#fandom data

Demographics

How old are you?

Do you identify as LGBTQ+ in any form?

What is your gender identity?

Do you identify as any of the following? (LGBTQ+ related identities)

What is your sexual orientation?

What is your romantic orientation?

What is your race?

Is English your native language?

Which geographic region best describes your current place of residence?

Which religious or spiritual tradition(s) do you believe?

Do you experience the following? (Disability, Neurodivergence, and Health Conditions)

Usage of AO3

Which of the following AO3 activities have you done in the last twelve months?

How frequently do you use the following methods to find works on AO3?

In a typical week, how long do you spend on AO3 or reading downloaded AO3 works?

When did you begin using AO3, with or without an account?

When did you create your first AO3 account?

What languages do you use for reading and posting on AO3?

Works You Post On AO3

Which of the following types of works do you post on AO3? (Media)

Of the works you post on AO3, how often do you post works with the following ratings?

Of the works you post on AO3, how often do you post works focused on the following types of relationships?

Of the works you post on AO3, how often do you post works in the following genres/tags?

Of the works you post on AO3, how often do you post the following types of works? (Format & Miscellaneous)

Works You Consume On AO3

Which of the following types of works do you consume on AO3? (Media)

How much do you enjoy works with the following ratings on AO3?

How much do you enjoy works focused on the following types of relationships on AO3?

How much do you enjoy works in the following genres/tags on AO3?

How much do you enjoy the following types of works on AO3? (Format & Miscellaneous)

Fandom Beyond AO3

Which of the following types of fanworks have you consumed in the last year?

Which of the following types of fandom activity have you done in the last year?

Which of the following websites or apps do you currently use for fandom activities at least once a month?

Which of the following websites or apps have you previously used for fandom activities, but no longer regularly use?

When did you first begin participating in fandom?

How many fandoms have you considered yourself a part of in the last five years?

Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) - N.H. Bla → N.H. Black White

Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel) - N.H. → N.H. White

Annabeth Chase - Ambig → Ambig Black White

Caitlyn (League of Legends) - Asian → Asian White

Dick Grayson - Ambig → Ambig Roma White

Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV) - Latino → Latino White

Elphaba Thropp - NH Amb - N.H. → Ambig Black White

Hermione Granger - Ambig → Ambig Black White

Lucy Chen - Asian → Asian White

Rio Vidal - Latino → Latino White

Shane Hollander - Asian → Asian White

Tyler Joseph - MENA → MENA White

Valentino (Hazbin Hotel) - N.H. → N.H. Latino

In addition, the following character races were updated due to new information uncovered during research.

Dr. Ratio (Honkai: Star Rail) - Ambig → White

All data was pulled December 17th between 10pm and 3am while logged into ao3. Due to the archival function of ao3, it is not uncommon for numbers to fluctuate as readers can choose to remove their works (or parts of them) as they please, which can affect total numbers as well as date categories and tag organization.

The dates pulled are for 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-16 for the year total and 2024-x-01 to 2024-x-30/31 for monthly pulls. Fics are filed by their most recent update, rather than date of first publishing, on ao3 meaning any fic updated this year will be included in the data even if it has been a running WIP for multiple years.

Word and comment counts were calculated using the natural "pages" layout of 20 works per page to assemble a calculation of the average or total when sorted numerically in the archive. The top 20 entries are entered independently, and from there intervals are used to get an estimate of the larger body of work. For example:

(SUM of top 20 wordcounts) + (wordcount of item 21 + WC41 + WC61 + WC81 + WC101)(20) = total wordcount items 1-121

As the tail end of the data creates larger swaths of entries with essentially the same average accross smaller intervals, the intervals used become longer as seen here:

From this estimated total wordcount, I'm able to get an estimated total for the set. For wordcount specifically, I excluded the wordcounts of two large H*rry P*tt*r fics with crossover elements in the top 20 out of both spite and a desire to maintain some level of numerical purity. This more than balances out the effect of pulling representative samples on the high end of each interval.

All content data is dependent on tagging, which is not standardized. Thus, the numbers represented are only as accurate as the authors' tagging abilities. For example, while you'll see genitalia identifiers as a common tag for smut fics, they're still only present on the fraction of fics that choose to list them. The lack of a tag does not automatically imply the opposite. Likewise, some fics containing some explicit content that are not pornographic in nature/focus will choose to list as Mature instead of Explicit. The two categories are both "adult" content, so it's an author's choice which rating best suits the material.

My ask box is always open if you have questions!! I love talking about this shit it's one of my favorite little hyperfixations. :)