History Main / DontLikeDontRead

* Platform/YouTube is a funny animal, as it's known for its nonsensical and vitriolic comment sections. A common reaction to negative comments is "don't like, don't watch". This wouldn't be particularly valid if the video is so short that the viewer doesn't have much of a chance to ''stop'' watching before realizing he didn't like it, or if the viewer is expected to trawl the comment section to see if anyone mentioned that the video contained something he didn't like. It's more valid for complaints that "Artist X sucks!", because you probably did know beforehand that this was an Artist X video, or for complaints about spoilers if the video is tagged as such. Some reviewers will even start videos with a "don't like, don't watch" warning if they're about to criticize something [[HePannedItNowHeSucks people generally like]].

* Platform/{{Newgrounds}} has its share of {{Hatedumb}} fans who go around looking for videos in a genre they don't like and complaining basically about their existence. It's particularly common with the site's many {{hentai}} videos, or for parodies of works [[HePannedItNowHeSucks the haters were fans of]].

* Greg Farshtey, writer of Franchise/{{LEGO}}'s now canceled ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' line, has offered this suggestion on the Website/BZPower forums regarding his online serials that have gotten mixed reviews.

However, this line is also prone to InsultBackfire, as if an author tells their potential audience not to interact with their work, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome they may just do exactly that]], and a significant enough loss of audience may cause the author's work to suffer financial failure. Authors working on adaptations of popular works or inheriting long running franchises are the most vulnerable to this type of outcome if they push away the main demographic that traditionally supports those works.

* Website/{{Newgrounds}} has its share of {{Hatedumb}} fans who go around looking for videos in a genre they don't like and complaining basically about their existence. It's particularly common with the site's many {{hentai}} videos, or for parodies of works [[HePannedItNowHeSucks the haters were fans of]].

The trope is most commonly used by FanFic authors who CantTakeCriticism and try to silence critics with this line (as part of a trifecta with LetsSeeYouDoBetter and YoureJustJealous). When "don't like, don't read" is used this way, the problem is immediately obvious: how is the audience supposed to know they don't like it if they haven't read it? The alternative would presumably be for the critic to not read the work and [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch complain about it anyway]]. It's also often seen in comment sections on places like Website/YouTube, where the work may be so short that by the time the viewer decides they didn't like it, it's already over.

** Website/FanfictionDotNet and sites like it will indicate every [[{{Shipping}} romantic pairing]] in the fic before it starts, warning fans not to read it if they don't like what they see (which, since this is fanfic, can range from HoYay to {{Foe Yay|Shipping}} to {{Incest|YayShipping}} to just not a FanPreferredCouple), especially in fandoms where ShipToShipCombat is rampant.
** Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn supplements this with an elaborate {{Content Warning|s}} system that requires writers to warn readers of pretty much anything. They can warn of certain pairings or focus on certain characters. They can warn of certain objectionable plot points (''e.g.'' [[ViolenceIsDisturbing graphic violence]], [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]], [[KilledOffForReal major character death]], or [[HormoneAddledTeenager any sexual relationship involving minors]]), and other sensitive tropes like [[MurderArsonAndJaywalking racism, depression, or not being beta-read]]. They can list any plot elements the readers might not like, which leads some short fics to have tags so extensive that they basically summarise the fic in its entirety. They can even use a tag saying they won't tag anything ''specific'' for various reasons (like not wanting to spoil the story), basically meaning "read at your own risk", occasionally summed up {{memetic|Mutation}}ally with the phrase "[[Series/ArrestedDevelopment Dead Dove, Do Not Eat]]"[[note]]to which the standard response is, "I don't know what I expected."[[/note]]

* Website/YouTube is a funny animal, as it's known for its nonsensical and vitriolic comment sections. A common reaction to negative comments is "don't like, don't watch". This wouldn't be particularly valid if the video is so short that the viewer doesn't have much of a chance to ''stop'' watching before realizing he didn't like it, or if the viewer is expected to trawl the comment section to see if anyone mentioned that the video contained something he didn't like. It's more valid for complaints that "Artist X sucks!", because you probably did know beforehand that this was an Artist X video, or for complaints about spoilers if the video is tagged as such. Some reviewers will even start videos with a "don't like, don't watch" warning if they're about to criticize something [[HePannedItNowHeSucks people generally like]].

* Many ''Website/GoAnimate'' videos will have videos or descriptions proclaiming that one should "respect [their] opinions", essentially saying that those who complain about their videos are "baby show lovers".

A reader doesn't necessarily have to enjoy everything they read. They might be able to provide ConstructiveCriticism in an effort to allow the author to improve their work in the future. They might be a professional critic who doesn't have a ''choice'' in what they read or watch; no good critic is going to limit their reviews to things they think they will enjoy. They might have saw the summary, thought it had potential, and then read through it and ended up disappointed because [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot it didn’t match up to expectation.]] They might have been recommended by others about it and felt HypeBacklash. They might even be seeking out things that they don't like, because that allows them to build a persona as a CausticCritic. Or they might actually like it, but only because it's SoBadItsGood. "Don't like, don't read" is thus not a particularly useful criticism here.

* Cori Falls has these disclaimers in the form of long-winded rants on both her ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' and ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' pages.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' fans tend to use this excuse when dealing with the series' {{Hatedom}}. It never works, as the hatedom is particularly focused on studying the series because they believe it promotes dangerous ideals such as StalkingIsLove; they're working very hard to try and turn fans against the series. That, and they also keep hearing that they can't criticize it unless they've read it.
* Website/AntiShurtugal, a now-defunct [[{{Hatedom}} anti-fansite]] for ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', was founded reportedly because certain individuals received this (and the [[LetsSeeYOUDoBetter other]] [[YoureJustJealous two]] StockPhrases in the Holy Trinity along with forum bans and [[DisproportionateRetribution death threats]]) every time they'd post something critical on an ''Inheritance'' fansite. Its SpiritualSuccessor, Impishidea, received a number of ugly comments along the lines of this trope when it was critical of ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' or ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. It also accidentally attracted the author of ''Bitterwood''.

* Dana of [[http://reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com/ Reasoning With Vampires]], a blog criticizing the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' books, often hears this from irritated fans who read her blog. She says it right back.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has a weird case regarding the cash shop, where every item is a CosmeticAward with no effect on gameplay. It's completely optional to use the cash shop anyway, so players who complain about this are told "don't like, don't buy". Some complainers will shoot back that Creator/SquareEnix is milking players for money and priming them for BribingYourWayToVictory -- ''i.e.'', suggesting the developers are secretly planning to sell ''real'' power, so no one should have access to cosmetic items.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has issues with players who don't like a certain play style or technique and demand that Notch overhaul the entire game's mechanics to fit their tastes. The response "don't like, don't play" is very apt here, because they don't have to worry about this at all in single-player, and you're free to [[StartMyOwn set up a multiplayer server]] with HouseRules disallowing that particular technique or play style (especially because it's considered bad form to destroy other people's creations). Sometimes it stops there, but if the complainer is feeling particularly ornery, they'll demand that ''everyone else'' form their own server.

* Used InUniverse in ''LightNovel/BookGirl'', an animated short based on a series of light novels about a girl who literally eats books, and a boy whom she makes write books for her. She complains about the AssPull ending of one of the stories, leading him to reply, "Hey, if you don't like it, don't eat it."

** Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn supplements this with an elaborate {{Content Warning|s}} system that requires writers to warn readers of pretty much anything. They can warn of certain pairings or focus on certain characters. They can warn of certain objectionable plot points (''e.g.'' [[ViolenceIsDisturbing graphic violence]], [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]], [[KilledOffForReal major character death]], or [[HormoneAddledTeenager any sexual relationship involving minors]]). They can list any plot elements the readers might not like, which leads some short fics to have tags so extensive that they basically summarise the fic in its entirety. They can even use a tag saying they won't tag anything ''specific'', basically meaning "read at your own risk", occasionally summed up {{memetic|Mutation}}ally with the phrase "[[Series/ArrestedDevelopment Dead Dove, Do Not Eat]]"[[note]]to which the standard response is, "I don't know what I expected."[[/note]]

* Video game fans tend to complain about optional DownloadableContent, to which they're told just not to buy it if they don't like it. That would work if that were the sole problem, but the content is also taking up space on the disk that could be used to make the game they ''do'' like better. In other cases, they're not complaining about the content itself, but the fact that they have to pay for it when it should have been part of the game all along (a particular issue with Creator/{{Atlus}} games), meaning that even if you didn't buy it, you're left feeling like the game is incomplete.

* Given the amount of vitriol the ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' season he directed got, along with how the follow-ups based on that were not being welcomed [[TaintedByThePreview based on a trailer alone]], Torrian Crawford [[DearNegativeReader lashed out the fanbase]] [[https://twitter.com/AnimatedTorrii/status/1414719976649408512 with "Stop watching the fucking show."]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/RedvsBlue/comments/ojbhyh/torrians_comment_regarding_the_red_vs_blue_fanbase/ The fandom didn't take it kindly.]] However, this is arguably not an example of the trope; in context, Torrian's comment was explicitly targeting toxic harassment levelled at creators and saying that ''open vitriol on cast and crew members' personal accounts,'' not general fan criticism in appropriate venues, should be cut from the community.

Which brings us to another legitimate reason to use the line: to deal with FanDumb. Some fans like to see very specific things happen -- ''e.g.'' a specific {{Ship|ping}}, a happy ending, a focus on a particular character -- and when they don't see it, they fly off the handle. Still others, and even many critics, simply ''don't like'' the common tropes of certain genres, like high fantasy or sci-fi, and complain about the presence of things like soft magic systems, benevolent monarchs, faster-than-light travel, etc that are simply ''staples of that genre'' rather than actual cliches. In such situations, the only thing to tell a reader really ''is'' "don't like, don't read", because criticism of the work along these lines doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the writing. Some fanfic writers have taken to stating in advance which pairings will appear in the work, so nobody who [[DieForOurShip objects to them]] has any excuse to keep reading. In Wiki/ThisVeryWiki, it is outright ''mandatory'' to include such a notice when adding an entry to a FanficRecommendations page, for the same reasons.

A reader doesn't necessarily have to enjoy everything they read. They might be able to provide ConstructiveCriticism in an effort to allow the author to improve their work in the future. They might be a professional critic who doesn't have a ''choice'' in what they read or watch; no good critic is going to limit their reviews to things they think they will enjoy. They might even be seeking out things that they don't like, because that allows them to build a persona as a CausticCritic. Or they might actually like it, but only because it's SoBadItsGood. "Don't like, don't read" is thus not a particularly useful criticism here.

However, this line is also prone to InsultBackfire, as if an author tells their potential audience not to interact with their work, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome they may just do exactly that]], and a significant enough loss of audience may cause the author's work to suffer financial failure. Authors working on adaptations of popular works or inheriting long running franchises are the most vulnerable to this type of outcome if they push away the main demographic they were aiming for.

* Creator/KellySueDeConnick put it more succinctly when she said, "If you don't like my politics, don't buy my books."

** Website/FanfictionDotNet and sites like it will indicate every [[{{Shipping}} romantic pairing]] in the fic before it starts, warning fans not to read it if they don't like what they see (which, since this is fanfic, can range from HoYay to {{Foe Yay|Shipping}} to {{Incest|YayShipping}} to just not a FanPreferredCouple).

* Fanfic writers and artists in fandoms where ShipToShipCombat is common would add headings like this to their stories or fan art to fend off criticism from viewers who don't support their ships, especially if they don't confirm to the FanPreferredCouple or OfficialCouple pairings.

* Fanfic writers and artists in fandoms where ShipToShipCombat is common would add headings like this to their stories or fan art to fend off viewers who doesn't support their ships, especially if they don't confirm to the FanPreferredCouple or OfficialCouple pairings.