- While betas generally referred to anyone or any group who a company hired to test a product before its release to the public, it has narrowed to its involvement with the fanfiction community and their creative content. This includes stories, drawings and parodies that were reviewed by a small focus group or individual of its fanbase to find flaws and inaccuracies before its official posting online for the world to see. The term has also been used as a verb to mean to review fanfiction before its release, in terms such as “It needs to be beta’d before Friday”.
Beta
noun; analogy
A proofreader, generally for fanfiction writing, that looks over the drafts before they are posted online or distributed.
Etymology : Unknown origin but may be attributed to the anime community using the term around 1995 to describe its proof readers (which happened to be fans of the works). The term is analogous to the “beta tester” phrase that emerged in the 1950’s where companies (IBM) used it to describe people who tested their products before opening up to consumers.
Source : “I used to be a beta for a twilight fanfic” - Friend [~October 2020]
Last modified: 24 November 2020