Top 5 2017 Is Now Closed
Jan. 16th, 2018 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yourlibrarian posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
buffyversetop5Thanks to everyone who contributed posts and who came by to cheer on the posters! Your mods, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
petzipellepingo and I, feel it can't have escaped anyone's notice that this was the smallest session we've had at Top 5 during its 12 years, and that the two week session had most of its contributions in the first five days.
We've discussed what we should do going forward and think that, although there's still enough new fanwork production each year to support an annual session, the fact that so much of it is shared at other sites now tends to contribute to the difficulty in knowing when it was produced, and possibly stumbling across content that is being reshared rather than newly created.
So what we want to do in 2018 is expand the Classic Recs session around Halloween to a 10 day period and have it include 2018 material, dropping the January session going forward. Our 2018 session will run from October 24 to November 2.
We'd be interested in your opinions as to how we can keep a celebration of new material as part of our focus, since we feel it's important for the fandom's longevity to keep guiding people to current content. One possibility would be to take 2 days out of the 10 to highlight 2018 works, such as in a "Flashforward Weekend" or making posts containing all-2018 content stand out in some other way. Also, if you have any thoughts at how we might better promote the community, do let us know.
Archival Changes
For many years we have been archiving content from the LJ community at Dreamwidth as a form of backup. This year we also encouraged new posts to be made at Dreamwidth.
As of these past two sessions we are no longer adding to the Memories on LJ. If there are people still using it to look for older recs, please let us know, but our assumption has been that people are more likely to hunt by tags. You can also always use the "Visit the Library" option to browse months at a time, such as this look back at our very first month of recs.
We'd also like to remind anyone who wants to look for specific works that the site at Dreamwidth offers an additional method, a search box on the front page. This search option allows for specific keywords and will make for a smoother process than the Memories structure.
Edited to Add: Petzi and I have discussed the various suggestions made and what else we might do going forward. We appreciate all the comments since discussing the topic means Top 5 is important to people and that's a good sign :)
Here are our plans, for now:
1) Return to one site only, or expand to multiple sites with cross posting of all posts.
We think that either extreme is unworkable and will likely not be an improvement in the future. The most logical site to make all posts on would be LJ since DW offers an automatic copy, but there are many people no longer on LJ, or who never used it, who will not post there. Also Tumblr is a poor venue for the sort of text-based and link filled posts that make up Top 5 content, as well as a difficult site for commenting and exchanges. Ultimately we feel people without accounts at a given site will simply not post there regardless of reminders.
In addition, thanks to the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
su_herald, each post made at either location is already being individually listed in its daily roundup on LJ, DW, and Tumblr. So cross posting seems a bit redundant and will also create a lot of duplicates in the DW backup.
However we can do two things. The first is to open a Top 5 account on Tumblr primarily for promotional reasons. This is now available for anyone who wants to follow it. I will be making an introductory post there soon and will also post to it when our October session is coming up. We might also do some different things there to help spread awareness of the archived recs.
The second is that we will keep the October session at both LJ and DW in 2018. We want to remind people that there's really no problem with duplicating recs. Any search of Top 5's content will show that there are many works that have been recced multiple times, either in the same year or across years. The important thing is that your posts are your choices for works to be remembered. We may, however, include reminders during the Halloween session to view additional posts at the other site.
2) Drop Halloween and keep January, or do both with an abbreviated January session for last minute recs.
Given that the "one session" change is going to be new to people and not everyone will remember, we'll be doing a brief "annual" session in 2019 from January 3 - January 7 for posts that people weren't ready to make in October and see how it goes. We realize that the Halloween session means that there will still be some 2018 content not yet made, but we think that as we go forward, end of year content will still get included in the following year's session.
However, the number of people who usually do contribute but didn't this January for reasons of time or forgetfulness suggests that it is actually the less convenient session for people to take part in. Moreover we think that there's a definite Buffy connection around Halloween that might be easier for people to remember and could help us get new people involved. So we're going to stick with the idea of expanding the Halloween session and restricting or eliminating the January one.
petzipellepingo and I, feel it can't have escaped anyone's notice that this was the smallest session we've had at Top 5 during its 12 years, and that the two week session had most of its contributions in the first five days. We've discussed what we should do going forward and think that, although there's still enough new fanwork production each year to support an annual session, the fact that so much of it is shared at other sites now tends to contribute to the difficulty in knowing when it was produced, and possibly stumbling across content that is being reshared rather than newly created.
So what we want to do in 2018 is expand the Classic Recs session around Halloween to a 10 day period and have it include 2018 material, dropping the January session going forward. Our 2018 session will run from October 24 to November 2.
We'd be interested in your opinions as to how we can keep a celebration of new material as part of our focus, since we feel it's important for the fandom's longevity to keep guiding people to current content. One possibility would be to take 2 days out of the 10 to highlight 2018 works, such as in a "Flashforward Weekend" or making posts containing all-2018 content stand out in some other way. Also, if you have any thoughts at how we might better promote the community, do let us know.
Archival Changes
For many years we have been archiving content from the LJ community at Dreamwidth as a form of backup. This year we also encouraged new posts to be made at Dreamwidth.
As of these past two sessions we are no longer adding to the Memories on LJ. If there are people still using it to look for older recs, please let us know, but our assumption has been that people are more likely to hunt by tags. You can also always use the "Visit the Library" option to browse months at a time, such as this look back at our very first month of recs.
We'd also like to remind anyone who wants to look for specific works that the site at Dreamwidth offers an additional method, a search box on the front page. This search option allows for specific keywords and will make for a smoother process than the Memories structure.
Edited to Add: Petzi and I have discussed the various suggestions made and what else we might do going forward. We appreciate all the comments since discussing the topic means Top 5 is important to people and that's a good sign :)
Here are our plans, for now:
1) Return to one site only, or expand to multiple sites with cross posting of all posts.
We think that either extreme is unworkable and will likely not be an improvement in the future. The most logical site to make all posts on would be LJ since DW offers an automatic copy, but there are many people no longer on LJ, or who never used it, who will not post there. Also Tumblr is a poor venue for the sort of text-based and link filled posts that make up Top 5 content, as well as a difficult site for commenting and exchanges. Ultimately we feel people without accounts at a given site will simply not post there regardless of reminders.
In addition, thanks to the
su_herald, each post made at either location is already being individually listed in its daily roundup on LJ, DW, and Tumblr. So cross posting seems a bit redundant and will also create a lot of duplicates in the DW backup.However we can do two things. The first is to open a Top 5 account on Tumblr primarily for promotional reasons. This is now available for anyone who wants to follow it. I will be making an introductory post there soon and will also post to it when our October session is coming up. We might also do some different things there to help spread awareness of the archived recs.
The second is that we will keep the October session at both LJ and DW in 2018. We want to remind people that there's really no problem with duplicating recs. Any search of Top 5's content will show that there are many works that have been recced multiple times, either in the same year or across years. The important thing is that your posts are your choices for works to be remembered. We may, however, include reminders during the Halloween session to view additional posts at the other site.
2) Drop Halloween and keep January, or do both with an abbreviated January session for last minute recs.
Given that the "one session" change is going to be new to people and not everyone will remember, we'll be doing a brief "annual" session in 2019 from January 3 - January 7 for posts that people weren't ready to make in October and see how it goes. We realize that the Halloween session means that there will still be some 2018 content not yet made, but we think that as we go forward, end of year content will still get included in the following year's session.
However, the number of people who usually do contribute but didn't this January for reasons of time or forgetfulness suggests that it is actually the less convenient session for people to take part in. Moreover we think that there's a definite Buffy connection around Halloween that might be easier for people to remember and could help us get new people involved. So we're going to stick with the idea of expanding the Halloween session and restricting or eliminating the January one.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 02:45 am (UTC)Certainly Buffy fans continue to be numerous and the recs seen here (and at DW) this month definitely demonstrate that there's a good bit of discussion and fanwork production still going on. So we're hoping this change will make it easier for people to share what they've been looking at which might well be a mix of old and new rather than mostly new as it once was.
We're glad that you're here though :)
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 04:44 pm (UTC)So for next fall: consolidate and get the word out. (I can help with the latter)
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 05:56 pm (UTC)Case in point, it turns out (http://lesbidar.tumblr.com/post/169815941716/2017-creators-meme) there's a meme going around on tumblr right now that is basically posting 5 recs (even though they're self-recs).
I mean, sunnydaleherald did post all the Top 5 announcements and reminders (I think) on tumblr, too, but it was always among many other news, in the middle of a long text post. I think tumblr doesn't tend to love long text posts.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 11:16 pm (UTC)In my case, the main reason for limited contributions was lack of time (zero time outside the Christmas break). Otherwise I might have made some more recs.
I agree with those who said that the LJ/Dreamwidth split doesn't help. I find it difficult to keep track of both. (I never really got into Dreamwidth, although I would like to.)
Also, the most active place for fandom seems to be Tumblr these days. Not that I suggest moving the community to there (I'm not on Tumblr myself).
no subject
Date: 2018-01-18 03:12 am (UTC)Expanding classic recs and having a few days to do a 'new material' celebration on a few designated days is a good idea. I wonder as well if you could have a few days 'amnesty' at the end of the year to mop up outstanding new fics that happened in the last few weeks - possibly not having to do five, but at least having a home to post the rec for others to discover. Just a thought.
Splitting between LJ and DW is a challenge now the BTVS community is split, but I don't have a problem with it - I just have to remember to check DW from time to time to ensure I don't miss anything.
Thanks again for keeping the community open and looking for ways to keep it active into the future
sparrow
no subject
Date: 2018-01-18 11:59 am (UTC)Thank you both for all the years of amazing fandom recs. I always come here whenever I'm looking for a good fic to read.
Also, thank you for backing up all the recs. I'm saving this post in my memories.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-18 06:47 pm (UTC)I have to add that I've never understood why we don't get more Bangel content recced here -- it's the one major ship underrepresented over time. Obviously people rec what they read but there must be many Bangel fans still active. For some reason few have taken part in Top 5 which is very disappointing.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-18 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-18 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-18 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
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