Random Question

[wook77]

Wook's random question -

Is there such a thing as the "Friday Night Curse*?



When I first started posting my writing, I was cautioned to avoid posting stories on Fridays because no one reads and no one comments.

Since I started with the hd_prophet as the Friday editor - I've really noticed that people have taken this to heart. I can't tell you the number of times I've asked the Saturday editor to post my recs (because a newsletter with one or two things in it isn't very handy, imho) instead and/or not had any at all.

I've never really understood the basis for this but I'm still semi-new to fandom and perhaps it's something that occurred long before I arrived.

What's really made me wonder is this: I've noticed some amazing stories with solid plot and fantastic characterisations get ignored. The only thing that I've noticed they had in common is that they were all posted on Fridays. I'm talking about het, slash, gen and femmeslash. I'm talking about stories written by n00bs, middle-timers, old-timers and BNFs. I'm talking about stories cross-posted liekwhoa and stories that are only posted one or two places.

It has me puzzled and as I've had conversations with some of my flist on this, I'm curious what the flist and fandom at large think.


What's your experience with this? Is there such a thing as the Friday Night Curse*? Do you believe in it or is it bubkiss and I'm full of it?

*Friday Night Curse is my term for the lack of postings, comments, viewings or some sort of combination of all of them

Comments

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think it's Friday AND Saturday, but you're right, more so on Friday nights.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

One of the other things that I don't get is that people don't go back to them, either.

But yeah, especially Friday night is bad. Saturday afternoon isn't too bad but Saturday night can have a drain on it as well.

We must all LJ at work then because things posted during the day during the week seem to get the most comments.

[froggie.livejournal.com]

That's usually when people have the time to go out and party/see friends/free time outside the home, so that's probably why.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

I can see that completely but, honestly, I'm confused why people don't go back and look at the postings.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

You have a link?

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I won't post fic on a Friday, or a Saturday or Sunday, for that matter. I think people are out doing stuff, generally, instead of at work or wherever in front of their computers.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

That's about what I do as well. Though, mine's more because I have dial-up at home and it takes forever to upload and post on the uber-slow dial-up.

Do you find that you don't go back and read through the weekend or do you?

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Since my husband is home on weekend, I actually have a little more time to waste on the internet then. I just try not to let myself get too far behind.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

I getcha *grins*.

I'm on for a few hours so I do my best to keep up though during the week, I'm a compulsive refresher.

[confiteor-3.livejournal.com]

It's true and doesn't work for me. Friday and the weekend is when I have the most time for LJ and then it's the time when there are less posts. :( It's also when I tend to post my fics. Hmm... Now I'm curious if I get more reviews when I post during the weekend or weekdays.

[sirryluv.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I've definitely noticed this--although it seems to me to go on through the whole weekend. I think, like others have said, it has to do with the fact that weekends give you more of a chance to socialize with friends in family in RL, so people take that chance.

I was wondering if I was the only who noticed this too, actually. ;)

[giddy-london.livejournal.com]

yep, things definitely slow down on a friday night, right on through saturday, i think. usually things seem to pick back up again on sunday evenings, at least on my flist. sad, really. i can't be the only one around every day off and on, depending what's going on, surely?

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I have heard people talk about this a lot (and as a few people in comments here have said, extending it to the whole weekend), but I've not really observed it myself. Sometimes I think, oh I should post on such and such day because I've heard it's the best, but I never remember when actually posting... I've heard it's bad to post in the middle of the night, too, but in the middle of the night for whom? If my flist were more homogenous in terms of location, I guess that would make sense, but I have a pretty broad spread covering time zones from my own (US Pacific) all the way around the globe to Hawaii, so there's always someone up and reading.

Like you, I have always been really confused as to why this should make a difference, though. Even if people are out hanging with friends instead of surfing the web, don't they check their flists when they get back online? Maybe a lot of people have a sort of um, whatsit. Impulse clicking. Like how grocery stores set out displays so you'll walk by and go "ooh, I didn't know I wanted that!" If you're checking your flist when you're not busy/there aren't a lot of posts to catch up on, maybe you're more likely to click on fic or meta or whatever and read it, whereas if you have skip=zomgtoomany because you've been out being social, you just skip past a lot of things unless it's something you're really, really keen on?

It's not how I work. I always open tabs for stuff, regardless of how many pages I have to go back in reading my flist. But I guess some people do, cause it's the only thing that makes sense to me.