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Line 81: − − ==A Tiny Peek into History== − For much more, see [[Beginnings of OTW: 2007-08 Comments]]. − − Below are some anecdotal comments from [[An Archive Of One's Own (post by astolat)]] which show challenges, enthusiasm, and eventual growing pains of getting this project off the ground. See [[An Archive Of One's Own (post by astolat)/Comments]] for many, many more. − − * "... I would say that much of the reason that fanfic.net is a badfic haven is because the interfaces and design are bad and not satisfying for the picky readers that most of us are, once we get through the first rush of "omg my fandom!" I know that when ff.net was first launched, I wasn't inherently avoiding it; I avoided it because it was just terrible to use. I *do* think that in order to be successful, an archive has to be someplace where you yourself want to live -- it has to be a place where you want to read, or else you are not going to bother posting there, and that if you make a site that the most demanding readers are satisfied with, that is kind of the key. For instance, I feel that LJ has beaten out the fandom-specific central archives because it has MAJOR advantages for anyone who is multifannish or social, despite the lack of searching capabilities. I don't want to try and duplicate the effort of LJ, but I think something like the "post here AND to LJ at once" tool would be a great way to keep people posting to the archive because it would have zero cost (possibly negative cost if you also add in automatic lj community posting) for someone posting a story to LJ." from [[astolat]], May 17, 2007 − − * "[Live Journal] is also lousy for finding fics and authors in a new fandom. Yes, there are communities, but they don't always have names that would enable someone to find them on their own, and I for one have never managed to get into a new fandom that included authors I already knew from a previous one, which means having no one to point those communities out. In general, the loss of archives (and mailing lists, for that matter) in favor of LJ has made my fannish life more difficult. A quality panfandom archive would be a big help." from few, May 17, 2007 − − * "Yes, I think locking is a very good option to allow (and also google-blocking) on an individual user basis, so the archive lets different people manage their own comfort level. The problem with adding vids (other than vids as links -- which I think would be brilliant) -- is the massive bandwidth cost, and the bigger questions of legality. from [[astolat]], May 17, 2007 − − * "In my mind, this doesn't sound like reiterating LiveJournal. I'm one of the folks who almost never posts outside of LiveJournal anymore but could definitely go for something like this--it's combining all the best features of archiving and LJ at once. It wouldn't just be the search feature that would make things more user-friendly; it would be the tiers of organization that would appeal to me. As a panfandom reader using LiveJournal is just a pain in my ass, but I do it because there isn't really another option. More than that, if there was an option for site-wide tag searches, that would integrate a lot of the best features of del.icio.us. I'm having a hard time seeing any downsides to it other than the 'getting off the ground' phase where people ask themselves 'Ugh, do I really want to go back and re-post all my fanfiction here?' Because that would the major hump to get over, I think, in regards to converting some folks to this new system. Or maybe I should say to converting me. *g*" -- tracendenza, May 18, 2007 − − * "My feeling is the gatekeeping needed to keep out badfic costs more than it is worth. I think if you provide filtering mechanisms that let people find manageable lists of stories they are really interested in (narrowing down by fandom, pairing, category, particular features), and sort them by (admittedly imperfect) criteria like #comments/recs/hits, while ALSO providing mechanisms to give exposure and encouragement to new writers so those imperfect measures don't bury new people, that really, any quantity of badfic can be managed. Also, frankly, I suspect that the presence of higher quality fanfic as examples within the archive would all on its own help badfic/newbie writers improve rapidly. The problem with ff.net is there are no real mechanisms for winnowing out badfic." -- astolat, May 17, 2007 Line 104:
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* The archive has reached two million fanworks as of 20 December 2015.<ref>{{source| url = https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/4385 | title = Thanks a million...actually, make that two! | Archive of Our Own |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20160505012157/https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/4385 |archivedate= 2016-05-05 }}, posted to AO3_News 20 December 2015.</ref>
* The archive has reached two million fanworks as of 20 December 2015.<ref>{{source| url = https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/4385 | title = Thanks a million...actually, make that two! | Archive of Our Own |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20160505012157/https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/4385 |archivedate= 2016-05-05 }}, posted to AO3_News 20 December 2015.</ref>
==Behind-the-scenes organization==
==Behind-the-Scenes Organization==
AO3 is a project of the [[Organization for Transformative Works]]. Many OTW committees are responsible for aspects of the project:
AO3 is a project of the [[Organization for Transformative Works]]. Many OTW committees are responsible for aspects of the project:
*[[Organization for Transformative Works/Accessibility, Design & Technology|Accessibility, Design & Technology]] (AD&T) and their three subcommittees of Design, Coders, and Testers train AD&T volunteers, design and develop software features, and write and test the code for new features and bug fixes.
*[[Organization for Transformative Works/Accessibility, Design & Technology|Accessibility, Design & Technology]] (AD&T) and their three subcommittees of Design, Coders, and Testers train AD&T volunteers, design and develop software features, and write and test the code for new features and bug fixes.
*The [[Organization for Transformative Works/Board| Board of Directors]] oversees the Committees. <ref name=committees>[http://transformativeworks.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer OTW list of Committees]</ref>
*The [[Organization for Transformative Works/Board| Board of Directors]] oversees the Committees. <ref name=committees>[http://transformativeworks.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer OTW list of Committees]</ref>
==Notable features==
==Notable Features==
* Collections and subcollections can be stored on the Archive - [[Yuletide]] is there, as well as several other big challenges, and more are gradually moving as new features are introduced.
* Collections and subcollections can be stored on the Archive - [[Yuletide]] is there, as well as several other big challenges, and more are gradually moving as new features are introduced.
* The [[#Tags|tag system]] and tag wrangler team. (even inspired fanfic, see also [[Wrangulator]])
* The [[#Tags|tag system]] and tag wrangler team. (even inspired fanfic, see also [[Wrangulator]])
Fans doing [[Fandom Statistics|statistical analysis]] of fanworks frequently use AO3 data.
Fans doing [[Fandom Statistics|statistical analysis]] of fanworks frequently use AO3 data.
==Criticisms Of==
==Criticisms Of==
===Too Many Eggs in One Basket===
===Too Many Eggs in One Basket===
===Allows "Problematic" Content===
===Issues with AO3===
===Issues with AO3===
===Dislike of Various Features===
===Dislike of Various Features===
===One-Stop Shopping===
===One-Stop Shopping===
===Praise for Various Features===
===Praise for Various Features===
==A Peek into History: Some 2007/2008 Fan Comments==
For much more, see [[Beginnings of OTW: 2007-08 Comments]].
Below are some anecdotal comments from [[An Archive Of One's Own (post by astolat)]] which show challenges, enthusiasm, and eventual growing pains of getting this project off the ground. See [[An Archive Of One's Own (post by astolat)/Comments]] for many, many more.
* "... I would say that much of the reason that fanfic.net is a badfic haven is because the interfaces and design are bad and not satisfying for the picky readers that most of us are, once we get through the first rush of "omg my fandom!" I know that when ff.net was first launched, I wasn't inherently avoiding it; I avoided it because it was just terrible to use. I *do* think that in order to be successful, an archive has to be someplace where you yourself want to live -- it has to be a place where you want to read, or else you are not going to bother posting there, and that if you make a site that the most demanding readers are satisfied with, that is kind of the key. For instance, I feel that LJ has beaten out the fandom-specific central archives because it has MAJOR advantages for anyone who is multifannish or social, despite the lack of searching capabilities. I don't want to try and duplicate the effort of LJ, but I think something like the "post here AND to LJ at once" tool would be a great way to keep people posting to the archive because it would have zero cost (possibly negative cost if you also add in automatic lj community posting) for someone posting a story to LJ." from [[astolat]], May 17, 2007
* "[Live Journal] is also lousy for finding fics and authors in a new fandom. Yes, there are communities, but they don't always have names that would enable someone to find them on their own, and I for one have never managed to get into a new fandom that included authors I already knew from a previous one, which means having no one to point those communities out. In general, the loss of archives (and mailing lists, for that matter) in favor of LJ has made my fannish life more difficult. A quality panfandom archive would be a big help." from few, May 17, 2007
* "Yes, I think locking is a very good option to allow (and also google-blocking) on an individual user basis, so the archive lets different people manage their own comfort level. The problem with adding vids (other than vids as links -- which I think would be brilliant) -- is the massive bandwidth cost, and the bigger questions of legality. from [[astolat]], May 17, 2007
* "In my mind, this doesn't sound like reiterating LiveJournal. I'm one of the folks who almost never posts outside of LiveJournal anymore but could definitely go for something like this--it's combining all the best features of archiving and LJ at once. It wouldn't just be the search feature that would make things more user-friendly; it would be the tiers of organization that would appeal to me. As a panfandom reader using LiveJournal is just a pain in my ass, but I do it because there isn't really another option. More than that, if there was an option for site-wide tag searches, that would integrate a lot of the best features of del.icio.us. I'm having a hard time seeing any downsides to it other than the 'getting off the ground' phase where people ask themselves 'Ugh, do I really want to go back and re-post all my fanfiction here?' Because that would the major hump to get over, I think, in regards to converting some folks to this new system. Or maybe I should say to converting me. *g*" -- tracendenza, May 18, 2007
* "My feeling is the gatekeeping needed to keep out badfic costs more than it is worth. I think if you provide filtering mechanisms that let people find manageable lists of stories they are really interested in (narrowing down by fandom, pairing, category, particular features), and sort them by (admittedly imperfect) criteria like #comments/recs/hits, while ALSO providing mechanisms to give exposure and encouragement to new writers so those imperfect measures don't bury new people, that really, any quantity of badfic can be managed. Also, frankly, I suspect that the presence of higher quality fanfic as examples within the archive would all on its own help badfic/newbie writers improve rapidly. The problem with ff.net is there are no real mechanisms for winnowing out badfic." -- astolat, May 17, 2007
==A Peek into History: A 2016 Conversation About Content, Policies, and History==
In 2016, a fan commented: "i didnt realise ao3 was started in response to lj deleting account relating to p//edophi|ia and they explicitly support the posting of such works yikes" <ref> [http://joestrummin.tumblr.com/post/148786246509 post at joestrummin.tumblr], since deleted] </ref> This post was deleted, and then reposted after it had gotten a long response. The original poster then wrote a much longer post with this excerpt: "The post was me starting to think about whether I want to post my own work on a website which also allows pedophiles to be present on it. That could lead to me being associated with them, or some way indirectly supporting such a community (by supporting the archive). Some moderator said, ‘If you want to kick certain kinds of content off of AO3, you do not belong on AO3 in the first place,’ so this was me thinking maybe I do not belong on AO3. And maybe I think other people should consider this also. But really I lack the personal investment or moral integrity to stop posting there, because I like getting weekly kudos emails." <ref> see the full exhange here: [http://joestrummin.tumblr.com/post/148894949419 joestrummin.tumblr] </ref>
{{Quotation|
it wasn’t, like, [[User:Mrs. Potato Head|MPH]] ([[User talk:Mrs. Potato Head|talk]])we luv pedophilia, it was way more complicated than that!
although it’s true AO3 does allow all fannish content provided it’s properly warned for, there’s a long history there - of spaces being used by fans until the host decided whatever we were doing was too weird and distasteful and either kicking us off, banning certain content, or changing the nature of the site until it was no longer viable as a host.
you’re referring to the LJ Strikethrough of 2007, which, being an ancient crone, I lived through, and since I was hanging out in the last vestiges of SGA and in bandom, I saw some of the fallout. this was before LJ was sold to the Russians (which is a whole ‘nother story), when it was still owned by Six Apart; in an effort to clean up LJ’s act, Six Apart decided to delete all accounts using tags like underage, incest, rape, etc.
this was supposed to get rid of actual child porn on the site, and I hope it did, but it also targeted fan communities. this was a problem for a couple reasons; for one thing, not every story tagged with these words is in favor of them; for another, these things happen to real people and these personal posts were also potentially in danger of being attacked; for the last one, look, I ain’t into this kind of fic but people write about what people write about, and if it’s fictional and not explicitly banned in the TOS (correct me if I’m wrong; I don’t think written content about this stuff was banned?) then it’s not cool for a content host to just start deleting communities without warning.
but that’s what happened! these deletions were also primarily targeting slash communities, which smacked of some serious homophobia since things were deleted that had nothing to do with any of this kind of content.
eventually someone found out it was this super conservative religious group who’d sent a list of journal names to Six Apart, and who if I remember correctly targeted slash fic on purpose, even after it became clear that the fic was, well, totally fictional. after a while, Six Apart admitted they’d made a mistake and started to reinstate journals, but all of fandom was pretty shaken up.
THEN Boldthrough happened, which was essentially the same debacle several months later, at which point fandom began its long slow migration from LJ to GJ, IJ, and eventually AO3, Twitter, and tumblr.
AO3 was opened in 2008 in response to several incidents, of which Strikethrough was a really intense one. remember, also, that back in 2008 the stigma surrounding fandom was significantly greater and more shameful than it is today, so finding hosts willing to archive fic was difficult unless someone had the dough to pay for server space - often not an option. this was also back when fanfic.net’s HTML restrictions were so great that users couldn’t use any special characters or bold or italicize anything, and it didn’t allow R-rated content, so it was clearly not ideal. in addition, although cease & desist letters were much less common than they were in the early 2000s and before, DMCA takedowns were still a phantom on the horizon.
LONG STORY SHORT, even though pedophilia is reprehensible and I personally cannot stomach fanfic that involves that kind of content, AO3 was founded specially as a safe space for fandom communities that could not find homes elsewhere. it requires warnings precisely for that reason, and if you find a story that is not properly warned, you can alert the admins and get the story labeled appropriately.
IDK, maybe it’s just because I am, again, ancient, but I was in and around fandom before homosexuality was legal in all 50 states. so were most of the people who started AO3. for most of my formative life, being gay was associated with pedophilia, and so was writing about gay characters. just - it’s a lot more complicated than you might expect, and there’s a reason many older fans who have been involved in several generations of fandom were so grateful to have AO3 as an option. <Ref> [http://tomato-greens.tumblr.com/post/148787203881/joestrummin-i-didnt-realise-ao3-was-started-in ], August 11, 2016 </ref>}}
{{Quotation|
I remember a time when even if you had gay characters doing nothing more than vacuuming and picking out curtains, you had to label your material NC-17 and prove you were over 18 just to buy the fanzine or access the online fic. Imagine how it felt to be a young gay teen and being told that your sexuality = pornography and lumped together with pedophilia?
I was stuck in a remote Canadian cabin when Strikethrough 2007 happened and could only watch it unfold in slow dial-up motion. The past is closer than you think. Witness the original post trying to link thousands of AO3 writers and readers to pedophilia. <Ref> [http://meeedeee.tumblr.com/post/149918618301/app1e-pi-tomato-greens-joestrummin-i meeedeee.tumblr], September 3, 2016 </ref>}}
{{Quotation|
Their policies specifically said that even if they do not support specific things personally, they would never remove it because it is a site for every single person, and they want to include everyone, not just fandoms that are popular or even just fandoms, but anyone, even original authors. <ref> [http://a-land-lacking-sleep.tumblr.com/post/149968938118/kantala13-ellie-nors-meeedeee-app1e-pi a-land-lacking-sleep.tumblr], September 5, 2016 </ref>}}
==Communities==
==Communities==
* [http://ao3-skins.livejournal.com/ ao3_skins on LJ]
* [http://ao3-skins.livejournal.com/ ao3_skins on LJ]