Meta

:For the FanloreProject to improve Fanlore's coverage of meta-related topics, refer to FanloreProject:Meta.
In fandom, meta (also meta essay) is used to describe a fan-authored piece of non-fiction writing discussing any aspect of fandom, fanworks, or the source text. This can include discussing characters and their motivations, fanfiction tropes and trends, fan activity, particular plot elements, choices by canon creators, alternate possibilities for canon and much more.
Meta can be fandom-specific, or it can be pan-fandom, commenting on fannish trends and tendencies that span fandoms and fan generations.
One definition: 
Another definition: 
The definition, and terminology, used to describe meta has varied over time and with different fannish platforms. See Origin & Evolution of the Term.
For Fanlore pages about meta, refer to :Category:Meta.
==Origin & Evolution of the Term==
Meta describes a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to complete or add to the latter. It is derived from the Greek preposition and prefix meta- (μετά-) meaning "after", or "beyond".Wikipedia. (Accessed 23 March 2014.)
What constitutes meta has varied over time and with fannish platforms, as each platform has its own community norms, and constraints about what can be published. On mailing lists, for example, discussions of the source text, characters and fanworks was taken for granted - these were simply everyday discussions. The prevailing term, therefore, was metadiscussion, which means "discussing the discussion", or shifting away from the topic at hand to talk about how the topic is being discussed. 
LiveJournal and journal-based fandoms popularised the concept of the "meta essay", which was a long-form piece of non-fiction writing on any canon or fandom-related topic. This informs what many fans think of as meta today, although when it first emerged, this 'new' definition of meta was controversial, with fans believing there was no need for a separate term to refer to simple discussion. (See Mailing Lists and the Emergence of "Meta").
While discussion would take place in the comments of meta essays published on journal platforms, there was always a clear separation between the original "essay" and the ensuing discussion. However, this line has blurred with the advent of microblogging platforms like Tumblr and Twitter, in which a relatively brief initial post or comment can spark off a discussion that produces meta - yet the original post arguably does not qualify as a meta essay in its own right. There is yet to be an agreed-upon term that distinguishes these discussion-formatted meta from essay-formatted meta ("metadiscussion" being an established term to refer to something different). 
Meta can also take the form of multiple posts (by the same author) in a reblog chain or Twitter thread, either to separate the initial observation into individual thoughts or to circumvent the platform's length limitations. The nature of microblogging platforms can make the subsequent discussions difficult to follow, with multiple 'versions' of the same meta branching off in different directions as different fans respond and add their thoughts.
==Mailing Lists and the Emergence of "Meta"==
When the term "meta" first entered usage as a way of describing in-depth fannish essays about canon material, it received pushback from numerous fans who considered it an unnecessary term. On fannish mailing lists, discussion about canon was the norm, and thus these fans considered it ridiculous that LJ users had coined a new term for such a straightforward activity.
However, commentary from the creator of Fanfic Symposium, a site for hosting meta essays founded in 1999, suggests that while discussion abounded in mailing list fandom, it didn't typically take the form of in-depth, long-form essays, of which there was still a lack in fandom at the time. Prior to the emergence of "meta" as a term, these essays were found only on "rant pages", in which fans would hold forth on various topics on their own website.
 
Fanfic Symposium's creator also acknowledged that the rise of LiveJournal fandom and the associated proliferation of meta essays had effectively rendered FS moot:
== Fanworks ==
===Fiction===
Sometimes fanworks themselves become metafic, where characters within the text comment on canon or fandom. Back when RPF was rare, some people called any story meta where the characters and the actors for those characters interacted. See some fiction examples.
A fic that utilizes the pairing of Meta/Fandom: (NC-17) by alyse (219 comments) ("But Meta had a way of making that seem okay when it had Fandom at its mercy. Meta had a way of making everything seem okay when it touched Fandom just right. When Meta did that, Fandom was just Meta's bitch. And Meta knew it.") (2007)
Recursive fanfic may also be called metafic.
=== Vids===
In vids, the tag meta is occasionally used when images of fans appear along with images of characters, but the term metavid is more commonly used to describe a vid that comments on a specific show, or its fandom, or fandom as a whole. 
See some metavid examples.
===Essays and Meta===
Fans have also had a lot to say about fandom itself, often in the form of meta essays. These can take the form of formal essays, but also as posts to personal journals. 
 
* Metaphor Is a Dirty Word ; archive link by Thamiris (February 2002) 
* also see :Category:Meta Essays
== Meta Communities ==
*1999: Fanfic Symposium was founded as "a weekly 'column' page on all things fanfic" and a space for fans to "hold forth" on topics related to fanfiction and fandom.
* 2002: The Metablog noticeboard community provided a central place to post links to "blogs and LJs that discuss issues of importance to fandom." Metaquotes community provides the lighter side.
* 2004: The Shipper's Manifesto was founded as a community for shippers to post meta essays in support of a particular pairing.
* 2005: The metafandom newsletter community on LiveJournal and (after Strikethrough, 2007) on InsaneJournal were set up to compile links to "interesting discussions in fandom" over both journalling sites (but no blogs). 
* 2007: The meta_roundup community on InsaneJournal began compiling links to ""fannish stuff of interest" on InsaneJournal exclusively.
*2019: The founding of This Week in Meta, a pan-fandom newsletter rounding up links to meta posted around the web.
*2020: The March Meta Matters Challenge, a challenge focusing on "not just new meta, but making sure older meta gets a chance to be read and remain a part of fandom history" is run for the first time.Admin Post: What is the March Meta Matters Challenge?, Dreamwidth.org. Published January 19, 2020 (Accessed January 4, 2021).
==Resources & Further Reading==
* :Category:Meta Essays
* by Annalee Newitz (June 2, 2014)
* LJ Communities ! = Mailing Lists, a fan discusses the changing nature of fan discussion, meta, and the then-new fannish platform LiveJournal (2005)
* On symposia: LiveJournal and the shape of fannish discourse (2008) 
* The Fanfic Symposium (A website collecting meta essays, active 1999-2006)
* The Fan Meta Reader (A website dedicated to republishing "thought-provoking, theoretically innovative, and stylistically unique fan analysis". Active 2014-2017)
* Geek Word Wednesdays: A Definition of Meta in Fandom by Pammu (April 6, 2016)
*Redefining Meta (2003)
*Meta-Salon a LJ community about fandom meta discussions (2002-2006)
== References ==
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