A win for fandom!

[rogueslayer452]

Archive Of Our Own just won a Hugo Award!

The Hugo Awards happened tonight, and while it was a pleasant surprise when AO3 was announced to have been nominated in the first place, the fact that they actually won is such a huge achievement. Yes, there will be jokes about how everyone who has uploaded their fanfic there are Hugo Award winners and all of that, but really this is a massive compliment to the achievements of everyone who worked behind-the-scenes of AO3, from the founders and staff to the volunteers and those who made donations and everyone else in between, for all their hard work at making this site possible.

From back when the very idea of the site was first conceived in 2007 right here on LJ to now, I've witnessed firsthand the creation and evolution of AO3 over the years, and seeing how far it's come from its beginnings and getting to see this kind of public recognition that they rightfully deserve has been incredible. This win is also a big deal since this is a non-profit organization that was created by fans for fans, and has been a huge contributor to the overall fandom community. Along with its structure as a site, there really hasn't been anything else like it before. Congratulations, AO3/OTW, you earned it.

Here's the official post with the speech that was made, along with pictures of the award itself.

Comments

[carlyinrome.livejournal.com]

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

This is awesome news! Congrats to AO3! <3

And I see Becky Chambers got Best Series. Highly deserved!

[violateraindrop]

This is amazing! It is also interesting to see an organization like this winning the award. A quick look at Wikipedia tells me that this is the first time.

[tabaqui]

I think it's just amazing! I love it.

I wish there was a video of the award/speech. I've seen a lot of pictures but nothing 'live', as it were.

So fun!

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Funny you mention that, because I just found a video of the entire acceptance speech (https://thetransintransgenic.tumblr.com/post/187104152046/mazel-fricking-tov-everyone)! Hopefully it'll play for you.

[tabaqui]

Wheeee!
Yes, it did, and that was awesome, thank you! :D

[monkiainen.livejournal.com]

That's just awesome :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

That's pretty cool! I'm sure lots of readers and writers got their start on that site.

[sakuraberries]

YES I was so pleased to see AO3 win! I wrote my MLS thesis on a topic tangential to AO3 so I had to do quite a bit of research on it, and it's just amazing to see all the hard work that they did pay off.

[haebin.livejournal.com]

This is truly amazing. *o*

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It really is. I'm proud of the AO3/OTW community and everyone who made this happen. :D

[impala-chick.livejournal.com]

Wow this feels like such a big deal! Especially since in the old days, fandom was something you were supposed to keep an absolute secret.

Whoa, I didn't know astolat was apart of the original team! I didn't really know about why it was conceived, I just remember starting to read fic there instead of all over a bunch of random forums.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

The history of fandom, and with fanfiction in general, is so utterly fascinating because it's true. Nowadays it's more well-known and a bit more mainstream than how it used to be. While sure there is still ignorance about it and such, but seeing so many actors/creators openly talking about fandom and fanfiction (in a positive way) it's kind of liberating. And having AO3 being recognized is many, many years of reaching to that point. It's awesome. :D