Fandom Netiquette for Newbies: a Navigational Guide

[erinya]

I've noticed that there are lots of newcomers participating in PotC fandom on LJ these days, which is wonderful. But I also know that LJ fandom can be daunting to a newbie. There are quite a few unwritten rules and conventions of courtesy that are taken for granted by those of us who have been around for awhile, and people sometimes react

Comments

[naotalba]

Thank you for this. It clears up a lot of questions.

[erinya]

Yay! I'm glad it's helpful. Anything else I missed?

[naotalba]

One more. I see "fake cut" or warnings that what looks like an lj-cut is actually a link. Are there rules about that, or does it depend on the community?

[erinya]

You know, I don't know how others feel about this, but I almost always link to my own journal because I like keeping the comments in one place--and it means it's easier for me to remove a post if I ever decide that's necessary, rather than tracking it down in several different places. As far as I know, there are no solid conventions about this. It's done so frequently that I don't think it's a no-no, but some communities might have their own rules for how to post.

[carmarthen]

I think a lot of people find "fake cuts" annoying, but just linking to your own LJ is fine as long as it doesn't look like a cut.

[erinya]

Well, there you go...something I've been doing wrong. I use fake cuts because I like the way they look, but it's true that they can be misleading. I didn't realize people found them annoying.

[angiepen]

[Here from metafandom. [wave]]

Just as a data point, I only get annoyed by two things regarding cuts/links. One is when someone posts in a community but the link goes to a locked post elsewhere. That's really annoying -- it's like posting an open invitation to a party on your company bulletin board, in the break room for everyone to see, but then slamming the door in the face of everyone who's not a "friend." If you only want friends then only invite friends. If you post an open invite then leave the darned door open. One or the other, pick one.

Two is when a fake cut says "Fake cut!!" [eyeroll] I don't care if it's a fake cut or a real cut or a link or a magical button which produces a printed manuscript on my desk -- if clicking on it lets me read the story then that's good enough and announcing that it's a "Fake Cut!" (often with a smiley face for some reason) is just a bit too cutesy wink-nudge for me. But that's a personal taste thing. I'll eyeroll when I see it but it won't stop me from reading the story if it sounds good

[erinya]

Agreed on the locked post and "fake cut!!!" peeves. Linking to locked fic doesn't make much sense, as I'm not going to bother adding someone as a friend before I read their fic, but I've seen it done quite a bit.

Interesting input on cross-posting--I see what you mean. Does it help if a later cross-post states where it was previously posted? Also, linking to previous chapters is so helpful. *makes a note*

[angiepen]

Does it help if a later cross-post states where it was previously posted?

Ummm. That'd be better, sure, but I'd still rather see them go through all at once. A block of clearly identical linking posts is visually obvious; I can deal with the first one and completely skip the rest right then and there. If they're posted over successive days (or even just a few hours apart) with a note saying, "This was previously linked to JoeBobCommunity," I still have to read enough of the header to see that note, every time.

Also, linking to previous chapters is so helpful. *makes a note*Absolutely. [nodnod] Personally, when I'm doing a long piece posted in chunks over time, I have links in the header to each earlier chunk, although as a reader I want to see a link to the immediately previous chunk at a minimum. If a writer wants to put a link to the story's index page and a link directly to the previous chunk, that'll do fine. Then when I post the next chunk I go back and link from the previous chunk to the next chunk, at the bottom of the

[brown_betty]

also here from metafandom

The one thing that irritates me beyond belief about fake cuts is when someone clearly labels a NORMAL, UNFORMATTED LINK as a fake cut. I don't know if you've ever seen this, but it seems to be proliferating in my fandom.

[azurelunatic]

Oh gods yes. I have a rant.

[erinya]

Yes, I always think that's because they don't know what a real cut actually is.