How the hell do you tag on AO3?
Hello, my anonlings (and assorted others). It is I, the Big Anon, otherwise known as Crouch, here to request your advice on this important matter.
Simply put, I have always sucked shit at tagging. My steadfast beta tells me I "certainly have a way with it," which is Steadfast Beta for, "I don't even know how to help you, man." Thus, I have simply been doing my meager best.
Part of my skill issue is probably because when I personally go to read, I search very simply by ship tags or character tags, and when I decide which works I'm interested in reading, I actually mostly go by the summary; I often hardly glance at the tags. Nevertheless, I know that for many people, the tags are very important in their search process. I wish to ensure my tags are of sufficient quality to help people decide whether or not they're interested in my work.
To that end, I would like to ask everyone some questions:
What do you do when you search? Are there important types of tags you filter by?
Assuming you got here by finding and reading one of my works on AO3: what about that work made you decide you wanted to read it? Did the tags assist you at all?
What is your general opinion of my tagging so far? Is there anything you would like me to do less or more of?
Is it better to under-tag or over-tag?
And to my fellow writers, some of whom I am @-ing on this post, I ask:
How on earth do you decide what to tag?
Responses, opinions, and advice greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much.
@ikebanaka @nightmarecleric @bluestofbloomingmoons @blinkbinurdrink @ghost-kings-court-jester
titsay
prguitarman
baratheonpilled
kianamaiart
gummygunk
2087
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tangentwithtanner
