could make changes to the subtitle. Even if just to change to Title case. Or to add an image caption if forgotten prior to submission. Change the image or video in this inaccessible area to the creator. I understand of course changes are made by the support team at Vocal+. Thank you for including the ‘Top Story’ when it has been received. I read this as a previous request. Thank you for actioning so quickly. Pauline 🌸

Intrestinmg post

This is awesome. Thanks heaps vocal!

Hello everyone! What are your plans to ensure that Vocal retains regular readers? Right now, it only caters to creators. As I mentioned several times, we shouldn't have to do all the work to bring you new readers, especially when the tools are not there to allow us to keep them coming.

Hey everyone! I’m loving the new Top Story badge too (thank you, Vocal!!) but I’ve noticed that it has replaced my challenge win badges on a couple of stories. Is there any way we can have both badges visible, when a story has been both TS and won or placed in a challenge?

What are the most common ways that people use to promote their stories/poems/articles that gives them the best ROI? Reads-for-read-backs are not the way to go about it. It's costly and not time effective. Vocal, how do You grow Your audience, and how would You want Your creators to grow their audience? On most platforms there's a huge difference between the creators vs the consumers. It's obvious that this platform has a lot of creators, but simple tactics can You teach to provide creators to bring in more readers/consumers?

Like everyone else, I like the Top Story badge. What I love even more, is the increase of true and relational comments on our stories. Don't get me wrong, I like the clicking of the likes, but I am moved at some of the heartfelt, detailed and "let me tell you how special you are" messages I have seen on our stories. You people rock. Your stories move and motivate, and you have dug deep to make a girl feel loved. Hope you are feeling it too!!

That is awesome!! Are the badges being added to old top stories?

I was pleasantly surprised to see a star and badge beautifully emblazoned across Top Stories. Wonderful, they finally got honorable mentions, sitting alongside the big high rollers. Fo shizzle, my nizzle.

This is an awkward question, but if we note that a contributor is consistently showing hallmark signs of being or using AI, what is the process for reporting or suggesting further investigation? It makes me uncomfortable to question whether a creator is a human.. but I am also profoundly unsettled with the possibility that I am interacting with a bot masquerading as human.

Aw crap. Late to the party as always. Damn my vampire schedule! And Okay, Vocal. I see you. 👀👀“Every time I think I’m out you pull me back in!” Love the badge! Been wanting that feature since I joined. Three wishes right? For my next wish… Just kidding. Beautifully done, though, Vocal team! The badges are a fantastic addition and show y’all are really listening! 👏🏻👏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 A couple thoughts for future changes: 1. Smaller challenges for less or even no money. Bragging rights or something. 2. The “creators we’re loving” … any chance to make that a rotation of actually curated creators? 3. Is Blind Judging on the roadmap? This is something that I think would really elevate the platform and the faith in it by the creators.

I second C. H. Richard. I am absolutely loving seeing the Top Story badges! It helps me as a creator easily identify and keep track of this acheivement. And it also helps as a reference point for those visiting our stories note that our work was/is recognized for specific aspects like quality, popularity, trends and so on.

Sorry for being so late, I would like to see if how far an individual story made in the challenge by maybe what step it was cut. Also I could other be some kind of feedback from the judges not even long on some stories. It not even have to happen all the time.

Love the top story badges. Going forward, are they plans to do scheduled publishings? I've had a story caught in review for fourteen hours, and I had waited to publish it to try and keep a regular schedule.

Looks like a lot of people are saying it already but I think excellent improvements deserve all the praise. Love the Top Story badges! I like how it looks on the story and the preview on the image before clicking on it. Really well done!