Comment on Changes to Fandom Metatag Wrangling Guidelines

  1. Angel_133 Thu 29 Jan 2026 07:03AM UTC

    Can someone explain it more simpler way? please.
    I read it twice and still don't understand.

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    1. MalcontentCatboy Thu 29 Jan 2026 07:31AM UTC

      I'll try.

      They're now grouping fandom tags under metatags if there's a strong relationship between them.

      The example they gave is that "A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin", "Game of Thrones (Video Game 2014)", and "Game of Thrones (TV)" are all placed under "A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms".

      You can see this at the tag page if you look at "Subtags" on that page.

      Fandoms within that metatag won't be counted as crossovers.

      Overall it seems pretty similar to the older All Media Types fandom metatags, but I guess it's more systematic in how it's defined than those were. I don't know if the not-counted-as-crossover thing is new or not.

      Last Edited Thu 29 Jan 2026 07:31AM UTC

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    2. flamingwell Thu 29 Jan 2026 07:39AM UTC

      yin yang style symbol with water and fire instead of black and white

      Some fandoms aren't just one fandom. Like there might be a book that got adapted into a show, and maybe the book and the show are different enough that they should remain separate fandoms but also similar enough that people might want to filter or search both at the same time. So now there's an option to keep the book and show as separate fandoms but basically have a parent tag that searches both together.

      Now let's see a different example where the novel and the show that was based on it are almost identical and most fans see them as the same. Some of those fandoms where there were previously two tags (one for the novel and one for the show) are being merged into a single fandom.

      Decisions are being made on a fandom by fandom basis depending on which of these scenarios is most appropriate.

      Does that make sense?

      (Note: I'm just a random fellow fan, not an AO3 volunteer or anything, so this is just my understanding)

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    3. alaconda Thu 29 Jan 2026 08:00AM UTC

      Byleth

      Not a volunteer, but it's a way to group fandoms together to more easily think about them.
      For example, if Greater London was the metatag, then the actual City of London (the original book) would be a subtag. Westminster would be the spinoff series that's still part of the same universe. Some adaptations are basically the same thing as the original, so they're combined into a single tag, like Kensington and Chelsea, would still be a subtag if there's a metatag, but it makes more sense to treat them as basically the same thing.

      But just because two fandoms are similar doesn't mean they'll be grouped together under a metatag. A tag completely unrelated but by the same author (Milton Keynes) would be its own thing. Same thing happens if there are fandoms with the same name but are completely different. Like a completely separate London like London, Canada. Sure, it might be similar and inspired by the original (and might have plagiarized some names here and there), but it's completely distinct, and fans of the actual London aren't looking for the Canadian town when they're talking about Greater London, so it would be an example of something that doesn't belong under a metatag.

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      1. Angel_133 Sat 31 Jan 2026 06:18AM UTC

        Oh that explain alot of things.
        thank you 😊😊😊

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