Poll: fic reading habits

[schneefink]

A poll about fic reading habits, because I'm curious.

(I'm posting a survey without testing it first, I keep flashing back to the semester-long seminar Don't Do That as well as the myriad real life examples of why this is bad. Fortunately this is not scientific.)

Poll #18459 Fic reading preferences

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 58

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Do you read fanfic?

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Yes, often
33 (56.9%)

Yes, sometimes
8 (13.8%)

Yes, with varying frequency
14 (24.1%)

Yes, rarely
2 (3.4%)

No
1 (1.7%)

Other or more details:

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What kind of fics do you like to read?

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Only finished stories or series
3 (5.3%)

Only finished stories, but ongoing series
16 (28.1%)

Finished stories, and WIPs only if there's a regular update schedule
9 (15.8%)

Finished stories, and WIPs only if I trust the author to finish the story eventually
9 (15.8%)

Finished stories and WIPs, preferably finished stories
19 (33.3%)

Finished stories and WIPs, preferably WIPs
0 (0.0%)

Finished stories and WIPs, no preference
1 (1.8%)

Only WIPs
0 (0.0%)

Other or more detail:

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I read fic for...

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fandoms I know
57 (100.0%)

fandoms I've heard of or know vaguely
35 (61.4%)

fandoms I don't know
17 (29.8%)

Other or more details:

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When looking for new fic, I...

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look at new works for my fandoms on AO3
40 (70.2%)

look at new works for my fandoms in other places, e.g. Tumblr or ff.net
6 (10.5%)

browse tags on AO3
37 (64.9%)

browse bookmarking services, e.g. pinboard
12 (21.1%)

follow recs
48 (84.2%)

go through my backlog of "to read" bookmarks
20 (35.1%)

Other, please elaborate
8 (14.0%)

Other or more details:

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Comments

[sholio]

The question about reading fic in fandoms you don't know was a hard one to answer for me, because I do, but not very often, and usually only if it's written by a writer whose work I love or recced in a way that makes it sound interesting enough that I'm willing to try reading it as original fic. So it's not something I do regularly enough to feel like I should tick those boxes on the poll, but it is something I do.

On Tumblr I usually find new fic via the character or pairing tags. I still read fic on ffn, but generally only via recs anymore -- it's not a fic-quality thing (AO3 has a similar dreck-to-quality ratio anymore, in my experience) but because I prefer the AO3 search interface and find it easier to find good fic that way. AO3 has been my first stop for years when I get into a new fandom or need new fic to read. Tumblr is increasingly coming up behind it as a second choice, but since there's no easy way to search for fic specifically, it's a hit-or-miss kind of thing and really depends on how people in the fandom typically tag stuff.

[schneefink]

It's interesting to me that people say that they read fic in fandoms they don't know as original fic, because that's not quite how it works for me, or at least not always. When I read fic in fandoms unfamiliar to me I'm usually aware of the fact that there are nuances, character backgrounds, worldbuilding details, references etc. that I'm missing, and depending on how much the fic depends on these details and/or how obviously, the story works for me or not. When reading original fic I know that there (usually) isn't more there than what I'm reading, so I approach open questions and background details differently.

To me it seems like it would be even harder to find fic on Tumblr than on ff.net, but it probably depends on how one uses it, and on fandoms' tagging conventions etc.