hey, what are the parameters for a tag to be marked common?
I always thought it was based on the amount of times that tag was used, so more works = more chances of it becoming a common tag.
but magical mishap, which is a popular-ish trope with more than 100 works still can't be filtered, while a tag with *character name is toxic* with like 4 works is already marked common.
so clearly it's not just that. but what are the parameters then?
Tag wranglers - please correct me or add on in the notes.
[tag wrangler = human volunteer who reads and categorizes tags on ao3]
Generally speaking, in order for a tag to be canonized (added to the AO3 back end so it appears in dropdowns), it needs to be used at least three times by three different authors. So one author using the tag 100 times won't help its case, for example. Also, in a particularly large fandom, the number might be higher than three.
However, it's not an instantaneous thing. Not all fandoms have wranglers actively working on them, and also some tags require discussion before they are agreed upon and canonized.
For several years, additional tags weren't being canonized at all. I don't know the ins and outs of why that is because I was never a wrangler myself. Now that they *are* being canonized again, there's a backlog of tags to discuss so it's a matter of time before each one gets looked at.
If you want to ask the wrangling team about that tag in particular, you can email Support and Support can pass along the question. Their email form is in the AO3 footer, linked at Technical Support & Feedback.
You can also follow @ao3org or @transformativeworks. They post AO3 updates, including when Wrangling announces new canonical tags. They don't announce all of them, but it's still interesting to see.
