Question to those leaving the AO3: Your plans for future exchanges, fests, etc?

[brightknightie]

I will be voting in the upcoming OTW election. I've never voted in one of these before. I've almost always been eligible, because I've almost always been lucky enough to be able to donate each year (marked in memory of Abby, tv_elf). But I was a poor fannish citizen and trusted blithely that people who know much more about it than I do would keep it running well for all our good. I would never neglect my vote for government that way; I should have behaved better for fandom.

That said, I am not at this time considering abandoning use of the AO3, though of course I've observed that some of you are doing so. If you feel it's something I should consider for myself, that I would do it if I better understood the situation, please do help me understand better. I'm overwhelmed by it all after having paid no attention in years past. I really hope that people better informed and equipped than me will be able to ensure efficient, sustainable operations in line with all our values.

That said, I am wondering:
Those of you who are ceasing to use the AO3, I presume that you will still post about your own new works here on DW, so that I can still learn of them that way. What are your plans for future exchanges, fests, ficathons, etc.? Are you planning to participate only if they run elsewhere than the AO3? If you run any yourself, are you planning to run them here on DW as we used to run them on LJ and DW before the AO3? Are you planning to run them in decentralized ways, where everyone posts wherever she likes best and you have a central link list?

Thanks!

Addendum, 6:58pm: If this is news to you, celli recommends this post by umadoshi and kalloway recommends synonymous.

Comments

[senmut]

I will not be participating in exchanges held only on AO3. If the mods allow for posting to their comm, or an alternate site with link back, I will. But I know that defeats the purpose of being able to assign matches automatically.

I am okay with not participating because of this.

It is my HOPE that I see clear changes at OTW's management of the AO3, and I might some day return to it.

Until then, I will handle any events I run as a 'post where thou will and link back to the comm'. I have one major event planned, communal_creators, and plan to put a collection, VOLUNTARY USE, on Squidge World's archive for folks that wish to share that way. And will be doing link round ups if it is used.

I really don't think the AO3 user base is being impacted enough to dent any of the major exchanges, honestly. There's not that many of us squawking to take things elsewhere. I am VERY hopeful that the one candidate interested in smaller, fandom specific archives, is able to get the AO3 code in a state that makes it easier to deploy for anyone wanting a return to decentralized archiving.

[brightknightie]

Thank you for explaining to me what you have in mind! I appreciate it.

I am very much on the far, far outside of all these developments.

[skieswideopen]

Have you seen this? I've also never voted before and planned to start this year, but it seems like our options are going to be limited to deciding who gets a full term and who gets a partial term.

[brightknightie]

Yes, I saw it via a link on someone's journal... Saturday? Friday? So, yep, I gather that the candidates with the most votes will get the full terms, and those with the least the partial terms.

I do not know the circumstances or personalities, and defer to anyone who does, but I imagine that a drastic uptick in votes to show that we care may have value of its own?

[pj1228]

Did I miss something? I'm afraid I have no clue what this is about. Is there something amiss with the AO3 archive?

[kalloway]

Over the last couple of months, there have been multiple conversations occurring regarding the treatment of volunteers within the OTW, the parent organization of AO3, as well as other structural faults.

I'd recommend beginning with synonymous, which is a thorough documentation of multiple issues including ongoing racist abuse of volunteers, mishandling of CSEM/CSAM and volunteer abuse, and some other issues.

[pj1228]

Thank you for the update and link.

[kalloway]

(Sorry, busy week.)

You're welcome. I know it's kind of A Lot to find out about all at once. The archive itself is mostly fine - behind the scenes with the people is the mess.

[brightknightie]

I'm not an expert by any means, and I defer to kalloway's recommendation, above. The synonymous account is also recommended in a post that celli recommended today, this post here recommending links to useful summaries of the situation.

Yet, for what it's worth, I might briefly summarize my own understanding for you in this way:

A couple of years ago, the board of directors of the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), which is the non-profit organization that maintains the AO3, agreed to implement certain measures, including anti-discrimination measures, within a certain time period, and has not done so. Accusations of racism against volunteers, of mishandling materials that could be connected to harming children, and of other problems, have continued to arise and, I'm told, are well documented.

Because I donate money to support the archive through the OTW, I am eligible to vote for the board of directors.

Some people are so fed up with the poor behavior of the current and past OTW board members that they are ceasing to use the AO3 and advocating for a return to individual, fandom-specific archives, though of course modern ones where people can put up and take down their own stories at will, not the old kind that put you at the mercy of an archivist who may not honor your request to take things down.

[pj1228]

Thank you for the explanations and links.

[kalloway]

I haven't ruled out ever posting to AO3 again and I'm leaving my fics up for the time being.

That said, I've made an account at Squidgeworld and am pleased with the ease and transparency of communication over there. I'm also planning to archive to a DW comm and I've made a Neocities to replace my old website. I honestly feel that I never should have been relying on just one website, but it was also so very easy. ^^;;

Fests and whatnot will be on DW. I've already done a little exchange on SqWA and it went well, so I'll keep an eye out for things running over there but I don't think it'll ever get a ton of traction and that's okay. I'm certainly not going to judge anyone still using AO3; I just personally feel that until they do better, I can't in good conscience post there. I have a lot of hope for the incoming Board, though, and truly wish them luck with being able to make some deep structural changes.

ETA: also read through synonymous if you haven't, it's incredibly thorough documentation of the last couple months of peeling the onion and finding a hundred more onions to peel.

[brightknightie]

Thank you very much for helping me understand what you're planning! Your posts have been some of those that led me to realize that I needed to ask this question across all the folks I follow.

And thank you very much for the recommendation; no, I have not yet read that (though you are one of two people this evening that I've seen recommend it!).

[estirose]

After a long bit of catching up and thinking things over, I'm pretty much going in the same direction as kalloway right now, except I haven't checked out Squidgeworld yet. Which is to say: My stories will still be up for the time being on AO3 but I'm definitely picking up the pace of backing up to Neocities.

My main exchange each year is Yuletide, which is a bit later this year, and I haven't decided how to handle that. I'm a prolific treater on that exchange, but this year if I participate at all, I might stick to my assignment.

In the meantime, while I'm not writing fic right now, when I post new fic (or old fic that's been archived in sites past) I will be announcing on my own Dreamwidth.

[brightknightie]

Thank you very much for sharing your plans and your thoughts! I appreciate it.

[greerwatson]

I plan to continue to post to AO3 (as well as my own website, now it's back up), as well as take part in gift exchanges that are run there.

I've read a bit about this, mostly on FFA; and it's clear that AO3 is a lot less efficient and organized than one would wish—though I suspect most of that is down to it being run by volunteers. I do hope they get themselves sorted out (and sooner rather than later); but I'm staying clear of it all.

This isn't an ideological position, but purely practical. I've a lot on my plate right now.

[raine]

I don't plan on moving off AO3 anytime soon despite the current state of affairs, largely because my other options are Squigeworld, posting here, and going back to posting on my own site, and I don't have the spoons to do either. Plus, I feel like I've been doing enough reading of the dysfunctional state of affairs within the OTW that I'd rather attempt to foster change than to throw my hands up in the air and go, 'Nope.'

[brightknightie]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and plans!

I empathize about the spoons.

And all honor to you for deciding to foster change! That's the right thing to do. I have to try to do the same. As little as I want to be involved... I even less want to watch it all crumble and folks be hurt.

[thefruitbat]

I will leave my stories up on AO3 for now, but maybe reconsider should things go really pear-shaped.

Just to be safe, I also made a SquidgeWorld account.

If there are fests and exchanges in the future on AO3 I'll of course participate, same goes for SW and DW.

[brightknightie]

Thank you for sharing your plans!

[juniperberry]

I am not happy about a lot of the things going on in the OTW--like others, I've been keeping up with it through FFA--but I also think the general mission is a good one and worth doing, if we can hammer out how not to abuse other people while doing it. That has to take priority.

I'm not leaving AO3, and I finish stories so slowly that "not posting" doesn't mean anything, but I'm not going to count on them as being The Only Place anymore, either. I already had an account and some stories moved to Squidgeworld, so I want to continue doing that, and I am playing around with the idea of putting my stories back on Dreamwidth (many of them were previously posted to LJ).

What this has done is kicked my desire to learn HTML into high gear and I've been setting up a webpage on Neocities. I still have a lot to learn before I'd call it workable, but I am thinking of posting my stuff there once I figure out how to do the things I want to do.