FanFiction.Net

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FanFiction.Net
Image:FFnet-27Jan07.png
Screenshot of homepage 2007-01-27.
URL http://www.fanfiction.net/
Commercial? No
Type of site Fanfiction archive
Registration Optional
Owner Xing Li
Created by Xing Li
Launched October 15, 1998
Current status Live

FanFiction.Net (often abbreviated as FF.Net or FFN) is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was founded on October 15, 1998 by Los Angeles computer programmer Xing Li, who also runs the site. As of 2005, FanFiction.Net is the largest and most popular fan fiction website in the world. It has nearly 1.3 million users, and hosts stories in over 30 languages.[1]

The site is split into eight main categories: Anime/Manga, Books, Cartoons, Miscellaneous, Games, Comics, Movies, and TV Shows. Users who complete the free registration process can submit their fan fiction, maintain a user profile, review other stories, contact each other via email or private messages, and maintain a list of favorite stories and authors. There are also centralized communities and forums.

Contents

[edit] Site structure

Stories on the site are arranged in categories and subcategories. For example, the category TV Shows might include the subcategories Star Trek and Happy Days. By default, stories are listed in order of when they were last updated, starting with the most recent ones; the lists may also be filtered by length, genre, rating, or language, or primary character. Stories are listed in the following format:

Story Title by Author Penname reviews
Story Summary
In-Progress/Complete - Fiction Category - Fiction Rating - Language - Genre/Genre - Chapters - Word Count - Reviews - Date of Last Update - Publish Date

[edit] Policies and policy changes

FanFiction.Net instituted several policy changes as it grew in size and popularity. These policies frequently led to the deletion of fan fiction that was based on the copyrighted works of certain published authors or contained specifically targeted content.

[edit] Honoring author requests

Since the site's founding, several professional authors and producers have asked that stories based on their copyrighted or trademarked works be removed. As of 2007, uploading fan fiction based on works by the following authors is forbidden on FanFiction.Net:[2]

[edit] NC-17

On September 12, 2002, FanFiction.Net banned material that was rated NC-17. Stories categorized as NC-17, or advertised as potentially such were removed without prior notice. Since then, the site has relied on its users to report stories that are inappropriately rated.

Prior to the new policy, the site would use a pop-up to prompt readers to say whether they were over 17 or not, a measure which proved to be largely ineffective.

While some protested at the NC-17 ban and others edited their work to be suitable for an M rating, most simply moved their work to personal sites, fan fiction mailing lists, online blogs, archives which allowed or specifically catered to writers and readers of adult fan fiction material, or journals (particularly LiveJournals). Much NC-17 material was moved to a site under the name of Adultfanfiction.net, a similar site which was created to serve those adults who write R and NC-17 rated fan fiction, or websites like Ficwad.com or MediaMiner.org, which accept all ratings. The NC-17 ban prompted many authors to abandon the site completely for one or both other sites that allowed R and NC-17 stories. Despite this ban, a large amount of fan fiction with pornographic content can still be found, even though it is not allowed. The large majority of this material is rated M, so it can easily be avoided. Anyone can report this material, even if they do not have an account on fanfiction.net. Story titles and summaries have to be rated G. This can be reported by anyone as well if the story title or summary isn't.

[edit] Restrictions on format

Around the same time as the ban on NC-17 rated fan fiction, FanFiction.net banned fan fiction written in script format. Some authors who wrote in script format moved to other sites that accept script format. However, many authors just ignore it and write in script format anyway.

In 2005, FanFiction.net banned songfics from being posted on the site due to potential legal action from copyright holders of lyrics. Public domain lyrics such as those to "Amazing Grace" or lyrics written by the author of the fan fiction are not directly addressed. Despite this, as of January 5th 2008, there are currently over 33,000 summaries containing the word 'songfic' (though some may also be using it in the context of "not a songfic"). The anti-songfic rule is also widely disregarded.

In 2006, FanFiction.Net banned the incorporation of responses to reviews in subsequent story chapters and instead created a way to respond to reviews via private messages to the reviewers. People still do it in the chapters, regardless of the rules.

[edit] Criticism

Quality control is one of the many issues associated with the archive. Stories can be posted regardless of editing or proofreading, and the quality of the work is dependent entirely upon the individual writer.

There had also been criticism towards the management of reviews; up until recently, there was no way to delete or hide spam or 'flames' from logged-in users, nor was there any type of moderation for reviews. However, on November 28 2007, FanFiction.Net introduced the ability to report offensive reviews to the administrators of the site.[3].

Spam and flaming can be prevented through use of the block feature which prevents private messages, signed-reviews, and use of personal forums from registered users. An option to disable anonymous reviews exists as well. Recently a new feature was added which enabled the user to toggle swearing in reviews and forums on and off. This was going to be implemented for stories as well for the lower ratings but, due to reactions from users, the attempt was abandoned.

[edit] FictionPress

FanFiction.net has a sister site, FictionPress.com, which contains hundreds of thousands of original stories, poems, and plays. The site has a similar format and similar rules to FanFiction.net. Original fiction was initially hosted on FanFiction.net but eventually moved to the newly created FictionPress.com due to the fact that one site could not hold both archives and run efficiently.

[edit] Globalization

Previously, FanFiction.net's server was accessible mainly only in the west and worked poorly if at all in other parts of the world. In late 2006, announcements were made of special web links designed for Europe and Asia. These would give other areas of the world a significant boost in server speed on the website.

This site has a range of many genres in both poetry and prose, from action to spiritual. It also has over half a million writers/readers, and is home to over 900,000 original works.

In 2007, all three web links were combined under one world-wide link. In an announcement on the home page, it was stated that the site will go global in 2007.

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] - Fanfictions Search Engline, click the Language (all) drop down menu to see the languages
  2. ^ [2] (Note: Must possess free account)
  3. ^ http://www.fanfiction.net/

[edit] External links

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