March Meta Matters

[ysabetwordsmith]

The March Meta Matters challenge is now active over on marchmetamatterschallenge. See the first check-in post here for introductions. Read the FAQ list, as there may have been some changes from previous years. See my entry from 2023.

This challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. The fest recommends SquidgeWorld. There will be some prompts for creating new meta. Participants can post their goals for saving old meta and/or creating new meta. You can also collect, recommend, and save meta created by other people if it's not something you make yourself or yours is already up to date and saved.

Note that AO3 is sadly erratic when it comes to meta, parts of the rules are unclear in ways that cause problems, and the result is pretty hostile. :( Multiple people have posted meta there only to have it taken down -- and that can get your account suspended. So fewer people are choosing to post or crosspost their meta to AO3, and looking for other places to post or copy it. However, there is still a community for March Meta Matters on AO3 for those who wish to risk posting meta there.

Some canon-specific websites have a section especially for meta about their fandom to help new fans learn the canon and to inspire fanworks. In particular, it used to be common for people to make fanifestos about a canon, its ships, major fanworks, etc. as guides to newcomers in hopes of growing the fandom; reviving this custom would be very helpful. If you know of such resources, March is a good time to post about them so more folks can find them and make sure that meta is backed up.



Me and My Meta

Read my introductory comment under the first check-in post on marchmetamatterschallenge.

My credentials as a meta creator and archivist:
I have a degree in Rhetoric with a Women's Studies minor. I have read entire libraries and written multiple books. I am a wordsmith by innate talent, vocation, and profession. I am a writer, editor, reviewer, reader, and fan. I am a hobby-scientist studying pretty much everything.

My most popular meta series include:
* "Hurt/Comfort as a Genre," "Hurt/Comfort Plot Structure," "Hurt/Comfort and Literary Merit"
* Nonsexual Intimacies (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
* Skills Heroes Need tag
* Skin Hunger (Part 1)

Original series for which I've posted lots of meta:
* A Conflagration of Dragons
* Daughters of the Apocalypse
* Polychrome Heroics set in Terramagne
* Quixotic Ideas set in Quorth

Shared worlds for which I've posted lots of meta:
* The Blueshift Troupers
* Schrodinger's Heroes
* Torn World (sadly its website is no longer open to the public)
* The Ursulan Cycle (genderbent King Arthur)
* See also "Build with the Mind" and its notes on worldbuilding (instructions, links, storyworld physical notes, storyworld population)

Relevant tags and memories:
* A Little Slice of Terramagne on Dreamwidth (103 entries)
* A Little Slice of Terramagne on LiveJournal
* Meta tag on Dreamwidth (107 entries)
* Meta tag on LiveJournal
* Review tag on Dreamwidth (507 entries)
* Review tag on LiveJournal


Goals

As part of this challenge, I hope to write some new meta about Wednesday (The Addams Family), this time focusing on Thing.

I am also working to promote this challenge so more people will take part in it and/or find new meta to enjoy.


Done!

* Posted my introduction on marchmetamatterschallenge.

* Posted about March Meta Matters on my blog.

* Archived my Meta tag entries from the last year. See a list of my meta posts here.

* Archived my Review tag entries from the last year. See a list of my review posts here.

* Promoted March Meta Matters about fandom venues on reddit_refugees.

* Promoted March Meta Matters about bingo meta on allbingo.

* Promoted March Meta Matters about crowdfunding meta on crowdfunding.

* Promoted March Meta Matters about fictional bird meta on birdfeeding.

* Finished archiving my How To tag entries from the last year. See an excerpt of my how to posts here.

* Posted Meta: Fandom Changes.

* Finished posting my series of meta "Why We Need Thing" for Wednesday (The Addams Family).
-- Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 1: Overview
-- Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 2: Disabilities and Differences
-- Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 3: Relationships
-- Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 4: Episodes
-- Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 5: Memorable Fanworks

* Posted "Hobbies: Board Games" with a huge list of resources for tabletop games.

* Posted Meta: Canon Formats.


Other Meta Communities

Dreamwidth offers a variety of communities dedicated to meta. I have listed these for Follow Friday 3/1/24: Meta. In addition to dedicated communities, a number of other panfandom or canon-specific communities include meta among the types of content they welcome. Check your favorite fandoms and communities for additional places to find or share meta. You may wish to save your favorite posts from those too.


Archive Websites

Various sites let you save a page for future reference. The most famous of these is The Wayback Machine, which I use the most; it's good for PDFs but not so good for pictures unless you save those individually. I also use Archive.fo -- it does a better job of saving pictures, but doesn't safe PDFs well. These are places where you can save meta, your own or someone else's, so it will stay visible even if its current host closes or becomes unusable. I recommend that you try different archives to see what they do well, so you can decide which to use and what to save where.

10 Best Wayback Machine Alternatives in 2023 - Geekflare

15 Best Wayback Machine Alternatives 2023

Best Internet Archive Alternatives From Around The Web

Top 9 Wayback Machine Alternative Sites (Web Archive Sites)


Are you participating in March Meta Matters? Comment with a link to your meta!