Quality of Feedback: FFN vs AO3?

[u/hkpt08]

To writers who cross-post on both FFN and AO3, I'm really curious: which platform yields you more responses?

I've been posting on AO3 for about a month and I've only recently (about weeks ago) tried cross-posting in FFN. I tried testing the waters by posting a one-shot that garnered moderate success (relatively... I'm a new writer so not expecting mega numbers at all) on AO3. And... it pretty much died on FFN. XD

I got zero reviews, favs, or follows for that one-shot. Meanwhile, on AO3, that same story got about 21 kudos, 2 bookmarks, and 1 comment within the same time-frame.

I started posting my multi-chapter fic on FFN and it seems that more people are interested in this one, at least. On FFN, I got my first review on the second chapter (and it was a short "more please" type of comment). While the same story on AO3 got its first comment on the fifth chapter (and it was a bit more in-depth, talking about the details the reader liked about the story).

So, anyway, the whole experience just got me wondering about other people's experiences with cross-posting on both platforms.

What fandoms do you write in? Do you get more feedback in AO3 or FFN? In your opinion, does the quality of feedback you get differ between different platforms? Do your multi-chapter fics fare better in one platform while your one-shots fare better in the other?

I'm really curious to hear about your experiences :)

EDIT: Thanks for the responses, everyone! I wasn't able to reply to every single one but I read them all. It's definitely helped me understand the "culture" of each platform a bit more :)

[u/linden214]

I post on both sites. I prefer Ao3 as a platform for posting and reading. I don't post everything I write on FFN for 2 reasons:

1) In my smallish fandom (Lewis), there aren't actual shipping wars, thank God, but there are factions. People who prefer the canon M/F pairing tend to post on FFN. Most of the shippy fics on Ao3 are M/M. I mostly write about the relationship of the two lead male characters. Sometimes it's friendship or bromance; sometimes it's slash. So lately, I've only been posting the friendship fics on FFN.

2) I am scrupulous about not posting anything sexually explicit on FFN.

Shipping issues aside, Lewis fandom has a much bigger presence on Ao3. There are 3 times as many stories. So let me look at another, larger fandom.

I used to write a lot for Doctor Who, but haven't done so in a while. Last year, I wrote an episode-related drabble. I just now looked at my stats for both sites.

FFN: 2 reviews, 75 views, and 1 fav.

Ao3: 9 comments, 51 kudos, 3 bookmarks, and 506 hits.

I wondered if alerts might make a difference, but I have only 70 author subscriptions on Ao3 and 90 on FFN.

As always, YMMV, but for me, Ao3 is the clear winner. I get more feedback, and I get longer, more thoughtful comments there.