memorizingthedigitsofpi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
memorizingthedigitsofpi) wrote2023-05-23 08:10 pm
memorizingthedigitsofpi) wrote2023-05-23 08:10 pm
here's the thing
The OTW inhabits this weird dual space in my mind (and possibly in reality but I'm not bold enough to state this quite that affirmatively).
On the one hand, it's An Institution of Fandom - caps used because it's just that huge. Its hugeness is only partly related to the number of works and the number of registered users and the number of hits, etc. Its size within fandom is much more about the ideas it represents. Fan creators own their own works. Transformative works are legitimate creations. Own the servers and tell "the man" to go to hell. Fannish culture is worth preserving. By fans, for fans.
On the other hand, it's a bunch of cobbled together fannish projects. Like, imagine whatever zine or big bang or [insert thing you're into] got big enough that it had millions of people interested in it. Imagine the people running that zine in their free time because they love their fandom now trying to provide a service to millions of people literally every day. Now imagine the kind of drama you hear about with any particular fannish project and expand that out over a thousand volunteers - some of whom have been around for over a decade.
I don't really have a point here. I'm mostly just trying to find words to express ideas that I'm still working my way through. I spent a long time thinking of OTW as The Institution and it hasn't really been all that long at all since I realized it's actually just another fannish project and therefore subject to all of the same issues that every other fannish project is subject to - but scaled up by a factor of a hundred.
Been a while since I posted some thinky thoughts. Figured I might as well.
On the one hand, it's An Institution of Fandom - caps used because it's just that huge. Its hugeness is only partly related to the number of works and the number of registered users and the number of hits, etc. Its size within fandom is much more about the ideas it represents. Fan creators own their own works. Transformative works are legitimate creations. Own the servers and tell "the man" to go to hell. Fannish culture is worth preserving. By fans, for fans.
On the other hand, it's a bunch of cobbled together fannish projects. Like, imagine whatever zine or big bang or [insert thing you're into] got big enough that it had millions of people interested in it. Imagine the people running that zine in their free time because they love their fandom now trying to provide a service to millions of people literally every day. Now imagine the kind of drama you hear about with any particular fannish project and expand that out over a thousand volunteers - some of whom have been around for over a decade.
I don't really have a point here. I'm mostly just trying to find words to express ideas that I'm still working my way through. I spent a long time thinking of OTW as The Institution and it hasn't really been all that long at all since I realized it's actually just another fannish project and therefore subject to all of the same issues that every other fannish project is subject to - but scaled up by a factor of a hundred.
Been a while since I posted some thinky thoughts. Figured I might as well.
no subject
But based purely on longevity, you ARE probably dealing with a certain amount of that "institutional cred" coming from the fact that the userbase has never existed (or haven't existed as fandom-participants) in a world that didn't have AO3 as a fic hosting space.
And yeah, a lot of people, mostly but not exclusively younger, also have a very hard time seeing anything as separate from the corporate internet. And of course, again, why would they, when almost every site they use is owned by a corporation, with corporate interests?
I wish there was a bit more "DIY Spirit" to the internet as a whole. I know there's certainly SOME of that present, and fandom itself is one of the best sources for it, but... There's less drive and know-how when it comes to building and organizing spaces, despite the fact that having alternatives and options that are curated around different standards/fandoms/content/etc. would largely be a benefit. Sure, it's nice to have what feels like a one-stop-shop for all your fic needs, but competing access needs/desires means that there will always be conflict. When people are dissatisfied, they should have the option to go somewhere else.
I know I've seen a *lot* of times when you've explained what seems like an extremely basic feature. (Same with a few others that answer questions about AO3 at times.) There are people who use the site with no idea how to filter, or what to-me-basic terminology means, etc. That info isn't hidden away, but some people don't know enough to try and find it. And again, it's a issue of scale: even if you had the very optimistic 1% of users that won't read the FAQs or the help files before complaining that they can't do something... 1% of 1000 users is 10 people you have to answer questions for. 1% of 1000000 users makes for a LOT of repeat questions.