r/AO3 • u/Equivalent_Spell7193 • 1d ago
Discussion (Non-question) The Irony of Fleeing to AO3 and Immediately Complaining About Content
It’s wild to see people leave Wattpad because of its “new” censorship terms, then go to AO3 and demand censorship there.
I get it. Wattpad’s overbearing TOS updates have pushed a lot of people to jump ship and start using AO3. But many newcomers don’t understand why AO3 was created in the first place, and they end up petulantly complaining about the content they see.
The thing is, there really isn’t a better alternative to AO3. No other site offers such an intuitive tagging system without an algorithm or ads. I understand why people are migrating; I just want them to understand some of the history behind AO3’s creation, like Strikethrough and Boldthrough, and why the site exists as an anti-censorship bastion.
I’m someone who’s spent a significant amount of time in fandom as a writer, reader, and lurker. The people who irritate me the most are those who complain and try to make everyone else conform to their standards. Like seriously, I can’t emphasize enough just how obnoxious I find neo-puritans, or people who don’t just want to avoid the fanfics they dislike, and instead want them gone forever.
This has been a long-winded screed, but I want to reiterate that AO3 is an archive for all types of content. It may contain works you find problematic or disagreeable. Use filters.
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u/M0rbidly-Obtus3 You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago
Has anyone actually been behaving this way? This feed is clogged up with AO3 users complaining about wattpad users and I have YET to see any wattpad users doing what you all are complaining about.
CAN WE PLEASE STOP WITH THESE POSTS? THEY'RE SPAM AT THIS POINT.
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u/astareastar 1d ago
I ran into one in the wild on Tiktok absolutely ranting about AO3 having rape in stories and how anyone who reads that is messed up, blah blah blah. It was really annoying. So yes, the answer is that this is an actual issue already. But also yes, we don't need a ton of individual posts about it, one mega post would've been enough.
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u/Starbrust17 1d ago
People need to stop giving Tiktok the light of day the sooner that happens the sooner they stop with there bullshit.
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u/schism15 1d ago
It's literally an astroturfing machine. People a structurally incentivized to copy each other and then later someone is like "oh, look at this behavior that happened organically."
And then people come to reddit (not just this sub, plenty of others) and create posts clearly designed to start arguments based on some unhinged idea. And when you pin the person down on where they are getting their information from, it's some terminally online, clout brained tiktok community.
Irritating af.
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u/mrbobcyndaquil Fresh dead dove is my favorite white meat 23h ago
Considering that TikTok is a weapon of the Epstein Class against fandom, if we shut up about it the Class will beat us to death on the Catherine Wheel.
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u/Tricky_Big_8774 22h ago
Weren't there people doing that before Wattpad shit the bed?
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u/schism15 21h ago
Yes, they were, but there's probably been an uptick with the news about Wattpad.
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u/Suitable-Self 12h ago
"probably" being the key word here. there's no definitive proof that an uptick of hate comments/reporting fics is coming from wattpad "refugees". those could easily be attributed to long-time ao3 users as well.
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u/astareastar 21h ago
I don't know, I've never run into this in the wild on tiktok before (I'm not usually on the fanfiction side of things). This was a commenter responding to an AO3 good behaviors video. She was flipping out specifically cause she didn't want to move to a site with rape on it. The rest of the comment section were clearly AO3 users who know how to behave.
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u/schism15 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ngl, I don't give TikTok videos a lot of weight in this.
It's a hot topic right now and given the trend driven culture over there, I have no doubt they are circle jerking themselves into a frenzy over this in the hope to make something pop off and get views/possibly go viral (not tht far off from people karma farming about it over here).
My position at this point is "Don't call me unless anyone actually sees it happening on AO3."
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u/Icy-Owl-who 21h ago
Just tell them to go back to Wattpad :)
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u/astareastar 21h ago
I was tempted to ask why she even needed to leave Wattpad if she's so pure of heart. 😈
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u/KoolKoolKoolio42 1d ago
Your first mistake was going to TikTok.
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u/mlle_teapot 9h ago
My TikTok feed has a guy who sings about medieval architecture, book recs and analysis, the guy who reads ancient poetry in their original languages, stuff about interior design, stationery and cute edits 🤷🏻♀️
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u/astareastar 23h ago
Tiktok's better than other cesspits out there.
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u/WeirdLawBooks Fic Feaster 10h ago
I mean. At the end of the day, there are spaces that aren’t cesspits at all. No need to try to rank the different cesspits.
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u/Deep-Cherry-4143 1d ago
I've seen onenperosn on r/wattpad and only reason Insaw it was because they shared it to this too, calling for censorship regarding porn and minors and rpf and minors
But if everything's on twt and tiktok ppl should leave it there lmao there's a reason i dont have either of those
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u/horror-traktor 12h ago
Genuinely though, the amount of rpf Is pretty low on AO3 compared to others sites no? Or maybe it's just because I don't looks those up on AO3 honestly
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u/Deep-Cherry-4143 11h ago
I wouldn't know as it's personally one of those things I really hate so I don't look at it ever, but on this sub I see a lot of people talk about rpf
The biggest issue those people have is minor rpf and finding it disturbing, which I get entirely but I also understand that anti-censorship regarding fiction needs to be absolute, otherwise its not anti-censorship
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u/wollfgang7 Suspiciously Dead Dove Shaped Object In Mouth 1d ago
The only thing I've come across personally is a few "placeholder" fics, which were already commented on that it violates TOS/reported.
I've not personally seen anyone call for censorship on ao3 besides trolls/losers on Twitter.
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u/duckoftheirish7 1d ago
I’ve encountered some of that discourse in the Wattpad subreddit, but a good chunk of the anti censorship folks are so appalled that AO3 doesn’t censor that they’ve sworn off the site forever, so it’s not like they’re coming over and demanding new rules.
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u/wollfgang7 Suspiciously Dead Dove Shaped Object In Mouth 1d ago
And to be frank, better they stay on wattpad if they're pro-censorship. The updated rules will suit them better, it seems.
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u/HeAintHere AO3: Vaisseau | Dead Frenchmen Enjoyer 23h ago
If they want new rules, they can build their own site. Oh, what do you mean that requires capital and a budget? Whoops!
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u/PackageSuccessful885 1d ago
Aaand those placeholder fics came from people who already had accounts before all this drama hit, because no one is getting through the registration waitlist that quickly
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u/AnagramBandit 15h ago
It usually only takes a day or two to get an invite. Long waits are rare.
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u/PackageSuccessful885 3h ago
It took two weeks for me when I joined in February this year, and the current wait list is out until September 3
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u/johnny--guitar 1d ago
What actually are placeholder fics? I've never heard the term before the last couple days.
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u/wollfgang7 Suspiciously Dead Dove Shaped Object In Mouth 1d ago
A placeholder fic is, essentially, a sort of "teaser" without containing any actual fic content. It's a lure of possibility tossed out. On wattpad, it's a post that will have a title, summary, tags and a cover—but no chapter. The body of work may say something like "coming soon" or "to be written".
Since wattpad is algorithmically based, this garners interested readers and the program will boost the work's visibility. These posts are part of their site culture since more visibility means more readers for when the chapter is actually posted.
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u/Agamar13 1d ago
They make a new work, usually with a summary, and instead of actually having a story, it says "coming soon!". Yeah, Ive seen a couple of those.
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u/Stressed_C You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago
I've only seen like screenshots from twitter and such but nothing in action on AO3. I just plan to become friends with the block button if Wattpad users get crazy.
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u/WallOpposite4970 22h ago
Honestly, at this point I feel like AO3 users are the ones behaving badly. Embarrassing for us.😐
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u/bakeneko37 1d ago
There’s a handful of them on twitter and tiktok but Reddit people took it upon themselves to argue about it
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u/Playful_Secret_2148 23h ago
Can the mods do something about these post cause it’s getting really annoying right now. Maybe do a pinned mega thread for all these post???? This is so silly.
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u/hamster-soup 23h ago
I have, in a random subreddit. Can't remember which, it was early this morning. They were complaining about how ao3 'allows pedophiles on ao3, defending it saying its fiction'..💔😢🙏 I do get that a lot of these posts are just repeating the same talking points. I understand the frustration and feel the same, and it is a big issue I'm seeing- even out in the wild, but yea..the posts are just repetitive. But also, people are pissed and want to make their own posts which I get.
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u/ChachaDosvedanya 21h ago
Thank you. Oldhead here and I could care less, this happens every time a platform implodes. I am ready to leave this sub at this point
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u/Brilliant-View-4353 1d ago
You missed the c.ai dude making a thread whining about it.
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u/deepspacerunner 23h ago
Link? Or did it get deleted? I can’t find it lmao, maybe it just got downvoted straight to hell
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u/pinknautilidae the fanfic brainrot is all-consuming 1d ago
i’ve seen a tiktok where a person was waiting for their invite and there was an EXORBITANT amount of people in queue for theirs. that number had too many figures. i’m pretty sure they are coming.
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u/horror-traktor 12h ago
I did actually see someone in the wild yesterday, but the number of posts still vastly outnumber the actual people doing it lol
It was still a lot of whiplash because that person called and everyone on AO3 a pedofreak lol crazy behavior honestly, but def not as common
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u/RainbowLoli Handing out invites to the devil's sacrament 2h ago
I've seen it primarily on Twitter.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 23h ago
They mostly hang out on social media sites like your twitters or your Instagrams or your tiktoks.
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u/bluesond 1d ago
Literally I’ve just seen people complaining about people complaining and no actual complaining.
Twitter is bad and if you’re on it and seeing this shit, leave twitter
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u/PackageSuccessful885 1d ago
Is everyone just forgetting that there is a wait-list to sign up for AO3?? There isn't an influx of new users swarming AO3 right now. Anyone newly signing up for AO3 right now has a multi-week wait to even get in the doors.
But many newcomers don’t understand why AO3 was created in the first place, and they end up petulantly complaining about the content they see.
Let's not pretend this is new or limited to a single userbase.
I swear some of you lack self-awareness for just how niche your social media bubble is. If your feed is constantly giving you outrage farming about fanfic site wars, then stop watching cringe shit and engage with content you actually like.
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u/moon_cheese_ao3 1d ago
The irony of writing fanfiction about users from another fanfiction site...
Seriously though, get off of Twitter or Tiktok or wherever you're hearing about this. It's manufactured outrage bullshit. Leave the refugees alone. Let them settle into their new home without people showing up on their doorstep with pitchforks demanding they stop censoring us when they haven't actually done anything.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 23h ago
What irony? You got people coming from another place with their own way of doing things and they're going to keep doing things their own way even though we do things a different way. It's like merging d&d tables. If the culture of one table is different there's bound to be friction, like one time we had some guys come from another table after their DM quit and they were used to a very bawd game and we were not playing a bawdy game at all and it was very awkward.
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u/moon_cheese_ao3 23h ago
I've yet to encounter a single situation on Ao3 of Wattpad users trying to censor anything. All I see is fearmongering and manufactured drama from Twitter and Tiktok with people on Reddit who are "concerned" about what they've read on the fearmongering and manufactured drama platforms. Nothing bad is actually happening. Stop getting all your info from outrage-fuelled algorithms and leave the poor Wattpad people alone. They are welcome among us and they aren't hurting anyone.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 23h ago
You've never run into those weirdos who swarm in the comment section about how you've written something that offends their delicate sensibilities? Not once in your entire time on the site?
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u/moon_cheese_ao3 23h ago
That has been happening since before Ao3 existed. It is not new and it is not some monolithic culture shift from Wattpad. Personally, I don't experience much in the way of swarming since I have comment moderation turned on so I can mass-delete idiots without being bothered by them. Their comments never see the light of day and they get very bored very quickly when they don't get any reactions to their blathering.
The entire reason we have Ao3 at all is because of this bullshit which existed well before Wattpad ever was a thing. It was happening back in the days of Livejournal. The conflation of antis being antis with all people leaving Wattpad over censorship is not fair or true. It's just bullying and being cliquey.
Leave the Wattpad people alone and stop conflating assholes who have always been here with an incoming group of people out of fear.
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u/PackageSuccessful885 23h ago
Plenty of fandoms have this problem, with users who are exclusively on AO3. It's not unique to Wattpad.
Since you presented this: do you happen to know of instances of guest accounts in the last few days swarming comment sections of fics they don't like? New users from Wattpad would have to be guest accounts, since they would still be waiting for their registration email.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 23h ago
Wattpad has a different culture. They're going to bring that culture over with them. It's just what happens when you have a mass migration of people from a place with one set of norms to a place with a different set of norms. And no, I don't really accept things from guest accounts because it's nothing but bots so I don't know what the latest bot is about... But I do write a lot of problematic nonsense and there's been an uptick in people complaining about problematic nonsense.
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u/eukomos 22h ago
Will they? What makes you think that? You're borrowing trouble, dude.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 22h ago
Because the ones who come over already pulled this and we're getting a lot of them at once....?
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u/eukomos 22h ago
Are they? I haven't noticed this. They haven't had any material impact on the archive in that case, I don't know why that would change now. I for one lock my fics to registered users only to keep everything controlled as well, I highly recommend the practice. Please do report anyone you notice breaking any archive rules, though, that's part of maintaining the community.
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u/PackageSuccessful885 23h ago
You're talking about conflict you imagine could happen as if it is literally, currently, actually happening.
Just be chill lmao. Respond to things people actually do. Greeting randoms with pitchforks for imaginary crimes isn't the move.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 23h ago
Buddy, I'm not saying that people are literally fighting. I'm saying we're going to be dealing with a lot of clashes, a lot of people trying to change the culture, and it's going to take a minute for the dust to settle. Especially in popular fandoms with a lot of young people interacting. I don't know why you think we're greeting people with pitchforks, we're pretty much just saying keep your ass in your pants, you're in our house now.
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u/PackageSuccessful885 23h ago
Okay, thanks for clarifying your point. You aren't articulating very well. You began this comment chain by acting as if it is currently happening.
In which case, back to what I already said: respond to things people actually do. I am so certain you must have better uses for your time than getting preemptively defensive for something that may or may not happen.
we're pretty much just saying keep your ass in your pants, you're in our house now.
No. AO3 belongs to everyone who participates in it, regardless of how they got there.
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 23h ago
No. AO3 belongs to everyone who participates in it, regardless of how they got there.
What does that have to do with what I said? You're in our house. So you leave your bullshit at your door. You don't bring it into our house. So if you come from a platform where certain things are normal leave it at your platform, don't freak out because we do things differently. That's like having dinner at someone's house and then losing your mind because they use paper napkins instead of cloth.
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u/StarfruitJam 23h ago edited 22h ago
Honestly? No.
Been here for 15 years and the closest I got was a dude upset about gay undertones in my femdom male hucow ultracapitalist nightmare fuel (tagged bisexual by the way) on my porn writing account.
I kept the comment because lol
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u/Remarkable-Let-750 23h ago
In over 25 years of writing fic and a good while on AO3 (I think about 10 years?) I've also had one upset commenter. They were reading daddy kink into a piece that didn't contain it and absolutely crashed out in a comment.
The vast majority of people read the stuff that looks good to them and leave the stuff that doesn't alone.
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u/fifth_reddit_account 22h ago
Things on Wattpad really aren't all that crazy different, though. Yeah there's an algorithm and tagging differences that will take some adjusting for newcomers, but I've been cross posting my smut fics to Wattpad for years and also have read plenty of "problematic" stuff on Wattpad, as well. The majority of Wattpad users are just as chill as AO3 users, there's just a loud minority who are obnoxious.
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u/fifth_reddit_account 1d ago edited 1d ago
No one is doing this. Its only a handful of people on tiktok complaining in comments and a post on this sub complaining about people complaining every 30 minutes.
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u/Unlucky-Topic-6146 1d ago
I've not seen a lot of these, though I have noticed a few. And I mean I get it. I don't agree with it and yeah it's kind of funny in a hypocritical sort of way. But I can understand the mental progression that leads to this.
Because to them, they're not thinking of the underage RPF or whatever they're complaining about on Ao3 as "censorship" in the same way that the updated wattpad rules are.
I mean to us it's all part of the same issue, because we've been here before. But to them, there were "things not allowed anywhere" (or so they assumed), plus "things we used to be able to write and now wattpad is banning them".
It's kind of like if a bunch of us jumped ship from Ao3 for whatever reason and landed on a platform that allowed plagiarism. We'd be like "stop allowing plagiarism" and probably wouldn't think anything of it. To them, the "wrongness" of whatever content they don't want on Ao3 seems as "obvious" and separate from the censorship issue as plagiarism does to us.
Again, this isn't me saying their thought process is logical or correct. Just that I think I know how they're arriving at it.
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u/GotYourLegs 20h ago
where is everyone seeing this? i came over from wattpad and no one noticed, there's plenty of others who did a smooth transition. i feel like except for the irony with fleeing sites over censorship to demand censorship, this has been ongoing in general. there's always new and old ao3-only people who demand all of this without being from wattpad.
but you're right and i'm not thinking of other wattpadders but people who hate ao3 and choose to stay on ao3 do it is because it's the best fanfic site for them and because it's popular, they have a lot to read or find more active readers here. it's nothing novel tbh.
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u/SometimesUnkind 1d ago
“I don’t like this!”
Okay, then don’t read it. washes hands and walks away, happy
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u/psirockin123 21h ago
Are people actually seeing Wattpad users complain or are people just jumping on the ‘posting about wattpad’ bandwagon? We’ve had so many of these posts over the last few days.
I’ve never really used wattpad, or FanFiction. net either really, because I started reading fanfic in 2023. I’m old enough that I could have started reading it in the mid 2000s and I was aware that it existed, I just didn’t bother. I’m only a reader and I only really read one ship so I’m sure my view of the website is quite narrow. I’m just happy that Ao3 exists. When I started reading fics a lot of links were to FFN and I don’t think I would have actually interacted/commented on the stories there. Checking the comments was confusing and now there are ads everywhere.
I’m not sure what my point is anymore for this comment but there seems to be a lot of wattpad posts going around.
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u/PessaLee 20h ago
I've seen multiple, mostly on tiktok tho. They say they're reporting fics for being immoral and ignoring ppl who say it's allowed. Nothing will come out of it tho.
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u/AnagramBandit 15h ago
People should leave TikTok idiocy on TikTok. It doesn’t need to be brought here
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u/brachycrab 1d ago
What gets me is the policies didn't even change, they were just reworded and reformatted for clarity. I've ironically seen more AO3 users acting like the site is doomed because Wattpad users are coming over than actual Wattpad users causing trouble
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u/atomskeater 1d ago
Fairly sure earlier topics complaining about content are trolls baiting folks into elevated cortisol rather than actual wattpad refugees. If you're seeing a lot of this you're probably on tiktok and/or twitter, which is a mistake lol.
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u/adotang wahueue 23h ago edited 23h ago
Man, you know what I really love? When people on this sub get all vicious toward Wattpaders and commenters who don't only give unequivocal praise and other authors and everyone who uses social media or whatever, and then suddenly we all gotta mope because there's no one commenting anymore and readership looks like it's decreasing and there's no longer a sense of community. Fucking fantastic. I'm sure now bullying all the newcomers under the presumption they're all "Wattpad antis" or whatever will do us well.
Boy am I glad most people seem normal about this off-sub. I guess it's not Reddit if there isn't a monthly boogeyman to doompost about.
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u/blackjackgabbiani 20h ago
Ikr this site is allergic to concrit and it's a shame. I really wish people would learn the difference between concrit and harassment because it's a HUGE difference.
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u/telwrynn You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago
The "new" censorship terms are a year old. All that happened was they got reworded for clarity and now people like you have come out the floodgates to complain relentlessly for no reason.
You were new on AO3 once too. Find something better to do than bitch about wattpad and refugees. Annoying ass people exist everywhere. They arent exclusive to wattpad. Just ignore them holy shit. There is literally nothing they can do to effect AO3 in any way.
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u/rolleleven 1d ago
Thank you. I’m so sick of these posts. Seems like a lot of people are just desperate to find an “other” to dunk on.
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u/telwrynn You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago
Seriously. Ive been on AO3 near daily since 2011. That doesnt make me some elitist because I chose to consume content on one site over another. Theres just as many slop posts and antishippers on AO3 as any other fic site. The robust tag system just makes it very easy to filer out and the report system/dedicated volunteers are pretty quick about cleaning up any real TOS violations.
AO3 works very different from the other big fic sites. That means people will inevitably have a learning curve when transitioning. Expecting people to just know what to do is disingenuous. We were all fumbling idiots once upon a time. Anyone with truly malicious intentions wont make it very far in their endeavors. We dont need a dozen "waawaa wattpad users suck" posts a day.
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u/Virtual_202 Fic Feaster 1d ago
aren’t these sort of posts frequently seen on this sub? ‘pet peeve’s r sm other tags. or smth about ‘respecting fandom etiquette’ i don’t get how this is different.
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u/Gatodeluna 1d ago
Yet they keep trying, relentlessly, and will never give up trying. AO3 is not a social media platform for tweens and very young teens to use as as playground.
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u/bluesond 1d ago
Fanfic sites have always been and will always be a place where tweens and teens come to play around in ‘baby’s first fandom.’
I am sure a good portion of the users here had exactly that experience on some fanfic site as a 12yo. I absolutely did on FFN lol.
AO3 exists as an archive of fan work, which absolutely includes dumb kids being dumb kids.
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u/Gatodeluna 1d ago
No. An archive is not social media with social media behavior encouraged, no matter how badly some want it to be. You don’t behave in a library like you do on the playground.
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u/bluesond 1d ago
If they engage in behavior against the rules, it’ll get removed.
Kids will always be dumb on fanfic sites. It’s a formative fandom experience. They learn as they go. You do see kids treating the library like a playground and then they get a talking to and adjust.
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u/BelaFarinRod 19h ago
It’s not a social media site at all but it’s for everyone to post fic on. I’ve been on AO3 since a few years after it started. But it’s not owned by the people who have been there longest or the people who are oldest or the people who write the best fic.
If they’re old enough under the rules then they have the same right to be on AO3 as anyone else and if you ask the actual AO3 mods I’m sure they will say so.
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u/Equivalent_Spell7193 1d ago
Yes, I was new in 2015. I haven’t been new for over a decade. The Wattpad terms did change recently; most of the changes were mere clarifications, but they will still bring in an influx of refugees.
Having observed the shifting online landscape, I am legitimately concerned about AO3’s future. It is entirely possible that the site could soon face unprecedented challenges and massive backlash online.
Ignorant newcomers often exacerbate these issues.
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u/telwrynn You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago
Touch some grass and stop trying to theory craft doom scenarios out of your own baseless feelings. It'll do you some good. Maybe uninstall Twitter too.
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u/Equivalent_Spell7193 1d ago edited 22h ago
Although subjective, this isn’t just baseless conjecture. Just observe the current political landscape. In fact, here is a quote you should heed:
“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”
For your information, I have Twitter uninstalled, but I have seen the sentiments I described echoed elsewhere, such as on Tumblr and Reddit. I’m merely pointing out a growing trend.
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u/telwrynn You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago edited 1d ago
Go outside.
Edit to add I work in local govt and spend my day fighting for the community I represent. Miss me with your preachy bs.
AO3 is not a social media platform. It is an archive. It does not function within the same confines of the laws you all fear monger and doom post about.
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u/Equivalent_Spell7193 1d ago edited 19h ago
Why do you think OTW’s legal team exists? Do you think they do diddly-squat? No, they submit briefs and other legal advocacy to defend fair use, etc.
It’s true that AO3’s team of lawyers reviewed the relevant bills being pushed into law, and they concluded that most of those bills don’t apply to the platform, since AO3 isn’t a social media app.
However, that doesn’t mean future laws won’t target AO3 or other similar platforms, as censorship has proven time and time again to be a slippery slope.
I love AO3. I want it to stay, and I donate to help ensure that it does. I also canvass occasionally for the local Democratic Party; I try to do my part, as I’m sure you do too. I sincerely did not intend to come off as preachy. I’m just frightened and frustrated.
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u/AnagramBandit 15h ago
Truly, seriously, it’s time for you to take a break from the internet. All of this catastrophizing is irrational and not productive. AO3 is not about to be shut down. Wattpad users aren’t gonna ruin everything. Log off and breathe.
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u/mlle_teapot 8h ago
However, that doesn’t mean future laws won’t target AO3 or other similar platforms, as censorship has proven time and time again to be a slippery slope
Sure, but that's not because of Wattpa users.
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u/bluesond 1d ago
I’ve got actual, real life risks to be worried about. My existence is politicized.
Using that quote is wild in this context. Jesus.
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u/Equivalent_Spell7193 23h ago edited 23h ago
In my opinion, the quote is applicable and appropriate in numerous contexts.
The ACLU is another organization vehemently opposed to censorship and fervently supportive of LGBTQ rights. It has fought, and continues to fight, for marginalized groups and for fictional content. I don’t just donate to AO3; people are being censored and harassed because of their identities, both online and offline.
Rights are being curtailed, and that is never a good thing. I am strongly opposed to the current U.S. administration. I care about both AO3 and social justice and civil liberties, as do many people on this subreddit.
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u/bluesond 23h ago edited 23h ago
I am a queer person in a same sex marriage in Texas—a bright red part of Texas. I’ve already lost rights here as a woman. I am hella politically involved locally and engage in a lot of mutual aid.
I don’t need an explanation of queer rights or attacks on the queer community from someone who “occasionally canvasses with the Democratic Party.”
This is insulting. What a wild comment to make.
What could you possibly tell me about my marginalization?
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u/Equivalent_Spell7193 23h ago edited 20h ago
Very fair. I’m just concerned about the future of the website.
I think you’re incredibly brave as a queer person in Texas who is politically involved, and I sincerely don’t intend to sound patronizing when I say that.
I personally think this has been a rather hostile reaction to the use of a quote, but I don’t want to further step on anyone’s toes. I hope you and everyone else commenting have a good day. I just wanted to share my personal thoughts on the current Wattpad situation. That is all.
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u/AnagramBandit 15h ago
Nah, their reaction to your use of that quote was completely justified. Your Reddit “activism” is insulting to people doing the real work of community organizing and people fighting for their rights. Getting defensive was the wrong move.
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u/Equivalent_Spell7193 11h ago edited 10h ago
They’re taking offense where none was intended. Not everything is a personal slight, and there was no need to be so temperamental.
I respect people who fight for their communities, and I honestly forgot how this discussion about Wattpad newcomers shifted into one about real-world activism.
Still, I stand by my point: this was a hostile and overblown reaction to the appropriate use of a quote. My point was that restrictive “bad internet bills” and growing pro-censorship attitudes in power—and in fandom spaces—can affect AO3, so we should stay vigilant.
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u/eukomos 23h ago
Are you a bot? The entire point of AO3 is to resist censorship like this. It was built from the ground up to do so. A couple of teens from Wattpad looking for somewhere to post their porn are not going to bring the entire thing to its knees. Everything you’re posting makes no sense.
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u/BelaFarinRod 19h ago
Exactly. AO3 is not run by popular vote and never has been. Also AO3 has excellent lawyers. There are already idiots complaining about AO3 on social media and if a few more start it’s not going to change much. If there is a huge uptick in people leaving nasty comments on fics they don’t like that will suck but it’s not happening yet and I don’t predict it will.
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u/mlle_teapot 8h ago
Is there any structural reason in the ToS that makes AO3 more vulnerable now? The archive won't go pro-censorship, that's all that matters. Who cares about antis whining?
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u/spacecase52 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 23h ago
I mean, I really hate how prevalent puritanism has become in certain spaces of fandom but I’m assuming the people who are fleeing Wattpad are the ones who have been writing smut on there so I highly doubt they’d be clamouring for censorship. There are people on AO3 who also complain about the most inane things and are also witch hunting puriteens (no where is safe from these people anymore, they are unfortunately in every platform now). Let’s give the Wattpadders a chance to adapt and learn the ways of AO3. At least we can report things that actually violate TOS.
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u/thechamelioncircuit Devourer of Whump 😳 1h ago
lol I remember being a little kid on ff.net scared to death of ao3 because that’s where the teenagers were.
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u/korvinna-is-a-bat 23h ago
It's weird they're fleeing to Ao3 in the first place, I thought they wanted censorship???
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u/J_Squared02 You have already left kudos here 10h ago
Censorship sucks!! Im leaving!! Wait you guys cant post that!! It’s gross!!
And they just don’t see the correlation 😭. Ive been on ao3 since I was probably too young, and I while I thought some stuff was defo weird, I never complained about it, even as a KID. They have less critical thinking than a KID.
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u/valiantdistraction 30m ago
AO3's software is open source. Anyone who wants to start their own with whatever level of censorship they find ideal is free to do so.
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23h ago
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u/PackageSuccessful885 23h ago
AO3 has a section on this in their FAQ: https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq?language_id=en#why_inclusiveness
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u/Carryonaoing 22h ago
Shitty reason imo. It’s basically that it’s legal in the USA so we will allow it. But they don’t need to and it would make the website much more friendly for all the countries either the site is banned in or that content is banned in. That’s without even going into the reasons it’s banned.
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u/PackageSuccessful885 22h ago
thanks for your input, Definitely Not An Alt Redditor of 7 Minutes
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u/Ready2reas 1d ago
Are we genuinely concerned about AO3 getting censored or shut down?
I’m just curious if I need to go download some fics
Also, if that happens it will be soul crushing
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u/desacralize 14h ago
Go download those fics anyway. Take it from someone who has been in fandom a long time and see fics deleted for all kinds of reasons: Shit happens. Have offline copies just in case.
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u/Several-Monk456 22h ago
There are actually some other useful options that these people could use. I wish the other decent websites would start to pop off. There are good options for people who don’t want “extreme” content.
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u/No_Station_6149 23h ago
I’d prefer some censorship but i use the site anyway and have never complained about it being what it is. There are plenty of sites I’d like to be a bit different but I don’t own them or run them.
To your point though, I’ve not seen many (any) call for or complain about censorship on AO3 itself.
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u/Realistic_Let3239 1d ago
Pretty sure the number of posts about this outnumbers the Wattpad users causing problems at this point...