Admin Post: What is the March Meta Matters Challenge?

[yourlibrarian]

As sites hosting art, text, music, and more continue to either close up shop or change their Terms of Service, there have been various efforts to save content on what is often very short notice. It would be even better if fans gave our works this attention before a crisis hits.

While creators have often used multiple sites to host their works, one type of work has generally been left out of fans' efforts at archiving and preserving fanworks -- meta. In many cases, meta posts have not been copied anywhere else other than the location where they were first posted, leaving them particularly vulnerable to loss.

So what if we can make a small dent in getting it saved? The March Meta Matters Challenge is focused on not just new meta, but making sure older meta gets a chance to be read and remain a part of fandom history. While new meta is also encouraged, the priority for Meta Matters is to make sure meta doesn't vanish with sites or personal accounts when those get closed or moved.

That's also why the challenge will be using the SquidgeWorld Archive as a destination site. For people who want to find meta, the site is designed for searchability (unlike, say, most social media sites) as it uses the same site code as Archive of Our Own but has a much more inclusive policy when it comes to meta. You can also add content to AO3 itself, but given past experiences by other participants, some of that content may be at risk. (See our FAQ for more info).

This will be a month-long event and will function as follows: ( Read more... )