Talk:AO3 Fandom Metatag Removal Controversy
Page Title
After lengthy discussion on Discord which I'm not going to copy in full*, we came up with a couple possible names:
- AO3 Metatag Removal Policy and Pushback
- AO3 Fandom Metatag Removal Controversy
- AO3 All Media Types Fandoms Removal Controversy
- AO3 All Media Types Tag Controversy
- AO3 All Media Types Tag Policy Controversy
- AO3 Metatags Removal Policy and Controversy
As you probably noticed, I went with option 2 for the page name (this also had the most support among people discussing it with me on the Discord). I also made redirects out of some of these (I think 4 & 6) so that people searching other keywords would be able to find the page. However!! None of us on the Discord felt completly confident in our choices, so I'm bringing it here and asking for opinions/suggestions. I'm happy to do all the moving/creating redirects/deleting redirects I need to to make sure people can find this page. -- Quaelegit (talk) 06:56, 6 September 2024 (UTC)
- Suggestion from Distractedday and Tzerj on Discord: Controversy over AO3 Metatags Removal Policy. They think it's easier to read (which I get, far less crash blossom) and putting Policy at the end emphasizes that it's a general policy under contention, not (just) specific tags. -- Quaelegit (talk) 21:46, 6 September 2024 (UTC)
PPOV Flag
It's there right now mostly because it was on the page I copied the page structure from. This page is still very WIP and I don't think it's representing *anyone's* POV well right now. But at least from what I've read and think I can contribute (I have a lot of discussion i want to add to the page) I think it might eventually become a problem -- that is, I have a BUNCH of content from ao3 users who are mad about the policy, and two people vaguely defending it without explaining themselves. -- Quaelegit (talk) 21:53, 6 September 2024 (UTC)
When they stopped making new fandom AMT type metatags?
Anecdata: I don't have access to internal policy stuff, but Good Omens got a new, popular TV adaptation on 31 May 2019, and people were expecting an "All Media Types" metatag to be canonized[1], but it was synned to the book tag instead. In July 2019, fail_fandomanon reported Support's reply to a ticket saying the wranglers "have decided to not connect the fandoms at this time. They noted that they are generally working on reducing the number of metatags on the Archive."[2]--aethel (talk) 18:47, 14 September 2024 (UTC)
FFA quote from March 2023:[3]
Fandom metatags (think All Media Types) aren't being created anymore, nor are character metatags (think John). In fact, they're actively being dismantled. This is because wranglers hate genericism and want everyone to only use the most specific version of anything ever. Tagging with an AMT or with no disambig/surname/etc is anathema, and if they've got to force you to specify by removing all the generic options from the dropdown and synning them to specific options, then by golly they will....This is not a server issue, this is an issue with wrangling priorities and a fundamental misunderstanding of how fic readers and creators use AO3. ...
Some metatags get to stay, usually because "they exist already so continuing to exist/adding new subtags when it's already got a dozen isn't a problem" but then again other metatags get removed despite that, so who even knows anymore.
Moving Quaelegit's notes from the main page:
- TODO: I would love to track down sources of when they stopped making new metatags. I know JJK never got one, even though it's manga tag was created in May 2019 (or earlier) and anime tag was created by January 2021.
- TODO I think the Avenger AMT got axed in spring of 2024? Are there earlier examples people noticed? todo track down cites for this. ALso Transformers wasn't axed but fans noticed new fandoms not getting added as subtags. EDIT: have actually found examples by 2022 -- D&D and James Bond
Evidence of de-canonizing AMT tags: "James Bond - All Media Types" was a canonized tag and a metatag from 2012 (or earlier) until (sometime between May 2021 and) January 2022 when it was de-canonized and synned to "James Bond (Craig Movies)". Which, btw is exactly what they tried to do to "Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms". I think i already put this on the page somewhere but inlcuding on the talk page too. -- Quaelegit (talk) 05:51, 19 September 2024 (UTC)