Meta Month of March
| Journal Community | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Meta Month of March, month_of_meta |
| Date(s): | planning begun Jan 2012, first fest March 2012 - 2013 |
| Moderator: | Sholio and Trobadora |
| Founder: | Sholio and Trobadora |
| Type: | Meta fest |
| Fandom: | Multifandom |
| URL: | Dreamwidth; Livejournal |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Meta Month of March is a month-long meta festival held on Dreamwidth and Livejournal. The community is named month_of_meta, and the second challenge was hosted in May so is called Meta Month of May. The goal of the challenge is to write and post new meta.
Not to be confused with March Meta Matters Challenge, another fest that started in 2020.
Rules
Participants sign up before the start of the month and include the topic they plan to write about and the day they'd like to post on. Meta on any topic is allowed, but a brainstorming post and a post for finding meta already written on a given topic are provided as resources.
On posting day, the meta can be posted either directly to the month_of_meta community or posted to the user's personal journal and linked from the community.
Your meta post does not have to be long, but it should be:- Written or co-written by you - New (as opposed to posted months ago) - Posted on LJ and/or DW (though it can be crossposted elsewhere) - Unlocked
- Open to comments from people not on your friends list/reading circle
Meta posts are not vetted by the mods, and trigger warnings can be included according to the writer's discretion. "However, if you notice any threatening, abusive, or offensive language or behavior in this community, please bring it to our attention. The mods reserve the right to remove a post or link if we feel it is necessary."
Signups are optional.[1]
Challenge history
The challenge ran twice, in 2012 and 2013.
The first fest was held in March 2012. It developed out of a discussion between the mods Sholio and Trobadora about the demise of metafandom and the recent lack of meta discussion in general in journal-based fandom:
trobadora and I were talking at her journal just recently about the demise of Metafandom and the general lack of meta-type conversations lately - and this spawned, as such things do, the idea of putting together a month-long meta fest in March.[2]
A week ago I made a grumbly flocked post about the lack of interaction on LJ these days - comment levels, lack of meta, lack of sprawling discussions ... and it turned into a very busy post indeed. Seems I'm not alone missing the meta, and metafandom as a way to get the word out to the larger fannish community.[3]
The second fest was held in May 2013 and used the same rules.
Dates: first round
- Interest sought: January 2012 (trobadora, sholio)
- Prompts and brainstorming: 9 February 2012 (dreamwidth, livejournal)
- Sign ups: 15 February 2012 (dreamwidth, livejournal)
- Fest: Throughout March 2012.
Dates: second round
Meta roundups: 2012
A total of 58 pieces of meta, by ~30 authors, were written for the fest.
Some posts were fandom-specific (e.g. Breaking Bad, Naruto, Marvel, Mad Men), and some were general meta on topics including shipping, how to start a fandom, kudos, podfic, and AUs.
Meta roundups: 2013
23 pieces of meta, by 19 authors, were written for the second fest.
Topics included ATLA, BTVS, Fruits Basket, remix, happy endings, feels, collaboration, and gen.
Example Meta Posts
- Fandom 1994-2000-ish by Arduinna, an essay in three parts on the history of mailing list based media fandom.
- The Fandom Social Contract by kimboosan
- Narrow and Wide Canons and the Fannish Experience by mithen
References
- ^ Meta Month of March: Rules and Dates, dreamwidth post by trobadora in month_of_meta, 2012-01-23. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- ^ Meta fest (poll), Archived version, dreamwidth post by Sholio, 12 January 2012 (accessed 14 February 2012).
- ^ Interest Poll: Meta Month of March, Archived version, livejournal post by trobadora, 12 January 2012. Accessed 13 June 2023.