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Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Magda (she/her), who volunteers as a TikTok Moderator.
How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?
I think Communications in general does an amazing job of making the OTW a bit more accessible to the average user – we get so many people commenting on our videos who are surprised that “oh, this is the official OTW TikTok!” Archive of Our Own (AO3) and other OTW projects have obviously gotten so much more popular in the last couple years, and a lot of people are interacting without even knowing there is an organisation fully staffed with dedicated volunteers making all of this happen behind the scenes. And I think it’s important for all of these new people in fandom to know what the OTW does and stands for, if only to realise that what they’re joining is a community, not a content machine.
However small their contribution, every single OTW volunteer is making this great work happen, and as a Communications volunteer, I’m super happy and proud to be able to spread the word. I think TikTok is a particularly interesting social media platform for the OTW to be on, since an average post will reach way more new viewers than followers – which obviously comes with its own challenges, but is really great for spreading the word and reaching wider audiences!
What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?
For me personally, it’s finding fleeting moments across the week to log on and beta scripts, sign off on videos, approve any comments, etc. This is usually five minutes I have while waiting for the train or for the water to boil for my coffee. It greatly depends on my schedule and state of mind how many of these moments I find in any given week, but I try to do as much as I can. And then on the weekend, I’ll have a longer work session where I sit down to complete the bigger tasks like writing scripts and editing videos.
What made you decide to volunteer?
I’ve been an AO3 user for a looooong time, but I wasn’t super aware of all the work that goes on behind the scenes until last year. I was doing a project on fanbinding during my MA in journalism, and I got in touch with the OTW for comment on the legality of the whole thing. I got a lovely – and speedy! – response from Legal as well as the opportunity to interview Rebecca Tushnet. The thing about being a student journalist and trying to get people to agree to an interview is… not many people do. Everyone is extremely busy, I get it, but sometimes it can be discouraging. I loved my experience with the OTW, and I’ve always been a nerd when it comes to fan culture, so I made it a point from then on to make every single project about fandom in one way or another. My lecturers loved it (heavy sarcasm, although I think they learned to appreciate my passion after a while…). I’m going to use this as an opportunity to shout out Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC) as well – an amazing resource for anyone doing any kind of research into fannish things.
Anyway, by the time recruitment opened for social media mod roles at the OTW, it felt like a natural progression for me, so applying wasn’t even a question.
What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?
This is probably a boring and predictable answer, but juggling everything – a full time job, personal projects, and keeping up with not only my tasks as an OTW volunteer but also trying to keep up with everything else that’s going on within the organisation. It is genuinely wild (and amazing) how much work goes on within the OTW.
What fannish things do you like to do?
I started writing fanfiction over a decade ago – before I even learned English, I would write cringy Violetta fanfic in Polish and post it on a personal fansite. I wrote fanfic quite regularly right up until I started university. These days, I don’t get to do it as much – I only write when something genuinely moves me to a point where I just can’t stop myself from writing something (like Project Hail Mary most recently – it won’t leave me alone, someone help).
These days, my main fannish creative outlet is FANMADE – an indie magazine about fan culture, which I run alongside some amazing writers and artists. I dreamed up FANMADE as my final uni project over a year ago, and I just couldn’t let it go after graduation. We’re still here a year later, the team has grown significantly, and it’s so much work, but it’s also so much fun. Shameless plug incoming (but I was told it was okay, haha) – I encourage anyone who is slightly unhinged about fan culture to check it out. It’s very much a work in progress, but we are getting better with each issue – and above all, it’s a labour of love, as most things in fandom are.
Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out previous Five Things posts.
The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, OTW Legal Advocacy, and Transformative Works and Cultures. We are a fan-run, donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.