case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2013-06-23 03:43 pm

[ SECRET POST #2364 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2364 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 098 secrets from Secret Submission Post #337.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

(Anonymous) 2013-06-23 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
for those who remember, what was fanlib like? Just curious.

(Anonymous) 2013-06-24 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
Mostly, we sort of avoided all of the drama happening around us. There weren't a TON of members, but there was a core group. I'd say a good percentage of the members were fans of the Uglies series, due to the fact that there was an ad for Fanlib in the back of one of the books. (I didn't read them until years later, but my name is Tally, so it came up 95% of the time I introduced myself.)

The biggest part of Fanlib was probably the forums. I couldn't tell you what we talked about, but I definitely spent a good amount of time on them. It's the real reason nothing ever really replaced the site, though there were attempts made on ffnet and LJ.

Because everyone was so close on the Forums, it was very common to get feedback on your works even from people not in the fandoms. I'd say that the best and most thoughtful feedback I've ever gotten was on Fanlib.

When they announced the site was closing, they made it so we were able to download copies of our works and comments, which was nice.

They would also feature fanfics on the home page, and, if your fic was featured, you got a free t-shirt with a quote from your fic on the back. (I used to wear mine constantly.)

There was also a blog with various fandom related posts, such as primers for some of the more popular fandoms on the site and general intro to fandom posts with basic fandom terms and history.

Another element (seriously, I just keep remembering more things--this is really bringing me back!) was challenges. Anyone could set up challenges that anyone could participate in. I don't remember the logistics of it all that well, but I do remember it being another big part of the site.

(Anonymous) 2013-06-24 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
I am yesterday's "FFnet never paid attention when asked to merge the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Ninja Turtles categories" anon. As FanLib basically copied FFnet's list of fandoms to populate their lists of fandoms, they carried this mistake on their site. I asked them to fix it and they did, less than 24 hours after.

Also, (at least) a fan that worked on FanLib went around LJ posts about the site, being very polite and respectful about people's concerns, despite other fans harsh words and, yes, attacks. So the fans working there and the members were nice people.

The owners though were two-faces, which I understand because users and possible investors are different; but they unashamedly offered to their potential clients fandom/fans/fan!works as commodities, and weren't prepared for their commercial speech leaking to the fans and for the uproar it would cause.

(Anonymous) 2013-06-24 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
I was just looking back through some of my old LJ posts about Fanlib and my emails from Fanlib (I haven't deleted anything but spam in about 8 years.) I would totally agree with this. The people behind the site were extremely nice to their users, encouraged feedback, and were very quick to change minor things based on good suggestions.

And all that's great, but it doesn't take into consideration the issues with the TOS and the way that the closing of Fanlib was so sudden and without explanation.

For all the drama surrounding it, I have nothing but positive memories surrounding the site. (Minus when it closed.)

(Anonymous) 2013-06-24 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
They were also a blatant pair of dudebros trying to market their site to more dudebros. They were mindblown when it was pointed out that fanfic is largely a female-driven thing, with a good proportion of older than teenaged women at that. They had no idea who their target population actually was, or how to deal with us.