Update: Invitation requests remain disabled for the time being

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2017-10-30 22:44:17 UTC

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Last weekend, we had to disable new invitation requests to address an influx of accounts flooding the Archive with spam works. While our Abuse team has been banning these accounts and deleting thousands of spam works, the problem persists and would most likely get worse if we sent out invitations again.

We have decided to keep the invitation queue closed for the time being while we take steps to prevent spam from being posted in the first place. This means you will not be able to create an account unless you have previously received an invitation from either a friend or our automated queue. (If you requested an invitation before October 22 and have not received it, please check your spam folder and, if you use Gmail, your "Social" tab. If you are still unable to find your invitation, you can contact Support with your specific request.)

We very much regret denying invitations to legitimate users, but as the amount of spam being posted is affecting everyone's user experience, we currently see no other way to address the problem.

We will reopen invitation requests as soon as we can, although we do not have an estimated date at this time. When requests have been reenabled, the "Get Invited!" link will return to the homepage, and the Invitation Requests page will include a form to add yourself to waiting list. (The option to request invite codes for friends has been disabled since the last spam wave, and we have no plans to bring it back in the foreseeable future.)

Any updates will be provided on this post and our @AO3_Status Twitter account. For more information on the Archive's invitation system, refer to our Invitations FAQ.

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Zaniida Thu 09 Nov 2017 06:49AM UTC

Hmm. So, I'm fairly new to the site (joined in like April), so I'm not yet familiar with all the boundaries. I recently participated in a charity event (Extra Life) via my YouTube channel. On this site, I've mentioned and linked to the donation page, not as a post in and of itself, but in the end note of some of my fics (that got posted around the same time as the event), the same way I use the notes to point to other things happening in my life, especially as they impact my ability to post on a regular schedule (the charity event definitely impacted my output for a few days -- and right after I said I'd be trying to post daily throughout November!).
Does a charity cause count as "commercial promotion"?
Does it count as "commercial promotion" if I mention and link to my YouTube channel (in the notes and/or comments section)? I mean, I'm a content creator on both sites, and there's a certain amount of overlap (e.g. with my POI vids, although I haven't yet made very many or any really good ones), and it may be where I post my podfics when I finally get them recorded, but it's still an account I am trying to earn a profit on (even though YouTube has shut off ads on every account that hasn't yet made 10,000 lifetime views -- I made like 35 cents of ad revenue before they did that).
Where's the line between acceptable cross-site connections and unacceptable ones?

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1. not_whelmed_yet Thu 09 Nov 2017 04:35PM UTC
  
  Not staff, but these excerpts from the TOS FAQ looked relevant to your questions:
  How strict is the "no commerce" rule?
  We want the Archive to remain a non-commercial space. That means that it isn't the right place for offering merchandise, even fan-related merchandise. Linking to your personal page (not, for example, an Amazon author page) is fine, even if the personal page includes some items for sale, but the Archive is not advertising space. If the abuse team issues a warning or sustains a complaint about commercial activities, the original poster can always appeal.
  What about charity drives?
  The Archive will host fanworks of any origin, including fanworks created in response to charity drives or other challenges. A link to a charity drive to explain the origin of a fanwork is appropriate. Solicitation itself, however, should take place outside the Archive. We concluded that this policy was the easiest to apply fairly to everyone, given the wide range of possible solicitation activities.
  Terms of Service questions get clarified by the Abuse team, so they probably aren't monitoring the question section here. There's info on how to contact them with questions in the faq: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/contacting-the-staff?language_id=en
  
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2. 1. Zaniida Thu 09 Nov 2017 07:36PM UTC
    
    Ah. Makes sense. I'll try to update my notes to comply with this when I have the time later tonight.
    One of the things I've noticed with terms of service -- first in the Minecraft forum, actually -- is that the normal way to get through a large amount of data is to skim, in the way one usually approaches the internet (information overload), and to pay attention to those things that seem to apply to one's activities at the time of signing up.
    It does mean that if I don't expect to use a site in a certain way, the sections dealing with that usage get almost completely ignored. I'm used to going something like "Yeah, yeah, don't be a jerk, don't use code to break the site, I get it (and never do that sort of thing anyway)" while reading TOS sections, which isn't the most conducive to retention of extra info...
    Anyway, thanks for the heads-up!
    
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jahid (Guest) Fri 10 Nov 2017 01:38AM UTC

I want to create acount

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hannah (Guest) Fri 10 Nov 2017 06:59AM UTC

Hey if anyone would be kind enough to send me an invite. I'll follow your instagram or follow something else if you want me to idk lol. [email protected]

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RiannePlays (Guest) Fri 10 Nov 2017 08:30AM UTC

Hello, My name is Rianne!
I recently came across this website and have become a fanatic on reading its contents. I was wondering if there was a possibility that I could get a notification for when you are finally receiving requests again, as I would love to create an account.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message,
Sincerely, Rianne

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Scarlet Fri 10 Nov 2017 10:44AM UTC

How about a "flag" button? So users can warn about spam themselves and reduce your workload? I know it means people could flag stuff they don't like and therefore would create more trouble than it's worth, but if you were to enforce strict rules about it such as "use the flag button for anything other than spam and get your account suspended for 6 months" and it may become a useful tool. Just an idea.

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1. AnonEhouse Fri 10 Nov 2017 01:44PM UTC
  
  AO3 told me the problem isn't getting users to report spam. They said users are already very good at doing it by using the 'report abuse' link and they get a lot of reports to handle. (The most recent newsletter said Abuse handled around 1,000 reports in October.)
  AO3 says they're discussing ways to prevent spammers from getting invite codes /creating accounts because that's the big problem. I found a spam account only last night, so they still have codes and are still making new accounts. I'm *GUESSING* that in addition to trying to figure out a way to prevent spammers from making accounts they're also waiting until the current group runs out of invite codes before opening up the invite queue again.
  
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Ann (Guest) Fri 10 Nov 2017 07:39PM UTC

How about a team/panel of volunteers to vet posts - only to confirm that they are authentic - and, if they are, OK them for publication. These volunteers would make absolutely no comment/judgement on the literary merits or contents of the fic.
* If while authenticating fics they find spam, they report it to AO3 Abuse Committee - and, if AO3 Abuse Committee agrees that it is spam, it and the author's account can be deleted.
* If a fic is cleared as authentic then it is published.
Make use of your resources, i.e. us, the readers! I am sure that there would be plenty of volunteers who would be willing to have their credentials checked by AO3.
Not sure exactly how it would work - maybe all new posts held in a 'pool' while the volunteers with access rights work there way through them, or send a link to of a batch of say 50 to a volunteer for checking.
Also, not sure how this would work for feedback - maybe the dreaded captcha.
Ann

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1. Diamond_Raven Sun 12 Nov 2017 02:46AM UTC
  
  There are thousands of stories published every single day (just in the last 24 hours, 5660 new stories were posted), and the AO3 volunteers already have their hands full with many things. Doing a manual check would work on a much smaller archive, but it would get out of hand very quickly. Imagine how annoyed people would be if they had to wait several days or weeks for their work to be published because there are too many stories to vet. This suggestion has been brought up multiple times in this thread, and the staff have confirmed that it wouldn't be feasible.
  
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AnonEhouse Fri 10 Nov 2017 08:26PM UTC

Spam accounts are still posting-- I reported these three today.
lailirprem TimeOver shopno

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SweetPallete (Guest) Fri 10 Nov 2017 11:59PM UTC

It's a shame that this is happening, for a while I've been writing and i thought i could post them here, though it seems like i'll have to wait until the problem is sorted out!
However since a week ago, i noticed this, i hope this spam problem gets resolved soon. It's a shame this has happened.
~

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TherajtheTrollKing Sat 11 Nov 2017 04:23AM UTC

Troublemakers... the whole damn lot of 'em.

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Kai (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2017 08:34AM UTC

I imagine that, once the invitation requests are re-enabled, the queue is going to be overloaded by newcomers. Yet another problem caused by these shameful spammers.

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AnonEhouse Sat 11 Nov 2017 02:29PM UTC

Found a new spam account.
Dolphin247
Spam continues to evolve. I notice this one was locked - visible to registered users only. And they've figured out how to put functional links in the 'work'. I looked at the link (safe look I just put the name in google, didn't go there- wouldn't trust it to just be spam- might also infect your 'puter with virus/malware/keystroke logger, etc.)
It's marketzoneplaza.com (repeat, do not go there) which appears to be hosted in Germany and POSSIBLY could be reported to the host at [email protected]
Hard to say if that's actually the host- a lot of sites have similar names. BUT MAYBE.
Also noticed when I googled 'where is marketzoneplaza.com hosted' it showed a spam post on someone's Facebook that looked the same as the ones we've been getting on AO3.

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iqom (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2017 02:48PM UTC

Not sure if this is allowed, but I've been wanting to publish my fanfics on here for a while now and I don't know anyone who can invite me :< If anyone has a leftover invitation and would like to share it with me, I would be forever in your debt!
[email protected] (I mostly use this email for junk, so I'm not terribly worried about spam that might come from posting it publicly lol)
Thanks again!

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muminul islamp (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2017 03:01PM UTC

please a my account give

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Nadine (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2017 03:17PM UTC

Hi,
I hope I won't bother you with my question, I just wanted to get it right with this invitation stuff :) . So at the moment it's not able to get one, but there is a waiting list? if there is one could you maybe put me on it, please? :3 I finally feel like publishing my writing works also in english, and your page is really great. Everyone is talking about it, so I hoped to try it here too.
Then there stands friends can still get you an invitation, is this right or is this also disabled?
thanks for helping me :)

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1. AnonEhouse Sat 11 Nov 2017 04:34PM UTC
  
  I'm not an official AO3 person, but I can tell you there is no waiting list right now. When the invitation queue reopens that will be a new waiting list and you'll have to apply for it then.
  If you know a user who ALREADY HAS an unused guest invitation, they can give you the code and you can make an account. AO3 stopped allowing users to request guest invites some time ago, so if your friends don't have an extra guest invite code, they can't get one now.
  
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2. 1. Nadine (Guest) Thu 23 Nov 2017 03:02PM UTC
    
    Thanks for the answer to my question with the reopen of the AoO3 :) earlier this month
    I saw that I can make an invitation request again <3
    
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Starstorm Sat 11 Nov 2017 04:09PM UTC

... I don't want to know why someone... or hundreds by the sounds of it, would spam AO3...
But then, there always are those that ruin it for everybody else, aren't there? D=

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1. AnonEhouse Sat 11 Nov 2017 04:43PM UTC
  
  Spam attacks can be malicious- some hackers just enjoy destroying websites- but most of it is underhanded business.
  It costs so little to automate it that if it gives them even a little benefit it's worthwhile to them. If they can, they put links to their business & if even 1 out of 100 people click on the link that repays them. You don't even have to click on a link for them to be rewarded for spam. Search engines like google rank websites and arrange the search results according to various factors- including how often their links/keywords appear on the internet. So just by existing, the spam benefits the spammers.
  This attack seems to be for business - very likely a business paid spammers to Optimize their Search Results, and didn't care how it was done.
  
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Shirazia Sat 11 Nov 2017 05:11PM UTC

Spammers are still here.
Just reported manhardwork.

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1. AnonEhouse Sat 11 Nov 2017 05:45PM UTC
  
  Yep, I went back and found 3 more. I'm now setting my search parameters a little wider.
  Over2Time Reismanmona Dark_Warrior_009
  
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2. 1. LizzieLloyd Sun 12 Nov 2017 01:01AM UTC
    
    I have found 7 more accounts in the last 30 minutes and have reported them. In total the 7 accounts have posted 164 works at last check could be more by now.
    ricosmith, Dark_Warrior_0010, Fostan, badarder, hhasan, puraton, and akdin.
    
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Mary (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2017 08:32PM UTC

saludos cordiales
Entiendo que la página por el momento no acepta solicitudes de admisión, por lo que megustaria saber si no es mucha molestia que publicaran ustedes mismo una historia que quiero subir a este sitio web, realmente me gustaria que me hicieran ese favor.
si es posible me gustaria que contestaran con la mayor brevedad a mi correo electronico.
gracias.
best regards
I understand that the page at the moment does not accept admission applications, so I would like to know if it is not too much trouble for you to publish a story that I want to upload to this website, I would really like you to do me that favor.
If possible, I would like you to answer my email as soon as possible.
Thank you.

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xueer970 (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2017 11:30PM UTC

I like thor and loki,and I want to see some story ,many writers send their articles on AO3,so I want to creat a account to read these great story.thank you.

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1. Diamond_Raven Sun 12 Nov 2017 02:48AM UTC
  
  You don't need an account to read stories, or to leave comments or kudos. Only a few stories are locked, but most are open so anybody can read them.
  
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