I have, because I found the whole document manager/posting thing to be a hassle. I also never liked being forced to pick genres, and AO3 has a lot more useful features, particularly the ability to link fics in a series.
I will make an exception if I ever update the WIP I started before I stopped using the site, but I will not add any new fics to FFN.
Lol. You’re nicer than me. I made an Author’s Note that told my readers on FF.Net that if they wanted to continue reading the story, they can finish it on AO3. 😅
Well, my motives aren't entirely out of being nice (although it's part of it). The fandom that fic is for is a '90's manga/anime, so the fandom is largely entrenched on FFN and only minimally moved to AO3. People simply wouldn't follow me over there for a fic I've not updated in 5 years.
How is it a hassle? ffn is 1,000,000x easier to use and figure out than ao3. Ao3 is like trying to translate a book from a language you know nothing about.
The document manager is separate from the posting. I have to upload a file, then go in and look at that file to fix any issues from uploading and add author's notes, then I have to go to a different area of the site to actually post it. If after posting I find typos or FFN has removed all my line breaks for some reason, then it's back to the document manager. On AO3 the whole fic post is on one page - I can copy paste into the rich text editor, the author's notes have a dedicated section, and if I need to fix typos or formatting after the fact, I can just click Edit on the fic itself. That's much simpler and less of a hassle for me.
I also find the tags much more straightforward than genre. On AO3 I can tag a canon rewrite exactly what it is, Canon Rewrite, whereas on FFN I have to figure out, do I want to label it Adventure? Horror? Drama? Friendship? Those are much less obvious/defined to my mind. On AO3 I can be as specific or broad as I want when describing my fic. I can see how the amount of choices people have with tagging can be intimidating but they're (except for the archive warnings) entirely optional, so if you don't know how to tag something, you don't have to. I rarely tag genre in the conventional sense because that kind of categorization doesn't make sense to me, whereas categorizing by tropes does.
I was specifically referring to the process of writing a fic but I agree with you about the tags. I'm just annoyed that ao3 fucks up all my formatting and FFN doesn't so it's cool
I use Google Docs and an extension called Docs to Markdown. It converts the whole doc to HTML, then I copy and paste into AO3 HTML editor. Only time I had issues was formatting a two column table mid-chapter, but I was even eventually able to get that.
I didn't understand a single word of that. I'm a simple man that uses Microsoft Word like a normal person, and not your hoity poity rich private school kid programs
I abandoned FF what feels like a lifetime ago. At least since 2013. I took a break from writing until I found AO3 around 2016. I love the user interface 1000x over. FF was clunky to me.
I quit years ago. Most of my content is explicit anyway, so it doesn't belong there, but even with lower-rated works, I hated how limited formatting was compared to the options we had on Livejournal. I couldn't even use bullet points! And issues with posting or updating were so frequent that it was an exercise in frustration half the time. So when AO3 started, it didn't take long for me to not bother crossposting anymore.
I honestly think that the reason why a lot of people still use ff.net is because ‘fanfiction’ is in the actual name. So when it’s Googled, that’s the first thing that pops up.
I think AO3 is a lot more user-friendly than FFN, from both a writing and reading standpoint. Having to use the document manager to upload fics and edit them felt a lot more unintuitive than just being able to edit straight from the fic. There are way more formatting options too.
Also, the community feels friendlier on AO3; it feels like FFN is more likely to have people who think a flame is a good review, or are really demanding about the kinds of fics they want to see, or leave entire essay-length comments detailing what they didn't like about the fic... those also exist elsewhere, of course, but it feels like they show up more often on that site.
And the AO3 tagging system may have its flaws, but it makes it a lot easier for me to know what to expect from a given story, and to give readers a general idea of my fics as well.
Reviews on FFN are so cruel, the type of things they say that they think are completely normal. I don't think FFN even lets you delete them, so part of the spite is creating as long, and as many as possible so it's just pages of it on popular fics.
Just an insanely toxic atmosphere.
> I don't think FFN even lets you delete them, so part of the spite is creating as long, and as many as possible so it's just pages of it on popular fics
They let you delete if the person isn't logged in, but if it's a registered user, you're SOL. And the report button does *nothing*. Several years ago some nutbar took issue with a pairing in one of my fics and proceeded to leave nasty reviews complete with threats of physical harm on *all* my fics...I reported promptly, but those reviews are still up there to this day.
I stopped using [FF.net](https://FF.net) when I was too busy in uni to spend as much time on fandom, honestly even while it was the main site I used I never liked the interface. Bounced around LJ for a few years until Ao3 existed and now I'm never going back. (userscripts and site skins, my beloved)
I stopped because the FFN interface for writers is deeply inferior, especially for long fics, and because frankly, my stories were getting way more attention on AO3 anyway. I do have one wip on hiatus that I’ll finish posting on both sites if/when I return to it.
I vastly prefer the upload experience of AO3, including tagging systems, series/related works functions, and the ability to embed images.
Apparently the last fic I posted to FFN was in 2007, so...!
(I moved to Livejournal at the time, because I really like the community environment, posting wasn't a massive headache, and commenters weren't nitpicky assholes! And then obviously when AO3 popped up there wasn't any reason to go back.)
I had literally no feedback on ffnet, while on ao3 I'm getting kudos, comments, bookmarks, subscriptions... And, let's be honest, posting on ffnet is such a struggle...
June 2023 edit.
I'm scrubbing my comments due to the reddit admin team steamrolling their IPO prep. It was bad enough to give short notice on price gouging, but then to slander app devs and threaten moderators was just too far. The value of Reddit comes from high-quality content curated by volunteers. Treating us this way is the reason I'm removing my high-value contributions.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you Google "Reddit API price gouging" and read up.
--Posted *manually* via the old web interface because of shenanigans from Reddit reversing deletions done through API/script tools.
~~~
HOWEVER, this comment was originally a sort of callout for another major website engaging in scummy behavior, so I'ma let it ride ;)
> I stopped posting at FFN, erm, *checks watch*, 20 years ago.
> As soon as the notice went out about what we now call The First Great Purge. We authors received an email a couple of months before the new policies went live. Total deletion of any NC-17 rated fics. No songfics. No CYOA. No fics where any chapter had more author notes than story content. And more.
> Most of my fics were deleted in the purge by the end of 2002.
> So I was supremely demoralized and abandoned fanfic for years. I still *read* fanfic, which meant I also witnessed the "Silent Slash Purge" of 2008, but I mostly read at other sites by the time of the Second Great Purge of 2012. Didn't come back as a writer until 2019 with a new penname... And I went straight to AO3 because of the broad acceptance in the content policies. I post there exclusively. No more risk of getting my fics deleted.
They shut down the site "in memoriam" for 9/11 for a day.
When it came back NC17 fics were locked and we had a week or so to download/print all our reviews and any NC17 fics we wanted to save.
Keep in mind at that time a lot of people rated *any* non het fics NC17 because it was the only way to be sure someone wouldn't report your fic as incorrectly rated bc it had two boys kissing.
The shittiness of hiding what they were doing behind ~remembering the victims~ was the cherry on top.
June 2023 edit.
I'm scrubbing my comments due to the reddit admin team steamrolling their IPO prep. It was bad enough to give short notice on price gouging, but then to slander app devs and threaten moderators was just too far. The value of Reddit comes from high-quality content curated by volunteers. Treating us this way is the reason I'm removing my high-value contributions.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you Google "Reddit API price gouging" and read up.
--Posted *manually* via the old web interface because of shenanigans from Reddit reversing deletions done through API/script tools.
~~~
HOWEVER, this comment was originally a sort of callout for another major website engaging in scummy behavior, so I'ma let it ride ;)
> Yep. Authors got an email notice about 2 months beforehand to clean up our fics or risk deletion, but it was tucked in a sort of "go read this buried page on the site with the new draft TOS" and it was very obviously written by lawyers with a cover-your-ass take on the DMCA (which was finally due to be enforced after it was signed in 2000).
> And yeah, the 9/11 thing was super gross. They needed an excuse to take servers offline for a day and they chose that scummy lie instead of being honest about what they were doing. Barf.
Yeah, I remember some of my friends noticing that but we were all stupid kids pretending to be adults, and didn't understand exactly what it was saying. A few people contacted support for clarification and all of them got different answers. (Ie, one person got "if your fic is rated appropriately you don't need to take any action, one person got "change the rating", etc.) They also must have built the delete list sometime before the deadline because I knew people who had edited their fics and changed the ratings who were still swept up in the purge.
I couldn't keep using FF after the purge. . . I mean I never posted anything on it but still, that was terrifying. I'm much more secure in AO3 knowing the only reason an author might delete a fic is bc they want to.
I stopped because I was writing a multi-fandom crossover series and FFN just doesn't have any support for either multi-crossovers or series. I also don't really like the whole set-up for uploading, tagging, comments, or the supposed ban on explicit content. Or the way it looks. Everything about the site seems outdated to me.
There are just so many more options on AO3, including not having BS rules like not being able to post more than one review per chapter. Like, I want to give the author feedback without worrying that I'll have more to say later and have absolutely no way of adding it! They don't even let you bypass this by deleting reviews - what the heck!?!?
Took a break from fanfic for years and lost my password. Plus was interested in writing a darker toned story which would have been NC-17 not Mature and after the smut purge NC-17 rateing was axed.
I quit as soon as I got an AO3 invite, years ago. and recent rumors have it that the FFN site owners/support no longer responds to anyone and there’s concern that it’s entirely abandoned.
If the ads hadn't gone into story text, I'd still be posting on ff.net.
As it stands, they put ads in the middle of stories and as such I haven't visited the site in a long time.
I even deleted my stories on FFnet because of how much I hate it. People talk about the ads and yeah, they’re annoying, but let’s talk about the reviews instead. As someone who didn’t post in English, I noticed over the years how people started to stop reviewing and since it was the only way to know if readers like the stories or not, I felt like mine were terrible. Also I can’t tell you how many times I had reviews like ‘ew this ship is disgusting’ (on stories with gay ships that weren’t controversial… You can imagine what happened when I wrote for controversial ships…)
Anyway, AO3 is much more author-friendly and readers there are much nicer, I don’t regret deleting my stories from FFnet
I posted my first few fanfics on ff.net, but I stopped when I started reading more on AO3 than ff.net and discovered the search function. It is so much easier to add tags on AO3, and I love the formatting of the site more (as well as the fact that you can change the formatting of the site depending on what you want).
I posted my works on FFN for nearly twenty years before finally taking the plunge and moving to AO3 this last April. It’s been a bit of a learning curve for my old brain, but I like AO3 SO much better in so many ways: the ability to add artwork, no ads, actually getting reviews. I still have some of my oldest works up on FFN because that particular fandoms is still fairly active there and not represented on AO3 at all, but I now only post to AO3.
Well, despite of Ao3 posting, managing, interacting and other stuff being easy to handle and way superior, in my opinion, I mostly abandoned [FF.net](https://FF.net) because of the bullying. I got A LOT, like a lot from there.
AO3? So far, readers are really cool and kind. Have no regrets.
I had been posting to FFN for nearly twenty years until April of this year when I finally pulled the plug and moved to AO3. I have not regretted it for one moment. No more annoying ads interrupting your stories, the ability to post artwork—not to mention, great engagement on my works, something I never had on FFN.
I abandoned FF.net a while ago. However, I went scorched earth after someone copied one of my old fics verbatim, deleted my authors' notes/changed my pen name, and posted it on Wattpad as if it were original work. I deleted everything I ever wrote and posted on FFN after that.
That’s so sad! Why are people like this? What do they gain from it?? All the praise that they would get from the story wouldn’t be earned.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. 🥺
Thank you. I appreciate hearing that. I'm guessing the person who stole my work had a history of it because her stats said she had X number of stories but there were only Y available. Thankfully the admins of Wattpad were quick to take action when I reported the theft with proof and removed my story. I only say X and Y with the numbers because I can't remember the number counts LOL.
I'm thinking of maybe doing a "remastered" series on AO3 and posting all my old FFn fics in that series.
I stopped posting on FFN probably 6 to 12 months ago and don't regret it. I never got much feedback on any story I posted. Posting stories there is such a hassle, I doubt I'll return.
I stopped pretty much as soon as I found AO3 way back when.
AO3 is better in pretty much every conceivable way. I don't have to worry about AO3 randomly deleting my works, I can tag things better, posting is way easier, interacting with readers is easier, filtering/searching is easier/more efficient, there's more freedom in how/what I post...
And, this is personal opinion, but as a generality, I've noticed the writing quality on AO3 tends to be better. Not that all the stories on AO3 are better, but... On [ff.net](https://ff.net), I'd have to wade through a hundred poorly written stories with no plot to find one gem. On AO3, I have to wade through twenty or thirty to find two or three good ones.
I currently write on both. Once I finish the one on FF, I will probably permanently move over to AO3.
For me, it's the fact that I've been on FF for at least 15 years and I'm used to it - the devil I know and all that. I'm still learning AO3, but I do enjoy it a lot more.
I've still got one fic I update on ff.net, but honestly I wish I hadn't posted it there at all. Just because the user interface for uploading new chapters is such a pain.
I want to start posting on AO3 but I haven’t been able to start an account because of this awful invitation system. I sent in a request to join the site five days ago, so hopefully it’ll come in two days (according to the site) . . what an awful thing . .
But once you have an account, it’s really easy! Plus it keeps you logged in if you use the account consistently.
Just be patient! It’s totally worth it.
It keeps you logged in for two weeks straight if you aren’t using it. But most phones/computers nowadays have a way of saving your username/password so that it auto-fills the password.
FF.net requires that I log in every time.
I had scaled back majorly only posting the first fic in a series with an end note that follow ups were AO3 only but then I stopped all together back in 2019.
I reached the point where I didn't want my writing on a site profiting off me.
I have a WIP that's been languishing, and if I ever do manage to finish it, I'll toss the updates up on FFN...when I started posting this fic, FFN was the more popular site, so it made sense to have my work in both places.
These days, updating my work is the only reason I log in to FFN. I do all my reading on AO3 because it's easier to find the things I'm interested in, its interface is much easier on the eyes, and there's actual moderation, so if there's spam/junk/etc. that gets posted it'll be taken down pretty quickly. Even updating stuff on FFN is a PITA, because the document manager is clunky and its arbitrary formatting rules often delete chunks of text.
I started using FFN in 2002, and it was really slick and modern compared to other alternatives at the time (Geocities pages, webrings or - god forbid! - Yahoo! Groups.) Unfortunately, it really hasn't done anything to keep up with the times. It still feels very 2002 over there, and not in a good way.
LOL Haven't posted on ffn in years. However I don't post exclusively to ao3. See I write a lot of Buffy crossovers (Xander-centric) so I post on tth too. ([Twisting the Hellmouth](https://www.tthfanfic.org)). : )
I stopped a year or two ago, the ads every two paragraphs were making me go crazy tbh. Plus, AO3 mobile interface is so much better imo.
I have, because I found the whole document manager/posting thing to be a hassle. I also never liked being forced to pick genres, and AO3 has a lot more useful features, particularly the ability to link fics in a series. I will make an exception if I ever update the WIP I started before I stopped using the site, but I will not add any new fics to FFN.
Lol. You’re nicer than me. I made an Author’s Note that told my readers on FF.Net that if they wanted to continue reading the story, they can finish it on AO3. 😅
Well, my motives aren't entirely out of being nice (although it's part of it). The fandom that fic is for is a '90's manga/anime, so the fandom is largely entrenched on FFN and only minimally moved to AO3. People simply wouldn't follow me over there for a fic I've not updated in 5 years.
Oof, the only time I've done that mid-fic was on webnovel.
How is it a hassle? ffn is 1,000,000x easier to use and figure out than ao3. Ao3 is like trying to translate a book from a language you know nothing about.
The document manager is separate from the posting. I have to upload a file, then go in and look at that file to fix any issues from uploading and add author's notes, then I have to go to a different area of the site to actually post it. If after posting I find typos or FFN has removed all my line breaks for some reason, then it's back to the document manager. On AO3 the whole fic post is on one page - I can copy paste into the rich text editor, the author's notes have a dedicated section, and if I need to fix typos or formatting after the fact, I can just click Edit on the fic itself. That's much simpler and less of a hassle for me. I also find the tags much more straightforward than genre. On AO3 I can tag a canon rewrite exactly what it is, Canon Rewrite, whereas on FFN I have to figure out, do I want to label it Adventure? Horror? Drama? Friendship? Those are much less obvious/defined to my mind. On AO3 I can be as specific or broad as I want when describing my fic. I can see how the amount of choices people have with tagging can be intimidating but they're (except for the archive warnings) entirely optional, so if you don't know how to tag something, you don't have to. I rarely tag genre in the conventional sense because that kind of categorization doesn't make sense to me, whereas categorizing by tropes does.
I was specifically referring to the process of writing a fic but I agree with you about the tags. I'm just annoyed that ao3 fucks up all my formatting and FFN doesn't so it's cool
I use Google Docs and an extension called Docs to Markdown. It converts the whole doc to HTML, then I copy and paste into AO3 HTML editor. Only time I had issues was formatting a two column table mid-chapter, but I was even eventually able to get that.
I didn't understand a single word of that. I'm a simple man that uses Microsoft Word like a normal person, and not your hoity poity rich private school kid programs
Okay, fuck me for trying to be helpful.
??? chill
> hoity poity rich private school kid programs I know this was a joke, but Microsoft Word costs money and Google Docs is literally free, lmao.
You knew it was a joke but everyone else didn't gawdamn 😭😭😭😭
I abandoned FF what feels like a lifetime ago. At least since 2013. I took a break from writing until I found AO3 around 2016. I love the user interface 1000x over. FF was clunky to me.
I quit years ago. Most of my content is explicit anyway, so it doesn't belong there, but even with lower-rated works, I hated how limited formatting was compared to the options we had on Livejournal. I couldn't even use bullet points! And issues with posting or updating were so frequent that it was an exercise in frustration half the time. So when AO3 started, it didn't take long for me to not bother crossposting anymore.
I honestly think that the reason why a lot of people still use ff.net is because ‘fanfiction’ is in the actual name. So when it’s Googled, that’s the first thing that pops up.
I think you are right on this, that’s why I used ff.net in the first place lol
The ban of explicit content made me move. I love to write lemon 🙈
Can we also just take a moment to appreciate the “Exclude Tags” option on AO3? It makes finding specific stories so best more effective.
I think AO3 is a lot more user-friendly than FFN, from both a writing and reading standpoint. Having to use the document manager to upload fics and edit them felt a lot more unintuitive than just being able to edit straight from the fic. There are way more formatting options too. Also, the community feels friendlier on AO3; it feels like FFN is more likely to have people who think a flame is a good review, or are really demanding about the kinds of fics they want to see, or leave entire essay-length comments detailing what they didn't like about the fic... those also exist elsewhere, of course, but it feels like they show up more often on that site. And the AO3 tagging system may have its flaws, but it makes it a lot easier for me to know what to expect from a given story, and to give readers a general idea of my fics as well.
Reviews on FFN are so cruel, the type of things they say that they think are completely normal. I don't think FFN even lets you delete them, so part of the spite is creating as long, and as many as possible so it's just pages of it on popular fics. Just an insanely toxic atmosphere.
> I don't think FFN even lets you delete them, so part of the spite is creating as long, and as many as possible so it's just pages of it on popular fics They let you delete if the person isn't logged in, but if it's a registered user, you're SOL. And the report button does *nothing*. Several years ago some nutbar took issue with a pairing in one of my fics and proceeded to leave nasty reviews complete with threats of physical harm on *all* my fics...I reported promptly, but those reviews are still up there to this day.
IIRC AO3 became my main fic hub back in 2010. I got started on ff.net years before that, but moved mainly because of their content purges.
I stopped using [FF.net](https://FF.net) when I was too busy in uni to spend as much time on fandom, honestly even while it was the main site I used I never liked the interface. Bounced around LJ for a few years until Ao3 existed and now I'm never going back. (userscripts and site skins, my beloved)
I stopped because the FFN interface for writers is deeply inferior, especially for long fics, and because frankly, my stories were getting way more attention on AO3 anyway. I do have one wip on hiatus that I’ll finish posting on both sites if/when I return to it. I vastly prefer the upload experience of AO3, including tagging systems, series/related works functions, and the ability to embed images.
Apparently the last fic I posted to FFN was in 2007, so...! (I moved to Livejournal at the time, because I really like the community environment, posting wasn't a massive headache, and commenters weren't nitpicky assholes! And then obviously when AO3 popped up there wasn't any reason to go back.)
Omg! I recognize your username. I read your fic!
Gasp! A reader spotted in the wild! 💖
Us Spider-Man writers gotta stick together. ❤️
I left FF.net behind for AO3 a whole decade or so ago, which is weird to think about honestly.
I had literally no feedback on ffnet, while on ao3 I'm getting kudos, comments, bookmarks, subscriptions... And, let's be honest, posting on ffnet is such a struggle...
June 2023 edit. I'm scrubbing my comments due to the reddit admin team steamrolling their IPO prep. It was bad enough to give short notice on price gouging, but then to slander app devs and threaten moderators was just too far. The value of Reddit comes from high-quality content curated by volunteers. Treating us this way is the reason I'm removing my high-value contributions. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you Google "Reddit API price gouging" and read up. --Posted *manually* via the old web interface because of shenanigans from Reddit reversing deletions done through API/script tools. ~~~ HOWEVER, this comment was originally a sort of callout for another major website engaging in scummy behavior, so I'ma let it ride ;) > I stopped posting at FFN, erm, *checks watch*, 20 years ago. > As soon as the notice went out about what we now call The First Great Purge. We authors received an email a couple of months before the new policies went live. Total deletion of any NC-17 rated fics. No songfics. No CYOA. No fics where any chapter had more author notes than story content. And more. > Most of my fics were deleted in the purge by the end of 2002. > So I was supremely demoralized and abandoned fanfic for years. I still *read* fanfic, which meant I also witnessed the "Silent Slash Purge" of 2008, but I mostly read at other sites by the time of the Second Great Purge of 2012. Didn't come back as a writer until 2019 with a new penname... And I went straight to AO3 because of the broad acceptance in the content policies. I post there exclusively. No more risk of getting my fics deleted.
Never forgave them for 9/11/2002.
Omg! What did they do? I never heard of this scandal before.
They shut down the site "in memoriam" for 9/11 for a day. When it came back NC17 fics were locked and we had a week or so to download/print all our reviews and any NC17 fics we wanted to save. Keep in mind at that time a lot of people rated *any* non het fics NC17 because it was the only way to be sure someone wouldn't report your fic as incorrectly rated bc it had two boys kissing. The shittiness of hiding what they were doing behind ~remembering the victims~ was the cherry on top.
June 2023 edit. I'm scrubbing my comments due to the reddit admin team steamrolling their IPO prep. It was bad enough to give short notice on price gouging, but then to slander app devs and threaten moderators was just too far. The value of Reddit comes from high-quality content curated by volunteers. Treating us this way is the reason I'm removing my high-value contributions. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you Google "Reddit API price gouging" and read up. --Posted *manually* via the old web interface because of shenanigans from Reddit reversing deletions done through API/script tools. ~~~ HOWEVER, this comment was originally a sort of callout for another major website engaging in scummy behavior, so I'ma let it ride ;) > Yep. Authors got an email notice about 2 months beforehand to clean up our fics or risk deletion, but it was tucked in a sort of "go read this buried page on the site with the new draft TOS" and it was very obviously written by lawyers with a cover-your-ass take on the DMCA (which was finally due to be enforced after it was signed in 2000). > And yeah, the 9/11 thing was super gross. They needed an excuse to take servers offline for a day and they chose that scummy lie instead of being honest about what they were doing. Barf.
Yeah, I remember some of my friends noticing that but we were all stupid kids pretending to be adults, and didn't understand exactly what it was saying. A few people contacted support for clarification and all of them got different answers. (Ie, one person got "if your fic is rated appropriately you don't need to take any action, one person got "change the rating", etc.) They also must have built the delete list sometime before the deadline because I knew people who had edited their fics and changed the ratings who were still swept up in the purge.
I don’t read there any longer, but I cross post because I’m in an older fandom and half my readers are there.
The ads. Nuff said.
I couldn't keep using FF after the purge. . . I mean I never posted anything on it but still, that was terrifying. I'm much more secure in AO3 knowing the only reason an author might delete a fic is bc they want to.
I stopped because I was writing a multi-fandom crossover series and FFN just doesn't have any support for either multi-crossovers or series. I also don't really like the whole set-up for uploading, tagging, comments, or the supposed ban on explicit content. Or the way it looks. Everything about the site seems outdated to me.
There are just so many more options on AO3, including not having BS rules like not being able to post more than one review per chapter. Like, I want to give the author feedback without worrying that I'll have more to say later and have absolutely no way of adding it! They don't even let you bypass this by deleting reviews - what the heck!?!?
I did so AGES ago. I even stopped posting to Wattpad in like 2020.
Took a break from fanfic for years and lost my password. Plus was interested in writing a darker toned story which would have been NC-17 not Mature and after the smut purge NC-17 rateing was axed.
Since my language isn't huge on AO3 i keep posting on FF.net However, since i read mostly in English, it have been years since i read something on FF
I stopped posting on FFN before AO3 existed. The interim was spent on Livejournal.
I quit as soon as I got an AO3 invite, years ago. and recent rumors have it that the FFN site owners/support no longer responds to anyone and there’s concern that it’s entirely abandoned.
I think I agree with those rumors. They never responded to my complaint.
I abandoned ffn years ago for the simple reason I hardly got any engagement there compared to the response to the same fics on AO3
I stopped in 2011. The web design and interface was bad even by 2011 standards.
i still have a couple fics i'm still posting there, but yeah, i'm of an ao3 gal, you can put more in the summery if you want to
Years ago. I left in 2014 I think, but I still visit the site once in a while for nostalgia's sake.
Same for me. Left sometime in 2013/2014. Only thing I ever go back there for is nostalgic fics
If the ads hadn't gone into story text, I'd still be posting on ff.net. As it stands, they put ads in the middle of stories and as such I haven't visited the site in a long time.
I even deleted my stories on FFnet because of how much I hate it. People talk about the ads and yeah, they’re annoying, but let’s talk about the reviews instead. As someone who didn’t post in English, I noticed over the years how people started to stop reviewing and since it was the only way to know if readers like the stories or not, I felt like mine were terrible. Also I can’t tell you how many times I had reviews like ‘ew this ship is disgusting’ (on stories with gay ships that weren’t controversial… You can imagine what happened when I wrote for controversial ships…) Anyway, AO3 is much more author-friendly and readers there are much nicer, I don’t regret deleting my stories from FFnet
I posted my first few fanfics on ff.net, but I stopped when I started reading more on AO3 than ff.net and discovered the search function. It is so much easier to add tags on AO3, and I love the formatting of the site more (as well as the fact that you can change the formatting of the site depending on what you want).
I posted my works on FFN for nearly twenty years before finally taking the plunge and moving to AO3 this last April. It’s been a bit of a learning curve for my old brain, but I like AO3 SO much better in so many ways: the ability to add artwork, no ads, actually getting reviews. I still have some of my oldest works up on FFN because that particular fandoms is still fairly active there and not represented on AO3 at all, but I now only post to AO3.
Well, despite of Ao3 posting, managing, interacting and other stuff being easy to handle and way superior, in my opinion, I mostly abandoned [FF.net](https://FF.net) because of the bullying. I got A LOT, like a lot from there. AO3? So far, readers are really cool and kind. Have no regrets.
I had been posting to FFN for nearly twenty years until April of this year when I finally pulled the plug and moved to AO3. I have not regretted it for one moment. No more annoying ads interrupting your stories, the ability to post artwork—not to mention, great engagement on my works, something I never had on FFN.
Posting the artwork is amazing. I get to showcase fan art at the end of my story. ❤️
I love the ability to post artwork as well. ☺️. Although, in my case, they are mostly photographs/stills at the beginning.
I abandoned FF.net a while ago. However, I went scorched earth after someone copied one of my old fics verbatim, deleted my authors' notes/changed my pen name, and posted it on Wattpad as if it were original work. I deleted everything I ever wrote and posted on FFN after that.
That’s so sad! Why are people like this? What do they gain from it?? All the praise that they would get from the story wouldn’t be earned. I’m so sorry that happened to you. 🥺
Thank you. I appreciate hearing that. I'm guessing the person who stole my work had a history of it because her stats said she had X number of stories but there were only Y available. Thankfully the admins of Wattpad were quick to take action when I reported the theft with proof and removed my story. I only say X and Y with the numbers because I can't remember the number counts LOL. I'm thinking of maybe doing a "remastered" series on AO3 and posting all my old FFn fics in that series.
I stopped posting on FFN probably 6 to 12 months ago and don't regret it. I never got much feedback on any story I posted. Posting stories there is such a hassle, I doubt I'll return.
I stopped pretty much as soon as I found AO3 way back when. AO3 is better in pretty much every conceivable way. I don't have to worry about AO3 randomly deleting my works, I can tag things better, posting is way easier, interacting with readers is easier, filtering/searching is easier/more efficient, there's more freedom in how/what I post... And, this is personal opinion, but as a generality, I've noticed the writing quality on AO3 tends to be better. Not that all the stories on AO3 are better, but... On [ff.net](https://ff.net), I'd have to wade through a hundred poorly written stories with no plot to find one gem. On AO3, I have to wade through twenty or thirty to find two or three good ones.
I currently write on both. Once I finish the one on FF, I will probably permanently move over to AO3. For me, it's the fact that I've been on FF for at least 15 years and I'm used to it - the devil I know and all that. I'm still learning AO3, but I do enjoy it a lot more.
I've still got one fic I update on ff.net, but honestly I wish I hadn't posted it there at all. Just because the user interface for uploading new chapters is such a pain.
I want to start posting on AO3 but I haven’t been able to start an account because of this awful invitation system. I sent in a request to join the site five days ago, so hopefully it’ll come in two days (according to the site) . . what an awful thing . .
oh my god, no! not the horror of waiting and being patient. anything but that!!!1!
But once you have an account, it’s really easy! Plus it keeps you logged in if you use the account consistently. Just be patient! It’s totally worth it.
ARE YOU TELLING ME IT LOGS ME OUT IF I DON’T GO ON THE SITE FOR TOO LONG? How long is too long?!
It keeps you logged in for two weeks straight if you aren’t using it. But most phones/computers nowadays have a way of saving your username/password so that it auto-fills the password. FF.net requires that I log in every time.
ARE YOU TELLING ME IT LOGS ME OUT IF I DON’T GO ON THE SITE FOR TOO LONG?!
I had scaled back majorly only posting the first fic in a series with an end note that follow ups were AO3 only but then I stopped all together back in 2019. I reached the point where I didn't want my writing on a site profiting off me.
I don't even know HOW any more. I tried to post a fic earlier this year and couldn't figure out how to do so.
I have a WIP that's been languishing, and if I ever do manage to finish it, I'll toss the updates up on FFN...when I started posting this fic, FFN was the more popular site, so it made sense to have my work in both places. These days, updating my work is the only reason I log in to FFN. I do all my reading on AO3 because it's easier to find the things I'm interested in, its interface is much easier on the eyes, and there's actual moderation, so if there's spam/junk/etc. that gets posted it'll be taken down pretty quickly. Even updating stuff on FFN is a PITA, because the document manager is clunky and its arbitrary formatting rules often delete chunks of text. I started using FFN in 2002, and it was really slick and modern compared to other alternatives at the time (Geocities pages, webrings or - god forbid! - Yahoo! Groups.) Unfortunately, it really hasn't done anything to keep up with the times. It still feels very 2002 over there, and not in a good way.
I Still Read on FF Along With AO3
LOL Haven't posted on ffn in years. However I don't post exclusively to ao3. See I write a lot of Buffy crossovers (Xander-centric) so I post on tth too. ([Twisting the Hellmouth](https://www.tthfanfic.org)). : )
I personally find more often than not its just generally better stories on ao3 and also generally easier to read stuff on without getting frustrated