Idea for a Discord bot: track fanfiction links
Uncategorized
5
Posts
2
Posters
9
Views
-
Hey, I’ve been kicking around an idea for a bot: it would look for fanfiction links shared in a server and keep track of which ones get shared the most.
The concept:
- Track sites like AO3, FanFiction.net, ScribbleHub, etc.
- Count how often each link gets posted
- Commands to see the “top” links or which domains are tracked
It’s just a rough idea, I haven’t built it yet. Curious if anyone thinks this would actually be useful or has tips for implementing it without overcomplicating things.
-
Hey, I’ve been kicking around an idea for a bot: it would look for fanfiction links shared in a server and keep track of which ones get shared the most.
The concept:
- Track sites like AO3, FanFiction.net, ScribbleHub, etc.
- Count how often each link gets posted
- Commands to see the “top” links or which domains are tracked
It’s just a rough idea, I haven’t built it yet. Curious if anyone thinks this would actually be useful or has tips for implementing it without overcomplicating things.
What's the point of even tracking "most linked"? It's incredibly easy to game and leads to dark incentives in a world where authors are already worried about lack of readership / engagement.
-
What's the point of even tracking "most linked"? It's incredibly easy to game and leads to dark incentives in a world where authors are already worried about lack of readership / engagement.
It's to get an idea at a glance of the most popular fics within a Discord server.
-
It's to get an idea at a glance of the most popular fics within a Discord server.
Hmmm I understand the want, but we are in 2025 and metrics collection just hits different. If your community is patently OK with it, give it a go. You migth have to fine-tune the system so as to avoid enticing dark patterns of behaviour, and you might need data beyond simply the links to fine-tune this with.
Two points I can recommend to keep an eye on:
1.- Fics can be linked to for reasons other than recommendation or popularity: trope discussion; topical discussion on subjects discussed in or around the work, link-correction, notice of new activity, etc. Most of those cases don't even really count as "popularity" (aka Fake Internet Points).
2.- Mechanically you'd have to tussle with details such as syndication (a story can be published to multiple targets, but links to those targets don't necessarily mean the same), as well as the statistical unfairness of flat links towards oneshots compared to multichapters and logfics, which might disincentive oneshot writers or irregular writers from engaging with your community (see: dark incentives).
-
Hmmm I understand the want, but we are in 2025 and metrics collection just hits different. If your community is patently OK with it, give it a go. You migth have to fine-tune the system so as to avoid enticing dark patterns of behaviour, and you might need data beyond simply the links to fine-tune this with.
Two points I can recommend to keep an eye on:
1.- Fics can be linked to for reasons other than recommendation or popularity: trope discussion; topical discussion on subjects discussed in or around the work, link-correction, notice of new activity, etc. Most of those cases don't even really count as "popularity" (aka Fake Internet Points).
2.- Mechanically you'd have to tussle with details such as syndication (a story can be published to multiple targets, but links to those targets don't necessarily mean the same), as well as the statistical unfairness of flat links towards oneshots compared to multichapters and logfics, which might disincentive oneshot writers or irregular writers from engaging with your community (see: dark incentives).
I should have mentioned this earlier, but when I realized that hosting the bot on a server was required instead of just running a script locally, I dismissed the idea altogether.
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
-
@shalf @brucelawson *shakes fist at WordPress*
/cc @pfefferle have we figured how how/why this happens yet?
-
@brucelawson @andypiper Similar here.
-
@andypiper snow in your server?
-
@eastmad 😜
-
Unloading some ideas, into a post about hope and joy.
-
Tutto Woody Allen: l'enciclopedia che toglie gli occhiali al mito
«...Allen non è un autore che si capisce “in linea retta”. È un sistema di ossessioni, rimandi, falsi ricordi, maschere coerenti...»
-
@kellan nice!
