On ffnet
I've just read laurielover1912 's post on the subject, and I must say, I agree with her point of view and thought I'd offer up my two cents' worth, along with an idea or two on how to deal with the current events over in ffnet land.
Most likely, you'll have come up with these solutions yourself, but, being an Aussie, I love to state the bleeding obvious.
I agree with laurie's point of view, and I really do think that anyone who reads the TOS there will have to admit that it says no explicit content - after all, it's open to all ages and legally, they are well within their rights, as much as it may irk many of us.
SUGGESTION 1:
Tell your ffnet readers where to find your more adult fics
There are many other sites out there where you can archive your naughtier fics, and if you want your ffnet readers to find them, you can always mention them in your bio along with a link, or, as ms_figg does, put a 'cleaned up' version on ff.net. She simply says in her bio that the full, more adult version can be found at her site. I think she even says it in the summary of some of her stories.
I do understand the anger and frustration of some people who've posted about this, but I think much of that is because they haven't thought the whole situation out and are perhaps reacting first and thinking later.
I'm sure once they think about it and envision a twelve or thirteen, or even a fifteen-year-old, say, stumbling upon, and reading their steamier work, then they'll see the reasoning behind it.
I know that kids can lie about their ages and join age restricted sites, but that's quite a big difference from a younger person stumbling across one on an open site - well, it is in my eyes anyway.
I'm far from a prude, and believe in freedom of expression, but there's nothing wrong with keeping younger readers safe, either - we can have both.
SUGGESTION 2:
If you want a quick, easy post on an age restricted site without a moderation queue:
If people don't want to go through a moderated site, then there's also sites like WIKTT archives http://www.themasque.net/wiktt/efiction/ where you can post without a moderation queue, is age restricted, requiring membership for higher ratings, and, contrary to its name, takes all pairings and genres of hp fan fiction. I've been posting there for a while and will continue to do so as an adjunct to other sites. Many of the authors from the now defunct OWL have moved their work there as well. Although I've been a member and enjoyed it since I started reading fan fiction, it had fallen into a bit of the doldrums for a while, and it's good to see it getting a second wind - it deserves it.
It's a good site, easy to navigate and post on, no mod queue, and it also has an impressive gallery of fanart at WIKTT gallery - you have to join that separately, but it's well worth it, especially if you like your art on the steamier side. They also have some archived editions of Playwitch - wonderful value in itself. So there's one alternative there -
It may be annoying, but we must all be responsible regarding keeping the net safe for younger people and although I haven't written anything that could be pulled for being explicit (the worst I've written is one Aussie crow call) , I'll admit I'd most likely not post anything of that nature on ff.net or any open ff site without age restriction anyway, and if I wanted ff.net readers to find it, I'd just mention it and put a link to it in my bio instead so adults could find it.
Please let me state here that this is NOT in any way passing judgement of any kind on those that do post there - this would just be the way I'd handle my fics should I write anything of a naughty nature. I do, however, admit to reading and enjoying the steamier offerings that are to my taste on ff.net, and haven't ever reported anyone for posting such material there - I even gave one author the heads up about putting a naughty word in their title, telling them that it would target them for a reporting - so I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite.
BUT -
If they didn't at least attempt a clean up once in a while though, they could be open to legal action or even be closed down, and that would benefit no one.
If ffnet had an adult filter, that would be a different story - but, unfortunately, they don't and they do state no explicit content, even if they haven't policed it very well til now.
So back up, and put in your bio where else your stories can be found in case they get pulled.
Well, there's my thoughts on the subject and a couple of bleeding obvious (Aussie, remember) suggestions - that and three dollars will get you a cup of coffee, I know...
Most likely, you'll have come up with these solutions yourself, but, being an Aussie, I love to state the bleeding obvious.
I agree with laurie's point of view, and I really do think that anyone who reads the TOS there will have to admit that it says no explicit content - after all, it's open to all ages and legally, they are well within their rights, as much as it may irk many of us.
SUGGESTION 1:
Tell your ffnet readers where to find your more adult fics
There are many other sites out there where you can archive your naughtier fics, and if you want your ffnet readers to find them, you can always mention them in your bio along with a link, or, as ms_figg does, put a 'cleaned up' version on ff.net. She simply says in her bio that the full, more adult version can be found at her site. I think she even says it in the summary of some of her stories.
I do understand the anger and frustration of some people who've posted about this, but I think much of that is because they haven't thought the whole situation out and are perhaps reacting first and thinking later.
I'm sure once they think about it and envision a twelve or thirteen, or even a fifteen-year-old, say, stumbling upon, and reading their steamier work, then they'll see the reasoning behind it.
I know that kids can lie about their ages and join age restricted sites, but that's quite a big difference from a younger person stumbling across one on an open site - well, it is in my eyes anyway.
I'm far from a prude, and believe in freedom of expression, but there's nothing wrong with keeping younger readers safe, either - we can have both.
SUGGESTION 2:
If you want a quick, easy post on an age restricted site without a moderation queue:
If people don't want to go through a moderated site, then there's also sites like WIKTT archives http://www.themasque.net/wiktt/efiction/ where you can post without a moderation queue, is age restricted, requiring membership for higher ratings, and, contrary to its name, takes all pairings and genres of hp fan fiction. I've been posting there for a while and will continue to do so as an adjunct to other sites. Many of the authors from the now defunct OWL have moved their work there as well. Although I've been a member and enjoyed it since I started reading fan fiction, it had fallen into a bit of the doldrums for a while, and it's good to see it getting a second wind - it deserves it.
It's a good site, easy to navigate and post on, no mod queue, and it also has an impressive gallery of fanart at WIKTT gallery - you have to join that separately, but it's well worth it, especially if you like your art on the steamier side. They also have some archived editions of Playwitch - wonderful value in itself. So there's one alternative there -
It may be annoying, but we must all be responsible regarding keeping the net safe for younger people and although I haven't written anything that could be pulled for being explicit (the worst I've written is one Aussie crow call) , I'll admit I'd most likely not post anything of that nature on ff.net or any open ff site without age restriction anyway, and if I wanted ff.net readers to find it, I'd just mention it and put a link to it in my bio instead so adults could find it.
Please let me state here that this is NOT in any way passing judgement of any kind on those that do post there - this would just be the way I'd handle my fics should I write anything of a naughty nature. I do, however, admit to reading and enjoying the steamier offerings that are to my taste on ff.net, and haven't ever reported anyone for posting such material there - I even gave one author the heads up about putting a naughty word in their title, telling them that it would target them for a reporting - so I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite.
BUT -
If they didn't at least attempt a clean up once in a while though, they could be open to legal action or even be closed down, and that would benefit no one.
If ffnet had an adult filter, that would be a different story - but, unfortunately, they don't and they do state no explicit content, even if they haven't policed it very well til now.
So back up, and put in your bio where else your stories can be found in case they get pulled.
Well, there's my thoughts on the subject and a couple of bleeding obvious (Aussie, remember) suggestions - that and three dollars will get you a cup of coffee, I know...