Author's impact on followes when voicing controversial opinions

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The Illusionist

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Hello everyone!

I am currently in my final year of my Journalism, Media, and Cultural Studies degree at Cardiff University. One of my modules has given me the opportunity to integrate my passion for publishing into my academic work. I am carrying out a research project to analyze what impact authors have on their followers when voicing views on issues that divide society on social media platforms. This often means comments on politics and current events, so I was hoping that some of you on this thread would be willing to help me out!

A big part of my project consists of a survey, which I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete. It is very easy and short; it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to complete. All data gathered will of course also be completely confidential, will not be used for any other purpose than my academic research, and will not be passed on to any other parties.

When referring to ‘authors’ in the survey, I mean fiction authors who have already published one or more books. ‘Issues that divide society’ is meant to encompass any and all issues that generate strong opinions, ranging from abortion and gay rights to other political and social issues.

I hope you have some sympathy for this college writer and are willing to donate a little of your time. I’m interested to learn what you think about authors talking about these issues!

The survey is here: [Link Removed by AW Overlord]

My original blog post where I introduced the survey is [Link Removed by AW Overlord]here[/URL].

Thank you all so much in advance for your help!
 
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Plot Device

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Wow.

It took all of 15 seconds for me.

The very first question asked me "Do you follow an author on social media such as YouTube, FaceBook or Twitter?"

And I answered "No" because I actually only follow such authors on their own web sites. (And there are usually message forums such as this one which come attatched to their blogs. And so it is those message forums where I interact socially, not those other three --admittedly more prevalent and more universal-- networks.)

But when I answered "No," the survey kicked me out and said "Thank you." And it was all over and done with.

Oh well.
 

Romantic Heretic

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A controversial opinion nearly cost my career as a writer. Somebody I was working with took umbrage at something I posted once, and threatened to make sure my reputation personal and professional would be ruined if I continued to do so in the future. They had the power to do such a thing too.

I would have stopped writing if self publishing didn't exist. Now all I have to do is write. I don't need to worry if I'm politically correct.
 

veinglory

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So you are on a writer's site seeking people who follow authors. I guess that's not completely illogical but I was expecting it to be about the other end of things.
 

robeiae

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The only authors I actively "follow" are non-fiction ones, like Jon Krakauer and Robert Kaplan, and journalists like Krauthammer. Their opinions definitely influence me; it's why I follow them, to hear their opinions.

Authors of fiction whose works I read? Mostly, I don't care about their political views and the like, since I don't think most of them are particularly knowledgeable on the issues. Stephen King is a good example. I like his books, by and large. His op-eds are--imo--largely silly.

So if "authors" is limited to only those who write fiction, guess I can't do the survey.
 

defyalllogic

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I follow comic book authors and authors from AW.

Usually I only stop following someone if they're boring or only shamelessly self-promote. If they feel strongly and if their social media is their own not that of the brand, franchise, characters, or book.

Authors are people with thoughts and opinions about the world they live in. But if SMyers (for a hypothetical example) said, "Edward and Bella would vote for Romney because he's the candidate that believes in family values."

Then that would be weird and a bit manipulative.
 

vsrenard

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I follow other authors in the historical fiction community, many of whom I know and others who post interesting facts about the period they are writing about.
 

AW Admin

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I am carrying out a research project to analyze what impact authors have on their followers when voicing views on issues that divide society on social media platforms. This often means comments on politics and current events, so I was hoping that some of you on this thread would be willing to help me out!

1. You didn't check with the site owner before doing this.

2. You're not following standard practices for research with human subjects, including privacy protection

3. Your survey utilizes cookies in unacceptable way.

You are so not doing this here.
 
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