on bookmarks
written 24 september 2023.
every so often, posts wherein OP scolds ao3 readers for leaving negative feedback in their bookmark notes will cross my dash.
"those things are Public, don't you know? Anyone can see them, including authors!
"Don't be rude or ungrateful towards the fic writers by saying mean things there! Make a private bookmark if you must be such a cruel hater—"
…etc. etc. etc.
now, i'm not saying that readers are entitled to be shits to fic authors bc it is true we are doing this for free (*laser hawk eyes sharpen upon Anyone trying to do otherwise*), in our spare time as a hobby, and for fun.
but i still think these complaints are just plain dumb.
like, first of all, bookmark notes are not the same as leaving a comment for two reasons:
- comments left on ao3 works are typically directed at the creator, while bookmark notes are not. this is reflected in the critical:
- we authors will receive notification of a new ao3 comment by default, whereas there is no setting on ao3 that will allow us to be informed of a new bookmark, let alone of someone's notes left in said bookmark.
we must check our work bookmarks ourselves, of our own choice, to read the public notes left behind on them: we are entering the reader's space by doing this!
there is a historical role in fandom communities that i have observed in my forays into studying the livejournal era of fandom and its crowd, which i will describe to you today as "curators" or "tastemakers". they may or may not be artists or writers or creators themselves, but they will often be always searching for new fanworks related to their interests and make rec lists for those less willing or able to trawl through the slush piles themselves. in this way, they have served as, well, tastemakers in their communities.
what i'm saying here is that aside from allowing any user to maintain a list of works relevant to their own tastes, ao3 bookmarks also allow for curators and tastemakers to publicly evaluate works in accordance to their tastes.
am i saying that we should just bow in agreement to the tastes of these people who may or may not have social clout as a result of "curating the tastes for their community"? Hell No! i hated the tastemakers in some of my previous fandoms and resented some of them for ages after leaving that fandom!!!!!!!!
but i have more friends with tastes akin to my own these days, and i can rely on them to know that i am not alone in my visions and interpretations of these characters. we can rely on one another for tasty rec and productive, insightful conversations.
and as a result, i am able to step back and accept that my tastes are not universal (whilst my friends and i all explode the other people w/our minds, ofc), and that even people who disagree w/me deserve a space to do so comfortably. bc like i said earlier— by checking the bookmarks on our works, we authors are entering the reader's domain, and we are not entitled to their good review.
and personally, i don't like the idea that readers should be disallowed from expressing criticism or negativity on my works at all.
notice how i didn't even specify "polite" criticism there!! bc propriety looks different to everyone (and many of us aren't even taught how to leave good, concrete feedback), i know there are well-meaning readers out there who have been burned by authors lashing out at them for what they had believed to be "polite criticism", if they thought they were leaving criticism at all!! (i was definitely one of them when i was younger!!!)
bc ultimately for me, this subject is about granting my readers agency: what meaning is there in their praise if i know they could not or would not make the decision to flame me otherwise? like, i would hope they choose not to flame me every time, but it still has to be a choice.
i do not like to claim that i was a BNF in past fandoms bc i do not believe i ever achieved any sort of clout as a result of my fan activities. but i've had multiple admirers, kiss-ups, and unsolicited gifts all happen to me on a small scale in the past. and ofc, i know what it is like to admire another fan's works deeply.
but something that has been rather deeply drilled into me from reading other fannish essays (such as the ones hosted by the Trickster Fanfic Symposium) is that to be admired is to be isolated and dehumanized in several ways that only grow with the ardency of said admiration.
i do not want to be approached as anything greater than a raccoon in a propeller hat.
and so, although i know that other authors feel differently (and it should go w/o saying that their wishes should be respected), i believe that readers should be free to use their bookmarks however they please, even if it's just to say "hated this and couldn't finish it from how vomit-inducingly OOC it was."
bc what goes on in the bookmarks of my works is none of my business.