The Need for Niche Sparks Fear as New Fans Discover Ao3
Avery Cheeseman, arts and culture editor
Archive of Our Own (Ao3) is a free, non-profit, open-source website for fanfiction. Ao3 functions as an online archive that allows users to read and publish fan-created content. As of recently, I have been hearing a lot of big opinions in the fandom space surrounding this site.
The current conflict surrounds fears that older users harbor towards younger users. Recently, Ao3’s newfound popularity has broken many of the universally accepted rules surrounding fandom and fan creation. To many people, fandom is a space that you get into by purposely seeking it out. I have come across numerous TikTok videos discussing the frustration that people feel with seeing others post Ao3 fanfiction directly on TikTok. Ao3 has also recently been linked in the New York Times when discussing Heated Rivalry fanfiction. Many folks in fandoms are anxious at the prospect of people from outside their fandoms, who normally would not check out the content, coming in to read stories.
The current conflict surrounds fears that older users harbor towards younger users. Recently, Ao3’s newfound popularity has broken many of the universally accepted rules surrounding fandom and fan creation.
avery cheeseman
People are particularly worried about newer fans not understanding Ao3 fandom etiquette. Ao3 etiquette is fairly easy to understand, but the fear lingers that outside people may not take the time to learn it. There are only a few pieces of etiquette surrounding this site. Firstly, if you do not like something that is posted, do not interact with it. Ao3 was created as a safe space for all fandoms. This means that the site can have a lot of unsavory content. Secondly, you must properly use tags on your fics. Ao3 uses tags so that you can sort through and find the content that you want and avoid the rest. Since anything goes on Ao3, tags are super important, so people can sift through stuff with unwanted tags.
The other big issue that has been plaguing the Ao3 community has to do with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The usage of artificially generated content in fandom spaces is only increasing. I have come across a few videos online where fans have expressed their frustrations about
Ao3 being overrun with AI fanfictions. This again goes directly against
fandom etiquette. Fanfiction is supposed to be a labor of love. It is about the art that you are
creating. Using AI to write fanfiction is taking away the crucial aspect of creating art in the fanfiction writing process. AI cannot be a fan of a piece of media, so how could it ever write real fanfiction?
As previously mentioned, all of these fears surround new users. I am not surprised, as it is quite common for older generations to have quarrels with younger generations. There is always the fear of letting someone into a space that you really care about, especially when they have a chance of impacting your enjoyment of it. I personally think it is wonderful that there are a lot of new fans out there. I just hope that there is a more succinct way to educate fans on how to navigate Ao3. I am not yet sure how this can be done, but I always recommend that new Ao3 readers find some different tutorials on how to properly navigate the site and what is expected of users. At the end of the day, we have all been new to fandom spaces. Acknowledging these fears is important, but it is also important to allow new fans into the space.