#a post and not just a reblog? on my blog? its more likely than you think

[opinions-about-tiaras]

Ao3 has always had a very "cold" culture, even back in the days of the supposed "good" Ao3.

Part of it is because it has no real tools for community building and collaboration. You can post fics. People can comment on them. And... that's it. You can start a "collection" but not a real community and the collections feature is frankly bunk. You can't make blog posts, there's no options for that. There's no forums, nothing like that. Even FFnet had forums. There is only the fic, and the comment thread.

We all like the slick minimalist design of Ao3 but that comes at a price.

But it's even more than that. As an Internet Old who has been writing and editing fanfiction since last century, there's been a massive change in commenting culture over the last decade that can be roughly broken down into two viewpoints:

The first is that it is grotesquely rude, downright uncivilized, to offer any sort of criticism on a fanfiction, much less do it in the comment threads of the fanfic itself.

The second is that merely interacting with the fanfic itself, somewhere the writer is guaranteed to see it, is found to be sort of rude and weird. Why would you say these things to their face, even if it is all positive? That's weird. Almost parasocial.

Essentially they're the polar opposite of youtube comments.

I have noticed this tendency has proliferated to an extent on this hellsite itself. When I first joined Tumblr the culture here was very rough-and-tumble (hah) with enormous numbers of not just reblogs, but reblogs with additions. Not "hiding an essays worth of commentary in the tags" additions, but honest to god "I will reblog and keep the conversation going" additions.

That's dropped way, way, way the fuck off. People block at the drop of a hat if you reblog with any sort of criticism, and I have had people message me and saying "reblogging that and adding 'She's right and she should say it' was rude, be funny on your own post, not on mine."

I got my start in fanfiction on mailing lists and newsgroups in the 1990s. Those things only existed based on peoples willingness to have long, freewheeling discussions with each other. Hell, there used to be a whole genre there of MST3King fanfiction, where you'd take the whole thing and have a fictional cast "watch" or "read" it and make funny/insightful commentary.

Can you imagine trying to do such a thing now? You'd have people trying to get you banned from Ao3 on the grounds of harassment and/or plagiarism.

I'm not sure how to solve this ongoing problem. It feels weird to me to say "people should get more aggressive and care less about a potential hostile response" because this is the internet and its loaded with undirected hostility and mountains of harassment already, but maybe in this sense it is justified? all I know is that people often make transformative works for engagement, and if they drops off there will be less. I guess in the specific context of Ao3 people should start labelling their fics very, very explicitly that they want comments and criticism, any kind, any how?

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[beddybites]

Do yiu have any tips on like how to attract more attention 😭 it's been a good while and it's a huge struggle of keeping motivation and not so amazing art so it's hard to sure my characters and their stories bc one thing a can say in confidence is I am a good writer I'd like to think, people tell me I have and oddly good but cryptic way of writing that keeps people enthralled, but my biggest struggle is getting them interested in the first place 😭

hi there!! i admittedly dont really know much about the world of writing and how to gain more attention there, but i can try to give tips and see what applies & sticks!

start off short & simple and build it up over time

if you start off with something big and complicated there will be more pressure to keep things big and complicated. theres nothing wrong with short and simple and mixing it up here & there (ie with art: if you only post full pieces with extravagant rendering people will keep expecting it. mix it up a bit. i try posting a variety of sketches and doodles and more detailed things— sometimes some things do better than others and thats ok!

it is 100% okay to repost/reblog your own work

if you ever see me spamming my blog with the same posts, its so i have it back on peoples feeds and on my main profile and its easier for people to find. its also likely that some ppl missed the post, and reblogging/reposting gives them the opportunity to see it!!

something something “its cringe and egotistical” WRONG!!!!!!!!!! its completely normal for creators to repost their content and it may help a lot!!

short & sweet descriptons

when you post, avoid giant paragraphs of text, especially if you’re including art in the post. people will be distracted and will see a giant post and just scroll past it

speaking of descriptions, try using trendy words and notable names

its kinda like hashtagging. if you look at my posts you’ll typically see how i will drop people’s full names + include the word “art” or “doodle” … this is because it will more likely show up on someones feed if said person looks up the same words.

ie: googling “muichiro tokito art” -> insert my post popping up because it has “muichiro tokito art” written out in the description

i admittedly have trouble providing tips as someone who doesnt rlly understand how i got noticed to begin with haha. something something imposter syndrome or whatever they call it these days… so im not really sure if anything above helps, but this is stuff i typically try to keep in mind when i post with the intent of trying to get people to see it

more importantly—

i know this is cheesy and this is easier said than done (i have this habit too a lot of the time) but numbers does not equal ur worth or talent. i know it isnt motivating and it can be so heartbreaking): but even if ur stuff doesnt get a lot of notoriety please know it doesnt define your value . this may sound like gibberish as it is 5 am as im posting this but truly… never give up on ur work!!! i promise u someone out there loves it

im more well known for my deaging & fluff content and to this day im rlly shocked it blew up the way it did. i really made it for myself. i came up with a whole alias and didnt plan on posting it anywhere bc i was so scared ppl would hate it and harass me or nobody would gaf. but eventually i was just like Man. if this thing helps me then maybe it can help someone out there too. and it helped provide ppl some joy & wonder and whimsy & made them feel seen and truly thats all i could ever want…

its difficult and its hard but i promise u… be patient and kind to yourself. it can definitely be hard sharing things around and getting that exposure you need but there are ways for sure. some journeys are faster than others and thats ok!

again sorry if this is all gibberish its super late ): but i hope this could help in some way shape or form

[dawn-delocksley]

Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist, Chapter 23 (2003) // Kate Bush, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" (1985) // The Legend of Vox Machina, Season 2 Episode 4 (2022) // Critical Role Campaign 1, Episode 44 (2016) // The Hunger Games, dir. Gary Ross (2012) // Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (2008) // Ryoko Kui, Dungeon Meshi, Chapter 37 (2018).

[milkweedman]

WARNING OP LOVES COCK THIS POST IS ABOUT COCK. ITS SO GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL ❤️ GOOD MORNING TO PENISES EVERYWHERE

I spun more of what's on the distaff--im starting to get a feel for how to draft from this. Decided to pull of a sample to see how it turned out--its quite worsted ! I dunno why but I was completely expecting a woolen yarn from this. Makes sense though, the fibers are pretty aligned the whole time.

Still a problem with tons of lumps and bumps though. The prep is the issue--I willowed it first and it wouldn't draft for shit, so I layered it onto a blending board after that and now it's much better, but still very inconsistent. Next I'll try processing on hand cards first. I wonder how wool is supposed to be processed for a distaff--surely not how I'm doing it ?

[breeze-of-sunlight]

Hey admin, sorry for the delayed response. I took some time to mull over what you said and also read through what others have commented.

I think in and of itself this issue in total is just a snake that bites its own tail. The fandom loses steam, exo is perceived as inacitve itself due to lack of talk in the fandom, new people won't join or old members leave, the fandom loses steam. You're absolutely right: if we won't change anything about this, the fandom won't hold itself afloat mch longer.

I've looked more inside myself and asked myself "what would I, personally need to become more active again?". And honestly, I think it's something other people on here have mentioned in this thread. No one wants to be the first person being vulnerable and put themselves out infront of the fandom ("I don't follow people first", also people seeing but not interacting with (this) post(s) besides liking it/them). But in my personal experience, getting really attached to a fandom usually involves finding someone with a dedicated blog and looking through their stuff and finding cool people from there. Even if I get single digit notes, seeing mutuals express they like what you did is rewarding.

I'm just really stuck as to the how to get there. After all, you can't really "force" people to reach out, that never worked before. But without people wanting to switch from their "passive consumption" to a more interactive experience, I'm afraid it'll be a long and difficult journey. Hmh.

Besides that: I didn't mean to present networks as the be-all, end-all. I'm more than a little peeved myself at how some networks limit down who and what will be put on their blogs. But I truly think a dedicated blog - or, as others have pointed out, a community - could be a good starting point. Without any "apply here and reblog that" requirements to join in. Just something that helps people to see and be seen rather than being drowned out by bots and people who tag wrongfully to simply get more notes in. Like a little conversation starter blog, I guess?

I'm also aware that single member networks won't exactly help us unite this fandom that is already spread far and wide. And yes, the examples of the two stray kids creators I've mentioned are just good tumblr etiquette. Nevertheless, I think there is a real practical appeal of simply having an exo-l tag that creators (especially new and older, returning ones) can use to kind of get eyes on them. Whether that is a tag specifically tied to a single blog or a new general fandom tag (that hopefully isn't flooded with inapropriate entries) being secondary. Then again, that would kind of fall flat if the community feature ends up being implemented. No need for filtering the already existing tags then.

I like your idea of putting up a directory of sort as well - maybe even linked with short individual introduction posts? But at the same time, I'm a little worried about the maintenance cost of it. After all, someone would need to update said directory at a regular interval. If the directory was held on a shared / side-blog, multiple people could be assigned this "chore", so at least it wouldn't fall on one person alone. But as said, I think this would actually really help? I think I very distantly remember that this has been done once before but I neither can remember who posted this nor find the post itself.

Regarding the prompts / events: yes, I think longer intervals between the start and end of an event would absolutely be beneficial. Monthly, or even seasonally oriented, events sound really good. But I also think this is just something that maybe should be decided by a larger group / the target audience. So maybe a poll could help determine how often people would actually manage to partake?

Also: something I just remembered was the exo song tournament blog from ealier this year @/exosongtournament. That final post has 120 reblogs - most of them with commentary. I don't even remember the last time I've seen something like this on fan works. But it also means that there are still people on this platform who still "care enough" about exo themselves, no? Maybe they just also had most of the creators they followed silently leave Tumblr and they would enjoy exo more again if they somehow got onto their dashboards?

Maybe the prompts / the topics of the events could be decided by polls, that way it's easier to kind of create "low effort, low intensity" entry interaction? Even if people won't create somthing themselves, they get to put their vote in and will see something that is according to their interests? (Should their concept win, that is.) Or at least their interest will get piqued?

I'm just rambling again at this point, sorry!

(And also, totally besides point, but huge kudos to you for shouldering this event while working 45+ hours a week. All the love to you!)

Another quick side note: I never knew Junmyeon mentioned he's aware of the tumblr community? In truth, I hadn't even considered that Tumblr might factor into any companies statistics...

Okay, after hastily checking my notes, i think this is everything. As mentioned before I'm willing to help set up any projects. You're not alone in this.

Have a good one!

So I can't be the only one who's noticed the decline in fanmade exo content here on Tumblr. We've gone from a fandom who's new posts could be measured in hours to a fandom who's posts have days....to weeks....to months....to even years for some specific tags.

We have had 6 solo album comebacks this year, 3 fancon tours, 2 solo concert tours, a myriad of festival concert appearances, youtube videos, magazine shoots, instalives, etc. Yet if you go to the exo tag it's mainly populated by archive blogs. And the nude bots, which....that's a whole other problem on its own. I digress. My point being, the tags, at least from what I've seen (I admit I haven't looked into the shipping tags) are being filled by the same handful of blogs yet given the high amount of source material, no one seems to be doing anything with it beyond archiving it.

Again this could just be because I didn't delve too deep or too far back, but it does have me wondering if part of the reason participation this year was down was simply because there's hardly anyone left.

There's been instances in the past where others have attempted to inject new life into the fandom so to speak, with....varying...level of success. The exo revival project being the first and most successful that comes to mind. I'm wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on the matter and if holding new fandom events might be a way to involve more people year round because I really do want to continue holding this event next year but if things keep going the way they have been there won't be anyone signing up.

Let me know what you think, ideas you might have, reblog this and tag your mutuals to get them involved in the discussion. I have a few ideas that I've pilfered from other fandoms, watch alongs. Fic bingo. Theres valentines exchanges. Fandom sleepovers. Heck I'd set up a Tumblr based scavenger hunt if I thought people would play. Like....we dont have to be monoliths in a placid sea of we don't want to. Fandom can be fun. It should be fun.

[jouta-eggboybeloved]

I miss my son.

(Tags)

[colesstar]

”STOP it doesnt matter if this doesn’t fit your theme REBLOG blah blah”

yea well actually

I REALLY DO NOT CARE PLEASE STOP GUILT TRIPPING ME I AM OVERLY EMOTIONAL ITS ANNOYING AND UPSETTING

[maythray]

can you guys please think for a second about if you should reblog something.

[storm-of-feathers]

cant sleep gonna say my thoughts.

I think what a lot of people miss about tumblr (and especially unfocused blogs that, say, aren't fandom oriented) is that it's essentially an open journal. it's a microblogging website, and all blogging micro or macro is fundamentally a web log (where the term comes from!). if it seems like I'm not talking ab something enough, it's not because I don't care at all.

It's because first and foremost, this blog is a piece of my soul that I am choosing to share. I'm not trying to be an activist on the internet, I'm not trying to sway anyone to my opinions. I'm saying the things I think and feel. If I talk ab american politics too much, that's because im american. if I'm writing frustrated posts about performative internet activism, that's because it feels exhausting to be out there doing the work (because that's what it is. Its work. Its boring and taxing and it feels like youre getting nowhere. Until you see how far youve come) and having to come to tumblr and seeing people say I didn't talk about [disaster 30000 of the past ten years] enough.

if I seem angry and upset and scared and irrational, its because i am those things. you have to understand. in spite of my rather large follower number, this blog is, first and foremost, for me. I am writing things down and allowing strangers and friends and wanderers to read it. I won't call it a privilege that can be taken away, bc its not like some of my thoughts are exactly a treat, but it is something to keep in mind.

if you ask me why I'm talking about the supreme courts recent decisions but not similar decisions in other countries, the answer comes down to "one of those directly affects me, and therefore i can fight back."

but I shouldn't have to announce where and how I'm fighting back. if for no other reason, my own fucking safety. but also bc this blog isn't any sort of guide to activism, it's not any type instruction. it is, at best, my diary that I published.

and that isn't a bad thing!! and it shouldn't be!!! that's why I harped so hard on the carrd post. that's why I'm vaguely annoyed with my reddit posts. that's why I shared my marital status and sexuality for a long time. that's why i have a rwby icon. that's why my blog title which hasn't changed since 2018 is what it is.

I understand that sometimes I have opinions people don't like. oceangate in particular has proven to be a fantastic example of that. But i am, at the most basic terminology, venting my thoughts and feelings.

that's why I'm talking ab the supreme court and their awful decisions. why I may not be talking about issues that don't directly affect me, but might affect some of you. it's not because i don't care. It's never because I don't care.

It's because my target audience is a mirror.

[simplydnp]

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[rainingincale]

...

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

despite being pretty snippy with people who brought it up today, i am so glad i have spent so much time drawing and improving my art skills. Not only has it given me a financial lifeline right now, but without drawing im not sure how i would have gotten through these past few years- Not to mention, the communities ive had the joy of joining and being part of, and the people ive gotten to know who have poured love on my creations and supported me through this all.

I've had a rough day and its gonna be a rough time for me for a while, but i wouldn't be able to face the question of what the future holds without yall and im so fucking glad i made the decisions, some that seemed so tiny and inconsequential at the time, that lead me to where i am today and the people ive had the joy of meeting, because i have no fucking clue what wold have happened if i didnt, but i know the future would be looking so much fucking bleaker

[queerofthedagger]

will i finally have to cave and set my queue to post more than 30 times a day and other pressing questions on this fine tuesday afternoon

[imflyingfish]

I'm only going to be reblogging Scar fanart with him in a wheelchair from now on unless I forgot to take any out of my queue btw

[syn-odics]

i just have to face up to the fact that no one gives a shit about your OCs if you cant draw

[starrrbitz-movedtonewblog]

This blog really is old, part of me has been wondering for a while if I should just archive it and make a new one...

Some ranting and thoughts in my tags below...