Critique of fanfiction sites.

This is going to be a critique of fanfiction sites. But mostly AO3 since it has intensified problems, and is the least scrutinized.

I was incredibly discouraged from writing fanfic by the lack of good website to post it on. Huge respect to my favorite authors who have done it regardless over the years.

- Fanfiction.net: lack of expression and harsh rules for content.
- AO3: motivated lack of management and rampant exploitation of the system.
- Wattpad: unprofessional.
Other websites are just not viable to post on if they require login for any meaningful interaction and are too microformat to be worth logging onto.

- honorable mention to FIMfiction.net. first fanfiction website i ever used and perhaps why i set my standards high. to this date the very best place to post fanfic imo for having groups, collections, good tagging system, nice layout, nice cover art support. its just easy to find what youre into. unfortunately i dont write pony :( theres also the issue of the necessary legal censoring measures but im begging people to just mirror upload the uncensored versions. its the way to go! its extra editing of course but it makes you more concious of your content i think. (im terribly guilty of posting stuff and tagging it only later because i forget the average person doesnt want to see penis boob gore)

First of all: bless the continued support of links, so we can still post it to any website and share it to the others regardless. (although links are getting banned big style now too. damn it all)

When it comes to my content, it is very important for me to feel that i "own" it. One of the ways is that I decide what i post, the other is that I am able to export my content. To keep it backed up myself in case the website ever goes down, and to move it to another website instead if need be. Most websites dont want to offer this in own interest but i consider it a huge violation of respect for its users. Instagram is an example of a website that shits on the ownership of your content, although it makes reposting hard.

For deciding what you post, expression, and the Elephant In The Room. There will always be people that dont want to see what you post, no matter what it is, that is the nature of media. Some victim complexes have led to popular narratives that state a "Woke Mob" persay is threathening particular content, and that individuals cause the motivation of harassment. That is simply just not true in my experience. The biggest issue for getting shit for my posts is the algorithm showing it to random people that have nothing to do with me or my interests. They dont want to see it, and i dont want them to see it. But the platforms want engagement farming, and that is why algorithm content sucks miles below curated content, which sucks on a rightfully glorified pedestal.

It literally didnt use to be like this. it is so noticable when websites get enshittified. The web used to connect similar minded people it literally did.

We have been so propagandized by the media environment that people forget we cant be homogenized and any attempt at creating a global village happy middle just isnt gonna happen. at least thats not the reality i live in. So dont blame me when the algorithm puts my drawing of your squick in your eyes. blame a shitty website and both of us for still using it.

So yeah, following is me outlining my issues with one platform in particular.

- Terrible interface. nobody knows how the site works, the logic is very backwards. sucks as a user but especially as an author. i didnt have an account for ages until somebody told me works can be hidden for people that arent logged in.

- No forum/discussion pages? Lack of community centers. huge drive as to why shortform impersonal and uninspired content is made. the one-way liking and commenting system is not really allowing our group of people writing the same characters to lift eachother up confidence or workflow wise.

- promoting harry potter because it drives engagement to their site despite not being officially associated. harry potter is a deeply flawed franchise and uncritical promotion worsens this issue. fans have a right to know whats going on, and they have the right to find things that appeal to them, not things that are showed in their faces so they can assimilate. fandom/fanfic/ao3 has gone mainstream and theyre not really taking measures/responsibility for that. its just a big feedback loop of uncritical promotion that doesnt serve fans with respect or context they deserve. it goes off the site and to other popular media and is just a cultural tendency that sucks all around.

- engagement farm-like structure: everything is divided into fandoms, and when people write that popular short form content they might not even have engaged with the source material (yes i see this a lot). forced homogenising of communities leads to infighting and uncomfortable encounters. the blocking features are hardly functioning. any site needs at least some management and policing. my friends disagree but they dont have to see rpf underage bestiality way too often. sure the site has a blocking feature but it shouldnt be up to the user whos trying to avoid the content to block content that is highly offensive to most people and elicit trauma responses. also goes back to the "owning my content thing" is i dont want my stuff sharing space with such content. that stuff really only belongs on hardcore sites not a mainstream site for 13 and up. again: fucking mirror upload. if you are "mature enough" to write that content you are "mature enough" to stop sucking the dick of a mainstream website and post it to a dedicated forum. although i suspect most writing on ao3 are kids because nothing discourages them from using the site. and of course this is to the benefit of the coveted Site Traffic.

tldr: im uncomfortable we are putting our interest and love in the hands of a single site that doesnt take responsibility for its content. although the legal protection is extremely good and an outstanding feature

I have the utmost respect for the Ruby forum volunteers, and it seems to me that poor management has led the site this way, as code and rules changes go unwritten for years after they have been suggested. i highly view this in the context of the massive user influx but there is no way they could have predicted how mainstream fanfiction would become in 10 years.

Below is a post i made about an article i found particularly poignant from another passionate individual, who was actually hands-on involved in the site community.