So the popularity thing is going to be something that's very hard to settle, but here's a few more of my thoughts on the matter:
a) if a fic has loads of SPaG issues and problems of that sort, then I really can't find it in myself to care very much if it gets counted in these stats. Basically, if an author can't be bothered to run a basic spell check, then I'm not going to make the effort of entering its data into my database. Entering data takes time. I'm willing to do it even for fics I haven't read - and even for fics I've read but not liked - because I like charts and tables and stats, but there has to be some baseline of *objective* quality, even if it's low. Not all data is created equal, in my opinion :)
b) the content issue is more interesting, but also extremely difficult to assess, if it's even possible at all. I just know that from my viewpoint, content varies widely among even popular fics. There are people who like mpreg, and people who don't, people who love poetic, dream-like writing styles and people who don't, people who like experimental styles like non-linear storytelling and those that don't, etc. etc. If there's actually something that somehow bonds all HD readers together in a collective mutual opinion of "we don't like that!" then maybe those fics don't need to be counted, you know?
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a) if a fic has loads of SPaG issues and problems of that sort, then I really can't find it in myself to care very much if it gets counted in these stats. Basically, if an author can't be bothered to run a basic spell check, then I'm not going to make the effort of entering its data into my database. Entering data takes time. I'm willing to do it even for fics I haven't read - and even for fics I've read but not liked - because I like charts and tables and stats, but there has to be some baseline of *objective* quality, even if it's low. Not all data is created equal, in my opinion :)
b) the content issue is more interesting, but also extremely difficult to assess, if it's even possible at all. I just know that from my viewpoint, content varies widely among even popular fics. There are people who like mpreg, and people who don't, people who love poetic, dream-like writing styles and people who don't, people who like experimental styles like non-linear storytelling and those that don't, etc. etc. If there's actually something that somehow bonds all HD readers together in a collective mutual opinion of "we don't like that!" then maybe those fics don't need to be counted, you know?