lirazel | (no subject)

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Okay, I gotta know:

I use AO3 bookmarks to save my favorite fics--fics I want to reread, fics I think people who like my fic would also like, fics I recommend, etc.

I use the Mark for Later function to mark fics I want to read later.

And when I see someone else's bookmarks, I assume that they are saying "This fic is fantastic! You should read it!"

But apparently people use the bookmarks for things they want to read later? So they may not actually be recommending the fic in their bookmarks?

Poll #27610 AO3 Bookmarks

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 41

View Respondents

How do you mark AO3 fics you want to read later?

View Answers

I use the Mark for Later feature
25 (61.0%)

I use the Bookmark feature (only for things I haven't read)
3 (7.3%)

I use the Bookmark feature (and also use it to mark stories I love/rec/want to reread)
8 (19.5%)

I use pinboard/my browser's bookmarks/another outside site/add-on, etc.
10 (24.4%)

I just have a zillion tabs open at any given time
16 (39.0%)

I just read the fic as soon as I come across it
7 (17.1%)

I don't read fic on AO3/I don't read fic at all
0 (0.0%)

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I have a multi-tiered system involving both leaving tabs open to read for later if I think I'm going to read it soon, and sticking the link into an email draft to save for later (with some minimum metadata for my future self's reference) if I don't think I'm going to be in the right headspace to clear that fic out of my tbr list promptly

I know from experience that saving fics in outside lists to read later (eg using pinboard or on ao3's save for later function) means it becomes a void that fics disappear into and I will never look at them again. idk why email drafts are different for me, but they are! perhaps it's that there's one fic per draft, and I don't have to look at the whole list and get overwhelmed, I just have to look at that one fic.

I have a multi-tiered system involving both leaving tabs open to read for later if I think I'm going to read it soon

I do this too! And use "mark for later" if I think it won't be a while before I get to it.

idk why email drafts are different for me, but they are! perhaps it's that there's one fic per draft, and I don't have to look at the whole list and get overwhelmed, I just have to look at that one fic.

That's so interesting! I really like learning how we use the same sites differently.

Oh I forgot to mention that I also have a multi-tiered system of how I handle getting ao3 subscription emails, because that's another way I save fic for later!

If it's a notification of a completed story, or the last chapter in a wip, then it remains in the inbox (marked unread) to wait for me to get round to reading it.

If it's notifications of a new chapter in a wip, then if it's a wip I feel able to actively keep up with as it updates then I treat it in the same way I do a completed story, but if I feel it's better saved for when it's done, then I file it into an "ao3 wip" folder in my email so it's out of the way but I still have it as a reminder of where it's at and that I haven't read that chapter, and wait for the notification that it's done.

My big takeaway from this conversation: we are all doing a lot of work curating our own fic-reading experiences!

yes absolutely!

ahhh I remember the days when I merely had five million* tabs open at any given moment and did nothing else. that was not sustainable.

*between 50-200

i know i probably sparked this conversation but it frustrates me that the Bookmark function specifically has a 'Rec' option but people say they ignore that option and take bookmarks as recs, and so I am not just allowed to use them as bookmarks anymore apparently???? *screams*

The rec function is a new development--it certainly wasn't there when I started using the site in 2009 or so. By the time they introduced it, I'd been using the bookmark function for that for years and years.

so I am not just allowed to use them as bookmarks anymore apparently????

Of course not! You can use it however it works for you! I just think people default to interpreting however they use it.

Now, if someone had a bunch of fics bookmarked and some of them were marked with the "rec" option, but some were not, I would conclude from those context clues that that person was only reccing the ones that were marked thus.

*looks at poll* Good to know it's not just me.

But now I can't decide whether to give up private bookmarks ('someone must be spying on me!' the recipient thinks) and risk public bookmarks ('why did they bookmark but not kudo or comment they must not have liked it :( ) or go to 'mark for later' (will not. spite.) or just delete my account, and go live in the woods.

From a writerly perspective, bookmarks are wonderful! Because people might not leave a comment, but _will_ bookmark the work with lovely notes, which I love. :)

Or say, "Screw everyone else, I'm going to use this site the way I want to!" and just do whatever you want! Imo, you are not responsible for how other people interpret your actions!

Forgive me if this was more of a rhetoric remark than an actual point you agonise over and look for solutions for, and I'm very much in support of the "Screw everyone else and what they might be thinking about my bookmarking habits" view, but: One thing I've seen people do with their bookmarks is to either tag or annotate them with "Read later" or similar. So if you're feeling anxious about people thinking your bookmarks could be interpreted as recommending a fic, adding such annotations or tags might be something you could consider doing in the future?

I'm not great at using ao3's bookmarks, and don't use the "mark for later" feature at all--when I want to save a fic to read later, I just bookmark it in my browser, or if it's by a writer I'm subscribed to, I just keep the notification e-mail until I've read the fic. I also keep e-mail drafts with stuff I want to read--I generally use e-mail drafts as to-do lists, so this makes sense to me. I rarely have big lists of fic to read later, though--this mostly happens during Yuletide!

Oh, I also keep the notification emails!

It's so so interesting how differently we all use the same site! I love talking about these things!

I tried to use the mark for later feature, but I always forgot about it and never read the fics. Out of sight, out of mind. Nowadays if I really intend to read a fic but can't read it now, I email the link to myself or keep the notification email in my inbox (if I received one). But I make an effort to read fics as soon as I see them because I am just not that great at going back to read them later, no matter what strategy I use.

It seems that emailing links is a popular strategy!

But I make an effort to read fics as soon as I see them because I am just not that great at going back to read them later, no matter what strategy I use.

I've always done that too, until I got into a massively large fandom where it just wasn't possible. But in general it seems like the easiest solution to me!

I hate the bookmarking interface on AO3 and almost never use it, except during that brief period when I was crossposting my recs there. My approach to saving stuff to read is a combo of open tabs, subscription notifs, and Kindle downloads. And then I use pinboard to bookmark after I've read.

Do you miss Delicious? I miss Delicious. I appreciate pinboard, but it's just not the same.

Honestly, not really. I miss people bookmarking more actively, I guess, but I've spent so long on Pinboard and bookmarked so much more stuff there than I ever did on Delicious that it feels more like my bookmarking home.

I'm glad to hear it! I like that pinboard is private in a way that Delicious wasn't, but I find it really clunky. I've started using Tagpacker for fic bookmarking instead, and I enjoy it more. But I miss the culture around Delicious still!

I'd never thought about this before, because with the Mark for Later option I expected everyone would use their bookmarks for fics they wanted to keep track of!

Yeah, I hadn't considered any of this until recently!

I use the My History feature for unread fic. If I use Mark for Later I never go hack to it.

Interesting! What, in your mind, is the difference that makes My History usable but Mark for Later not?

MFL requires an extra click. :P

Haha! Fair enough!

I ticked the other bookmarking thingy option, but none of these are true:

I bookmark things for reading later and sometimes (when anon in exchanges, esp. Yuletide where it's easy to lose things) for later filing with proper bookmarking site, but I make these private so the author is less likely to see the count go up and down and think worrying thoughts.

I do have a couple of recs, a couple of things I bookmarked so I could add the ship and character tags to them, and I only remember the Mark for Later feature once in a blue moon.

Idk why I don't use AO3 for bookmarking properly, but I think because I can't really sort it, so it bothers me. I probably should at least bookmark a few out and out faves by fave authors, especially in Doctor Who, or something, there too.

What I have learned from this discussion is that people use the site in so many different ways and people are annoyed by different aspects of it! Thank you for chiming in!

Huh, good question! It is interesting to see all the different ways people use these features.

I use Mark for Later if I'm feeling organised, and otherwise just keep a vague mental note of 'hmm, I should read that at some point' and go back and find the fic again when I feel like it (this would probably be less feasible in bigger fandoms than I'm generally reading in!). I use bookmarks a) for exchange fics I'm planning to rec, so I can find them when I put together a 'recs from this exchange' post and b) for my most favourite fics ever that I want to be able to find easily for re-reads—I suppose they are all fics I would rec, but reccing isn't directly the reason for creating the bookmark, in my mind.

It's so interesting, isn't it?

otherwise just keep a vague mental note of 'hmm, I should read that at some point' and go back and find the fic again when I feel like it (this would probably be less feasible in bigger fandoms than I'm generally reading in!)

Yup, this is how I used to do it, before I got into a fandom that's way too big for that to work.

I use bookmarks a) for exchange fics I'm planning to rec, so I can find them when I put together a 'recs from this exchange' post and b) for my most favourite fics ever that I want to be able to find easily for re-reads—I suppose they are all fics I would rec, but reccing isn't directly the reason for creating the bookmark, in my mind.

This makes sense to me!

I use pinboard for actual bookmarking (I don't want to bookmark INTO AN AUTHOR'S FACE, which it feels like AO3 does), but I do use AO3 bookmarks as actual bookmarks. That is, I use it to keep track of where I am in a long WIP or ficlet collection.

Ah! Yet another take! This makes sense!

I mark for later as well as the Bookmark feature but I make the Bookmark private. I check Rec when I want to recommend something.

Edited 2022-10-07 18:43 (UTC)

Thank you for chiming in! I'm learning so much!

I sometimes use "Mark for later" but often forget. If it sounds good I just download it and read later. I browser bookmark rec lists, though.

With the fic I'm currently posting, there are a few bookmarks of which I think ppl use it to mark it for later. Because it's far from finished.

Thank you for chiming in! I've loved this discussion!

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