AO3 News

AO3 Reaches 3 Million Fanworks!

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Published:
2017-04-28 14:09:12 UTC
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AO3 3 million fanworks

Partial screenshot of the AO3 homepage showing 3 million fanworks

The Archive of Our Own is thrilled to announce that it is now home to 3 million fanworks! This amazing accomplishment could not have happened without the support and engagement of you, our incredible users.

A bit of history about the Archive:

  • The idea for a fan-owned archive was first suggested in May 2007
  • The Archive of Our Own went into closed beta almost a year and a half later, in October 2008
  • A little over a year after that, in November 2009, AO3 entered open beta, where anyone could request an invitation and make an account
  • Before open beta, there were 347 user accounts and 6598 fanworks from 674 fandoms
  • Two days after open beta started, there were 1076 user accounts and 9506 fanworks from 886 fandoms
  • The millionth fanwork was posted to AO3 on February 15, 2014, just under four and a half years after going into open beta
  • The two millionth fanwork was posted to AO3 on December 20, 2015, less than two years after reaching one million fanworks

And now, less than a year and a half after reaching 2 million fanworks, we're celebrating 3 million! The past decade has been an incredible journey, and the AO3 has grown more than we ever could have hoped back when it first started.

Help Us Celebrate

It's the people who make the Archive of Our Own what it is. Our more than 1 million registered users--and countless unregistered users--are some of the most enthusiastic and passionate folks around, giving so much of themselves in the works, comments, and kudos that they share. So we want to hear your stories. What does AO3 mean to you?

You can share your answer in a word. You can share it in an essay. In a drawing. A song. However you want to celebrate your experience, we want to know about it. Leave a comment or use the hashtag #myAO3 on social media so we can hear what you have to say.

Three million thank yous to everyone who helped the Archive get to where it is today!