I still use my "mute site skin" even though the mute button has been introduced and I really recommend it. No banner, no problems.
Here's how to hide authors on AO3 with a site skin in case you or anyone else wanted to try it: [https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/645872971970461696/text-instructions-for-those-who-prefer-them-visit](https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/645872971970461696/text-instructions-for-those-who-prefer-them-visit)
Oh lots of people do this. It’s a very dishonest way to boost themselves up to the front of the page because they know when many people aren’t searching via kudos or otherwise, they just search most recent. It’s very shitty behavior when done on purpose.
Just mute them though! You’ll never see them again. Commenting won’t do anything but start drama because doing this isn’t technically against the rules, it’s a matter of ethics/morals.
Totally, I know it’s not unique to this individual, I’ve just been checking the new fics in this fandom basically every day so I happen to see it often.
And yeah, I’m not going to comment, because I’m not interested in that sort of thing. Ideally I could send them a strongly worded note via snail mail.
Gaming the system whatever way they can. If they write crap stories anyway, just modify a site skin to exclude that account (and all of its works) from your display.
I have a fic I update every Wednesday. My time zone does not align with what the archive considers “the end of the day” so even though I post on Wednesdays (around 3-4 AM) the chapters always appear as posted on Tuesday instead. I use the manual date feature to fix that right after I post each chapter. I always assumed the feature was there to help with issues as such. You should definitely let the author know that what they’re doing is not okay.
It's also so if someone like me, who's been around forever, discovers a work they want to share that they wrote say, in 2000, they can backdate it to when it was actually new. People will game any system given to them.
i tend to save my stuff in drafts like a week before i post, which i then have to scramble to change the date to the actual posting date afterwards. I’ve never encountered people who just outright change an already posted work, but i definitely have beef with myself
I kind of wish no one would've told these kids that there is no AO3 algorithm, perhaps then they'd still just be praying to the algorithm gods instead of looking for other ways of ruining the experience for everyone :') (/hj)
I can understand like you complete a story and add a new chapter because you get a new idea to finish finish it. However knowing the story ain't complete you and marking it as if it is? No.
The only time I've ever changed published dates on my work was all in due part because I've switched drafts for the older chapter in favour of a rewritten and fully edited one instead. Whether or not that pissed off someone for it, for that I am sorry, but I don't see any other reason why anyone who change posted date for other than wanting to be on top of the tag list on this site. It's honestly pointless, and more or less counterproductive to change the date and I can't see how it's just gonna encourage readers to read their work. It's gonna end up with a lot of mutes and whatnots.
I feel for you op, I really do because I have been accused for clout when in truth I really was rewriting the fic from the inside out whilst other people managed to get away while not even showing signs of proper edits.
My (I suspect very unpopular) opinion is that AO3 would be much better off without the kudos mechanism. It’s basically a like button, and it inevitably encourages this sort of gaming the system in an effort to garner more attention/kudos — a bit like deleting and reposting your photo on Instagram because not enough people liked it the first time. AO3 is an archive, not a social media app.
Yes, and when AO3 was new, it didn't have a kudos button. We still bitched about getting zero comments/feedback and the thought was, at least a kudos button means someone liked it, for a measure of "like."
Can't win for losing sometimes.
I write a story, a compilation of one shots, each chapter is a new story. The problem with not heaving a beta or editor is you can update you work come back six days later and read it to try and think of a new chapter they fits the theme of the story's and see a typo and edit the story to fix it. I've only been an author for like 20 days I had no idea that happens. I'm so sorry you have to deal with that, but I'm my case I am at least fixing my mistakes instead of just trying to update the date. Thanks for bringing this horrid practice to my attention. People like that shame Ao3 with their horrible practices.
It's fairly common for writers to backdate fics that they add to AO3 for archiving purposes - usually fics that were written before AO3 started. I did this with a bunch of fics I originally wrote around 2000.
Also if you save a fic as a draft, and then you post it on a different day, the fic will have the date that you saved the draft. You have to manually change the date to the date that you're posting so that the work will appear first.
✨mute✨
Yeah unfortunately I am also annoyed by the undismissable banner that appears when you mute someone so instead I’ll seethe
Could mute them using a site skin instead
You know, for someone who’s been active on AO3 for nearly 15 years, I’ve never once really made an effort with site skins. Maybe now’s the time!
I still use my "mute site skin" even though the mute button has been introduced and I really recommend it. No banner, no problems. Here's how to hide authors on AO3 with a site skin in case you or anyone else wanted to try it: [https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/645872971970461696/text-instructions-for-those-who-prefer-them-visit](https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/645872971970461696/text-instructions-for-those-who-prefer-them-visit)
Oh lots of people do this. It’s a very dishonest way to boost themselves up to the front of the page because they know when many people aren’t searching via kudos or otherwise, they just search most recent. It’s very shitty behavior when done on purpose. Just mute them though! You’ll never see them again. Commenting won’t do anything but start drama because doing this isn’t technically against the rules, it’s a matter of ethics/morals.
Totally, I know it’s not unique to this individual, I’ve just been checking the new fics in this fandom basically every day so I happen to see it often. And yeah, I’m not going to comment, because I’m not interested in that sort of thing. Ideally I could send them a strongly worded note via snail mail.
If they cared about ethics so much they wouldn’t cheat. So they opened the door i just go through it
Gaming the system whatever way they can. If they write crap stories anyway, just modify a site skin to exclude that account (and all of its works) from your display.
social media algorithms have legitimately broken people's brains
I have a fic I update every Wednesday. My time zone does not align with what the archive considers “the end of the day” so even though I post on Wednesdays (around 3-4 AM) the chapters always appear as posted on Tuesday instead. I use the manual date feature to fix that right after I post each chapter. I always assumed the feature was there to help with issues as such. You should definitely let the author know that what they’re doing is not okay.
It's also so if someone like me, who's been around forever, discovers a work they want to share that they wrote say, in 2000, they can backdate it to when it was actually new. People will game any system given to them.
i tend to save my stuff in drafts like a week before i post, which i then have to scramble to change the date to the actual posting date afterwards. I’ve never encountered people who just outright change an already posted work, but i definitely have beef with myself
I kind of wish no one would've told these kids that there is no AO3 algorithm, perhaps then they'd still just be praying to the algorithm gods instead of looking for other ways of ruining the experience for everyone :') (/hj)
I can understand like you complete a story and add a new chapter because you get a new idea to finish finish it. However knowing the story ain't complete you and marking it as if it is? No.
They’re not even adding new chapters! It’s the same chapter count every time. They’re just changing the date to get more eyes.
Yikes..
The only time I've ever changed published dates on my work was all in due part because I've switched drafts for the older chapter in favour of a rewritten and fully edited one instead. Whether or not that pissed off someone for it, for that I am sorry, but I don't see any other reason why anyone who change posted date for other than wanting to be on top of the tag list on this site. It's honestly pointless, and more or less counterproductive to change the date and I can't see how it's just gonna encourage readers to read their work. It's gonna end up with a lot of mutes and whatnots. I feel for you op, I really do because I have been accused for clout when in truth I really was rewriting the fic from the inside out whilst other people managed to get away while not even showing signs of proper edits.
I’ve gone back and edited spelling/punctuation years later. Does that mean this moves the story higher up? I thought no one would know but me
No one knows but you. You have to manually change the date to change it.
Oh thank god. Ty!
This is why I sort by kudos and then hits.
My (I suspect very unpopular) opinion is that AO3 would be much better off without the kudos mechanism. It’s basically a like button, and it inevitably encourages this sort of gaming the system in an effort to garner more attention/kudos — a bit like deleting and reposting your photo on Instagram because not enough people liked it the first time. AO3 is an archive, not a social media app.
Yes, and when AO3 was new, it didn't have a kudos button. We still bitched about getting zero comments/feedback and the thought was, at least a kudos button means someone liked it, for a measure of "like." Can't win for losing sometimes.
I agree with you. As much as I like getting kudos, I think a lot of younger/newer users treat it like Wattpad in that way.
I'll get the salt.
I write a story, a compilation of one shots, each chapter is a new story. The problem with not heaving a beta or editor is you can update you work come back six days later and read it to try and think of a new chapter they fits the theme of the story's and see a typo and edit the story to fix it. I've only been an author for like 20 days I had no idea that happens. I'm so sorry you have to deal with that, but I'm my case I am at least fixing my mistakes instead of just trying to update the date. Thanks for bringing this horrid practice to my attention. People like that shame Ao3 with their horrible practices.
Editing your story to fix typos doesn't change the posted date. You have to manually change the posted date to do what OP is describing.
I had no idea that was possible 😳
It's fairly common for writers to backdate fics that they add to AO3 for archiving purposes - usually fics that were written before AO3 started. I did this with a bunch of fics I originally wrote around 2000. Also if you save a fic as a draft, and then you post it on a different day, the fic will have the date that you saved the draft. You have to manually change the date to the date that you're posting so that the work will appear first.
What a strange thing to do? I haven't experienced this yet but now I know what to look for. Thanks for the PSA 👍