Vocal Bonus Leaderboard: 01/14/2026
Celebrating creativity, engagement, and community building on Vocal.
Welcome to our weekly Leaderboard update! We're delighted to highlight Vocal's most popular stories. Join us as we recognize this week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
A reminder of some ground rules we use to formulate the Leaderboard:
The time period of data analyzed for each weekly Leaderboard is collected from 12:00am Wednesday - 11:59pm Tuesday ET each week. Only top level comments and replies by unique Vocal+ creators will count, comments or replies by the story author will be excluded. You donโt need to be Vocal+ to appear on the leaderboard. You can appear on the Leaderboard once per week. You can appear on the Leaderboard multiple weeks in a row. No AI generated content.
โจ Most Discussed Stories this Week โจ
Here are the stories that have sparked the most comments with their engaged readers this week.
๐ Winners
๐ฅ First Place ($20 Bonus): Sandy Gillman - Cosy Bite
๐ฅ Second Place ($15 Bonus): Tiffany Gordon - Remember Goodness Pays...
๐ฅ Third Place ($10 Bonus): Sara Wilson - How to Pretend You're Not Being Controlled by an Alien Parasite.
๐ Forth Place ($8 Bonus): Rachel Robbins - What I learned about Vocal Challenges from...
๐ Fifth Place ($5 Bonus): Judey Kalchik - The Correct Way to Eat M&Ms
๐ Honorable Mentions ($3 bonus)
Kendall Defoe - Political Thirty-Three
Each winner will receive a well-deserved bonus in their Vocal Wallets within the next 72 hours.
Congratulations to all the winners! We love what you bring to the table at Vocal. Here's to another week of excellent writing and reads.
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A More Human Vocal
When we launched Vocal nearly a decade ago, the world was a very different place. LLMs did not exist, and stories were created one at a time by people sitting down to write, revise, and share something personal. Many of our assumptions about publishing, trust, and participation were built for a world where effort and output were inseparable.
By Justin @ Vocalabout 3 hours ago in Resources
The Piggy Project
Iโve had so many names in this life I lose track of which ones were ever really mine and which ones I wore because someone needed me to. Some were handed to me before I had words to refuse them, before I knew what they meant, before I knew I could say no. Most werenโt meant to hurt. That doesnโt mean they didnโt leave marks. Marks that told me who I belong to, who I am by way of who claims me, recognizes me in the good and bad, who walks beside me.
By Fatal Serendipityabout 20 hours ago in Confessions
Comments (18)
Scrolling this late and itโs kind of grounding to see how much conversation actually happens here โ not just numbers, but people really showing up for each other in comment sections. I caught myself recognizing a few of the titles and remembering the little back-and-forths they sparked, which feels like its own quiet win beyond the bonuses. It made me wonder how much unseen community-building happens that never lands on a leaderboard at all โ do you ever think about ways that kind of impact could be acknowledged too?
Congratulations ๐ ๐!!!
Congratulations y'all
Congratulations!
Congratulations everyone! ๐๐๐๐๐๐
This is nice. Only my second time on the leaderboard, so thank you to everyone who took the time to read and comment. โค๏ธ
Thanks and congratulations everyone!
Thank you much everyone! Congrats 2 everyone featured! Happy 2026! ๐ฅณ
Congrats, one & all. โก๏ธ
It's been a long time since I've been here. Thank you!
Congratulations everyone
I knew that grilled cheese story was a masterpiece! Days later and I'm still eating grilled cheese because of it ๐คฃ๐คฃ congrats, Sandy! And everyone else!!!!! Also, I actually PLACED? ๐ฅน๐ฅน This is my first time. I've had an HM before, but this is my first time placing ๐คญ๐คญ I am honoured ๐ฅน๐ฅน
Congratulations Everyone ๐
Congratulations to all.
I see Sandy leading the board! That piece was truly awesome. I am still hungry for more work like that! ๐ Congratulations, my lovely! Congratulations to: Tiffany ๐ Sara ๐ Rachel ๐ Judey ๐ PAAUULL! ๐ Kendall ๐ Lightning Bolt ๐ Lamar ๐ Mother Combs ๐
Congratulations to everyone mentioned, you encourage me to keep writing xx
Congratulations! One day Iโll make it back up there with yโall. ๐๐ฅ
My thanks to those that read about, commented, and hopefully will now follow the instructions to; eat M&Ms the correct way!