Admin Post: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

[yourlibrarian]

This document will be added to as questions come in from participants. Please leave comments here if there are topics you need more information on or if you have suggestions for the existing entries.



Topic List

What counts as meta?
Should I choose AO3 or SquidgeWorld?
Could I post a conversation which I participated in?
What if it's not just text?
How do I open an AO3 or SquidgeWorldaccount?
How do I transfer work to AO3 or SquidgeWorld?
What dates should I use for my posts?
What about posts I link to and privacy issues?
How do I tag my meta on AO3?
AO3 Collection questions


What counts as meta?

The TLDR version is -- if you're wondering if it's meta, include it.

Meta can be described by both intention and scope. Our scope for this challenge is as broad as can be. Whether it's about fandom as a whole, a particular fandom, a particular event, a particular canon, a particular episode or aspect of something, it all counts. Fandom talking about itself or its interests in a thoughtful way is the best description we can come up with. When it comes to intention, pretty much anything that isn't fictional or conversation would count. Meta can be very long (even a series!) or it could be just a few paragraphs.

Should I choose AO3 or Squidgeworld?


The AO3 has some details of what it considers nonfiction fannish work including meta and more, such as "discussions of fannish tropes, essays designed to entice other people into a fandom, commentary on fandoms, hypothetical casting for alternate versions of works, documentaries, podcasts about fandom, explanations of the creative process behind a fanwork or works, tutorials for creating fanworks, guides for fan-created gaming campaigns, or many other things."

All of these are supposed to be welcome at the site, however reviews are not, and according to their internal policies, meta about fandom and fannish activities are more likely to be considered acceptable than works about a canon.

Some content AO3 specifically excludes is ephemeral content, the interpretation of which unfortunately might cover a wide swath of content that many could reasonably argue do not at all resemble social media content, live blogging or squee posts. As a result, participants may want to be careful posting such content there since having such content reported and taken down more than twice will lead to your entire account being deleted.

(For reference, other non-meta works they ban are:

"episode transcripts and other non-transformative fandom material;
primarily autobiographical or non-fandom-related essays (e.g., essays on bike lanes, even if they contain a single reference to a fannish source)

By contrast SquidgeWorld.org has been very accepting of a wide variety of meta content, including reviews and shorter style content. If in doubt, it is best to back up content there instead.

Also, please note that references in this doc or elsewhere to AO3 are generally equally applicable to Squidgeworld as they operate on the same code and with identical interfaces.



Could I post a conversation which I participated in?

While there are many fascinating conversations that have taken place in fandom spaces, they largely aren't practical to include in this challenge, both because of structural challenges and because of the difficulty in verifying the consent of everyone involved. However, an individual who didn't just throw out some ideas for conversation but spent some time writing a considered reply has written meta, which might be appropriate to post in stand-alone form for this challenge. (Interviews and Tumblr ask responses can be considered meta).



What if it's not just text?

Meta posts can consist of various things besides text -- statistics and tables, infographics, images and screen captures, audio, etc. There has been many a gifset that has made an argument or was intentionally created as meta! We encourage preserving all these as well.

Unfortunately at this time neither AO3 does not offer native hosting for anything besides text. Squidgeworld does, however, offer hosting for fandom content at Squidge.org. Other solutions would involve using a commercial service (which may always subject to change). So we suggest copying over the contents and using hotlinks to the places where those images are currently hosted.

If the meta posts have already lost their images because the original host is gone or has new restrictions, it is still valuable to have placeholders made for them at AO3 or Squidgeworld, even with broken links, as long as the post included text along with the images. And if you have time later in the year to find a new host for those images, the posts can be restored in full to their original and new homes.



How do I open an AO3 or Squidgeworld account?

Go to https://archiveofourown.org/signup or https://squidgeworld.org/signup Once you've entered your email you should receive an account link within 24-48 hours. If two days have passed and you have not yet received an email, make sure it isn't in your spam folder or you didn't put it in your trash by accident. If it isn't there, leave a comment here notifying the March Meta Matters mod who can look into it for you.



How do I transfer work to AO3 or Squidgeworld?

Once you're logged in, up on the top right of each archive's page is a "Post" link.

Posters have two options -- copying a work over into the New Work form, or importing it via URL from another site. You may want to test out the import feature with one or two URLs and see what you think of the result (which can be edited). Some people find it easier to just copy and paste rather than to spend time fixing formatting. Others have few format issues and find it much faster to import. (There are reports though that if one is trying to import more than 10 posts at a time, the imports may fail, so it's probably best to do this in small batches).

If your post includes images it will be useful to add image descriptions underneath them. This both helps people who can't see them as well as preserves a record of what the image was should your host site break that link. If the paragraph below it is examining the image (for example, as part of a cinematography discussion) then a brief caption such as "Scene of Rey meeting BB8" should suffice.

If your image is a screenshot of, say, an Excel table or a list, and those details are critical to your discussion (as opposed to simply being a visual example) consider creating an HTML table format for embedding the information instead of an image. That way you don't have to worry about losing the image or having to write a long separate caption.

If you have formatting or other technical problems with your posts, you are encouraged to detail them on the latest post at the March Meta Matters community on Dreamwidth. If no one is able to offer suggestions, you should contact AO3 Support for help.



What dates should I use for my posts?

Except for new meta we write during March, all of us will be copying over older works. There are two options for dating them:

1) Allow the post date to be the day the meta was added to the site. Meanwhile, the original date can be mentioned in the Author's Notes. In the Preface section, the second block in the posting form, you can ticky the Author's Notes box and add something like "Originally posted to [Site] on [Date]." You might even want to add more context such as what the meta was written in response to, if anything.

2) Make the post match the original posting date. This can be done in the Associations block, third in the posting form. The last ticky box says "Set a different publication date." Click that and you can enter the original release date for your meta.

Don't hesitate to record an older date. Unlike social media platforms, AO3's platform doesn't operate as chronologically, and a new post will still show up in feeds for that fandom. It might even be of more interest to people to read someone's thoughts about, say, an evergreen fandom topic pondered 20 years ago, or to find out what fans thought about a canon development at the time it first happened. Having the dates at hand will provide more context for your readers.



How do I tag my meta on AO3/Squidgeworld?

Tagging is very important on these sites so that people can find your work (and also so people can filter out works they're not interested in). It is particularly critical for sorting out meta posts which are a small fraction of the works there.

The tagging section comes up first in the posting form. Some suggestions:

Rating: Rate your meta as you would any other work. Chances are most meta falls under "General Audiences" or "Teen and Up." But since people filter based on rating, it's best not to leave your work "Not Rated."

Archive Warnings: Similarly, it's best to select "No Archive Warnings Apply" (if that is the case) rather than "Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings". Chances are that most meta will fall into "No Archive Warnings Apply." Even if, say, a meta piece focuses on character deaths, it may depend on whether someone is talking about the issue generally (such as the way they're employed in canon) or if they're examining a specific character death (which people may be more sensitive to and wish to avoid).

Fandoms: While people are free to make up whatever tags they want for AO3 content, it's the tags that show up in the autocomplete that are able to be used in search filtering. So make sure that the fandom name you are using is one that shows up in this field. Even if your post focuses on 4 or 5 fandoms it's worth tagging each one.

"Multi-Fandom" is available for either many fandoms or a more general fandom essay that applies to whole genres or formats of fandom. "No Fandom" is another tag used for content that is not specific to any particular fandom (a tutorial post, for example). "Fandom - Fandom" can be used for posts about being a fan of fandom.

If your fandom has no tag listed in the autocomplete, come up with the most standard name it has. Especially on Squidgeworld, this may become canonized within days and will likely follow whatever you have entered.

Categories: If you are writing about a ship or about categories of shipping (femslash, het, etc.) it is worth ticking those categories. Otherwise it's best to use the "Gen" category.

Relationships: This field should be used for any meta about particular ships. If it's about shipping generally, use the "Shipping" tag in the Additional Tags field below.

Characters: Definitely tag characters if they are a prime focus of your meta work (if there aren't any, skip this field). Make sure the tag autocompletes and that you pick the one specific to your fandom. As of this writing, for example, there are 15 choices for "Spike" on AO3. If you are creating a tag on Squidgeworld, be sure to disambiguate your character name (i.e. Character Name (Fandom) )

Additional Tags: This field is critical to finding meta work. All entries should include the following tag: "Nonfiction"

The general term "Meta" is the main term even though it mixes fiction and non-fiction content. That is why it's important to include the "Nonfiction" tag so that people can filter out fiction content. You can also add the term "Meta Essay" to clarify for people browsing what kind of content it is.

Other canonical tags may be relevant depending on the content of your posts. Most of these are the same at either AO3 or Squidgeworld but AO3 has many more terms in use.

"Fanwork Research & Reference Guides"
"Essays" (for more formal or academic style text work)
"Episode Review"
"Commentary"
"Fanwork of Fanwork"
"Tutorial"
"Maps"
"Guide"
"Interview"
"fannish history"
"Review" (for reviews other than for TV episodes)
"Headcanon"

Additional Warnings: These should be added in the Additional Tag fields for any sensitive topics you think viewers may want to be warned for.

Topic Specific tags: Meta content can be so varied that only a few examples will be used here. One tip though is that if the term you first think of doesn't autocomplete, consider trying a few more to see if any of them do.

"Fans"
"Fanservice"
"Inspired by Fanart"
"Tropes"

Individual episodes: At AO3/Squidgeworld these follow the format of season then episode, then episode name. For some fandoms there is no specific episode name so the general can be used (i.e., "Episode: s01e03"). Remember that there must be 2 digits used (i.e. s02 not s2). Many episodes will autocomplete for you. If they don't, don't hesitate to create your own. If you use the standard format: (i.e., Episode: s05e10 First Contact) it will likely soon show up in the autocomplete!

Location collection tags:

As was suggested by Inu on Tumblr, people may one day wish to search on things that were originally hosted at a particular site (especially if it no longer exists).

So while it's entirely voluntary, options might be "Cross-Posted on (site)" or "Archived From [blog name] Blog."



What about posts I link to?

Meta may include links to other sources you are using as examples, reacting to, or referring to and those may also go away. But it is also important for participants to consider the privacy concerns of others referenced in your work by name. It is considered unacceptable in fandom circles to quote any content that was included in a locked post or account since this clearly violates the desire for privacy by the poster. An additional option to consider is whether it might be helpful to lock the post to logged-in AO3 users only, which means it will not turn up in Internet searches or by users without accounts. (This option can be found in the Privacy section of the posting form).

The MMM Challenge is focused on individuals archiving their own works, which is one reason why conversations are not included. However meta may also link to a variety of content, such as stories in the news, canon content, posts on independent blogs, comments by creators, etc. If you want to create a stable link to those pages, you can link to them and then run the posts through the Wayback Machine. There is a "Save Page Now" option (best for single pages) and if you have multiple pages you can send the URLs through email.



AO3 Collection questions

To place your works in the Meta Matters collection, simply add the following when you are uploading your work. In the third section of the posting form, "Associations", the first line asks "Post to Collections / Challenges." Simply enter "March Meta Matters Challenge." It could be you'll see a "March Meta Matters Fest" that shows up in autocomplete on the AO3 form but then says there’s no collection. But if you type in "March Meta Matters Challenge" in the form, it will show up. (This is apparently a bug).

There's also no need to make special reference to the MMM Challenge in your Author notes or otherwise unless you want to. When a work is placed into a collection, this status automatically appears in the work's header information.

Adding a work to a collection simply copies a link to your work over to that collection. There is no way to post a work directly into a collection at AO3, the work always resides within your personal account. So while you can place your work within however many collections you like, it never "goes" anywhere.

Return to the Topics List.

Comments

[muccamukk]

I wasn't suggesting quoting without credit. I was saying that linking back without checking in with the original poster (which in case of DW/LJ you can get by commenting on the original post or sending an ask on tumblr) is not always welcome. And people should take that into consideration.

(For context, there has been controversy over fanlore's choices around quoting posts without context, and saving them via wayback so that the OP has no option to lock them if they want to opt out of the archiving project.)

Who knows, maybe the original poster would like to be part of the project. My idea with this comment is to cut down on hurt feelings and potential wank.

However, I will say, that I find the following a bit odd: And just because you wrote meta in response to someone else's meta and posted it to Tumblr, Twitter or Livejournal and got away with it for years, does not make it better.

Got away with what? That's how fandom conversation works. Yes, I'd like to cut down on wank, and yes I currently try to say "do you mind if I link," but on the whole people aren't just responding to canon, they're also at least in part responding to each other. That's what fandom is.

[morgandawn]

I first thought the issue was creating archive links on the Wayback Machine, not recreating meta posts that originally linked to other people. Although I am still confused about how it was OK to have written meta which linked to someone in the first place, but copying and pasting the same meta into AO3 now requires permission from other people.

Some of the older meta posts start: "Over here, XXX says (link). Here is why I agree/disagree"

Should those not be posted to AO3 unless we contact people linked in the original post for permission? (""Hey just to let you know, I am copying and pasting my 12 year old meta to AO3. In it I mention you/link to your post, please let me know if that is OK. If not, I will not copy and paste my own meta to AO3.")

I guess authors can always edit their meta to remove any old links. And authors can remove any other references in their original meta that might refer to other persons Ex: "Morgan Dawn wrote: XXX" Could be edited to say: "A fan wrote XXX" So less wank that way.

Personally I'd leave this all up to the original authors of the meta and not try to impose prescriptive directions. Let them (the authors of the meta) be responsible for their own choices.* After all, that is what AO3 is about.

*Although suggestions on how to reduce wank are always wise - so for those who don't feel comfortable approaching others/cannot reach them for permission and you are worried about incurring wank with your 10 year old meta... consider editing out links. Or if you once quoted someone, consider removing names etc.

[muccamukk]

I don't think anyone's talking about copying other people's work and posting THAT to AO3. That'd be flat out plagiarism. However, I have iffy feelings about making a wayback copy as well. Is that not also taking the original post out of control of the poster?

Example. Ten years ago, Sally posts a hot take about Star Wars fandom. I respond with my own hot take on her post, and link back to Sally's post. We all have a nice long wank about it because it's Star Wars fandom, and it's just always gonna be wanky.

Ten years go by, both my post and Sally's are still unlocked, but no one's looked at them in years. Now I want to post what I thought were some pretty good Star Wars thoughts to AO3 as part of the meta project, but my post is in conversation with Sally's. Do I a) edit in context and leave Sally out of it, but without quoting her directly either, b) link back to Sally's original post, c) link back to a wayback copy of Sally's original post?

If I link back to Sally, I have a reasonable to good chance of stirring up Star Wars wank she probably would like to have forgotten about ten years ago. If I make a wayback copy of Sally's post, it's still got her name on it! And now she can't lock it to shut down the wank because the copy is out of her control. And, given that my example is Star Wars, there probably WILL be wank.

Overall, I think editing out the links, and adding some vague context like: "Fan discussion of X topic made me think of Y."

[kore]

Yeah, this is a big part of what I was trying to express in your DW, only you are actually pithy and make sense. And so many fandom meta discussions are with other fans (from LJ comments to Tumblr reblogs) it can be hard to separate that out.

ITA that including a link to a Wayback or WebCite copy is a bit....iffy, especially if the original post has since been locked, or deleted. There's the "well, you posted it publicly on the internet (dumbass)" type argument, but maybe Sally doesn't want to be part of the meta project, even via a link. Figuring out consent re online spaces is tricky, and it's good to have discussion of it beforehand, I think.

[muccamukk]

It all changes if you and Sally are still buddies, and you both decided to move the posts over, and then you can link them via the "inspired by" function on AO3, which could be pretty fun.