Are we a bit “subscribe crazy”?

Oh my god, yes! There was so many topics like that. Some people are just lazy and think the fame will just came. You need to work hard so people can notice you! It's not like youtube when you make a clickbait title x'D You need to show the world you exist!
Some people start to struggle when they are working on something for a long time and there's no results. They should seek for help in a form of review/critique or just feedback not asking how to get subs. Tho on topics like that others try to help as much as they can. I was struggling at the beginning if people will like my work or not, but I wasn't really going on the forums asking how to be popular I was asking others for feedback and started to promote myself all over social media and be as active as I can. The correct question should be "What can I do to be seen" or "Is there anything I can improve" or something along those lines.
I think people should chill a little. Patience plays a huge role as well.

No, it's not just you, haha. A lot of the posts in the forum tend to be about gaining more subscribers. I mean, I personally care about my follower count as well. Art is something I do for myself but also something I do to earn money, so I want as many people to see my work as possible because that could mean more jobs in the future or at least a better reputation.

But to be honest, there is no cheat code, just hard work, so it can definitely be a little tiring to see people complain about their stats. I think the worst was once I saw a thread that was supposed to be talking down on other people's comics that people thought got too much attention and followers, that's just petty in my opinion.

welp we're done here, this person just delivered ultimate wisdom and we need not wonder anything ever again

/slow clap

Along with people who just haven't improved enough yet to gain those subs, there are also people on the opposite spectrum - people's whose comics are actually pretty good, art and story wise, but they're so damn impatient and petty that it actually turns me off from subbing more.

Ex. "My comic ONLY has 20 subs and it's been up for a week? CLEARLY there's a mistake here, I mean, MY comic is GORGEOUS and it SHOULD have 1000+ subs by now!"

like srsly stfu lol your comic is good but that doesn't mean there are gonna be subs crawling out of the woodwork, there are a LOT of good comics here.

Whether your comic is good OR bad, subs aren't gonna just come flying towards you just because you wish for it. You need to work for it and be patient. If you're not getting subs, don't fucking blame the community or the web host - focus more on improving your craft and marketing yourself. Put that spite into something productive instead of just wallowing in your own ego.

Also yes, believe it or not, quality also plays a role in getting subs. If you're not quite at the artistic level you want to be at, that's okay - we were all there at one point - but instead of acting like you still should be getting more subs than the gorgeous full color realism style comic, work on improving your art and writing and comic-making. Don't blind yourself with jealousy and envy so much that it hinders your own improvements, y'know? That one is just the harsh truth from me though.

I feel you, but it's also like @alaingrey said, it's frustrating if you feel like all your hard work is for nothing.

I think it also has something to do with those few comics that have gotten promotion and many subs with only few updates. Perhaps it makes people think 'ohh it's that fast!' even if in reality you have to be either really lucky, or already have huge following that they've been building for years to make that happen.

Everything to what everyone has said!! I know it's frustratign when it seems like no one is viewing your stuff, but honestly especially if it's only been a short time, what do you expect? All the greatest most popular webcomics I can think of (that are off-Tapastic) have been running for 5-10 years or more, and I'm pretty sure that they were not that popular at their starts as well!

Thinking about something Austin Kleon said i think in the book "Steal Like An Artist" (or maybe it was his second one) about the positive side of obscurity–it means that you have much more room to experiment and try different things without the same kind of pressure of having an audience that expects a specific kind of thing from you. As someone who has literally just started posting my comic (like, yesterday) Its something I need to remind myself of and honestly it is kind of a relief to be able to work on something I love without worrying too much yet about what people will think...

It's always been like that as far as I can tell XD

To be honest, I've been hesitant to ask even that because it might look like I just want more subscribers.

Personally I'm more worried about losing the ones I have. But I can see why some people would want to try that method for getting more, people will always think there's a faster way to get somewhere, and they have a good reason to think that. I've seen comics with pretty average art and writing climb the charts while smaller ones with great art kind of linger bellow. I've tried to give shutouts to those because honestly I'd rather see them above me than below*...

This is EXACTLY why I make comics right here.

I mean, sure, but usually it's the opposite -- the more readers you have, the greater the percentage of people who want to comment and interact. Wanting a bigger readership isn't always about "I WANNA SEE A BIG NUMBER," sometimes it's just "I really want to see more people engage with this story, and I want to figure out how to get more readers who will."

So I dunno about it always being for the wrong reasons. What I do see is people who have a lot of expectations that aren't realistic, and they don't know it. I remember one thread where someone said "I know it's not easy, but it shouldn't be this hard!" to which creators responded, "No, it actually is this hard, this is normal." Many people have no concept of how long it takes to get known in the field of webcomics, and so younger creators feel behind when it takes them a long time.
And I think that's kinda true everywhere, in every field -- we have the concept of a "Ten Year Overnight Success" because someone who's been working hard for years will still be perceived as an "overnight success" when people suddenly hear of them, and we don't realise how long it took them to get there.

The amount of threads on the subject is frustrating, but I get where it comes from. I don't think it's all people who want to cheat... it's mostly young artists who think they've missed something. That other people know a trick that they don't know. They just don't realise that most of the time the trick is "update consistently for 4 years."
Though I do sometimes wonder if being able to see subscriber numbers is hard on new, young creators, just because it makes you feel like you're supposed to have an audience. I wonder if that's contributing to making some feel that something's wrong if they don't have one yet.

The question strikes me as feeling more all-or-nothing than creators really are. Like, I would continue to tell my story even if I never got another subscriber -- but I would still be excited to get more subscribers. I really want to make it to 1000! Does that mean I'm not content until I reach that arbitrary number? Of course not! It just means I want to grow, and I set myself a little goal to hope for because goals are motivating for me. Is the number the sole definition of my worth? No, of course not! But it is kind of cool to have a sorta tangible measurement of readership to look at.

I don't think it's ignoble to have an audience and still aim to grow!

this attitude frustrates me so because tbh tapastic has great response time for feedback and the team does a lot to help out with making the site run + accommodating both readers and creators. it's actually super refreshing(for me at least) to see staff that care so much about users ESPECIALLY creators !! it seems so rude and dismissive to say they don't do enough for not promoting every comic but i see this attitude so much ;;

i understand the desire for attention. everyone feels that. of course i want more subscribers and more validation; at the same time, i've been running webcomics for a long time and i understand that part of it is successful marketing, part is quality content, and part is luck. there isn't an.. exact equation for success per se - but people will still go looking for it. i can't really blame them. i think it happens in any industry.
but also i mean... you have to remember that every subscriber you gain is a person(or a bot) they have their own lives and their own projects(or binary code) so you can't expect everyone in the world to drop everything and kiss your feet, esp if you're not putting out good work and you're not trying to improve !

Well, of course people are subscriber crazy. It's the reason most people are here.
If you put your comic on the internet, it's because you want an audience.
Subscriber numbers gives you a tangible number to asses how well (or badly) you're doing.

Unfortunately, getting subscribers is hard as there is a lot of competition. People are already doing the best they can and not getting the numbers, so they begin to feel that they are doing a lot of work with no return, hence the "how do I get more subscribers?" threads.
People hope for a magic solution to satisfy their hunger for validation.

Statistically speaking, yes, but I have experienced a lot of inactive watcher/subscriber throughout the years to know that bigger number doesn't mean more people would be interacting sadly : ( But to be honest to myself, it always feels good to have a large number of audience.

Most people I saw posting those kinds of question are either too hasty, haven't been doing webcomic for long, or generally... just lazy to search up on other 82390213 topics that are of the same topic already existed in the forum. This is why I can see where the frustration seeing those topics keep popping up came from.

I feel like a lot of creators seriously overlook the value in making genuine connections with other artists. So many people are focused only on getting more eyes on their own work, that they only ever promote themselves. But there's a lot of value to be had in supporting your fellow artists and their work and not always crying "MEMEME!!".

But, like you said, people shouldn't go badgering random popular artists to promote their stuff! If you make genuine connections with people, they'll be more likely to help you out. And the stuff you learn from other artists feeds back into improving your own comics which in turn leads to more readers. :>

I guess anyone likes exposure but when it comes to being a self centered pile of garbage things are different. I see already people on who are popular artists bitch and whine they wish they were more popular or people who don't have patience and go apeshit after posting their comic after 5 seconds and wondering why they don't have 5000+ suscribers. Also people who seem to suck and have little skill always mistaking their ability as better and become rather narcissistic over their perceived aptitude. They seem like the type to get really obsessed over subscriber count.
This applies everywhere though. I see it nearly on all art and writing sites.

In my personal experience, the ones most vocal or frustrated or confused about my lack of subscribers are my readers and friends/family. It seems to be a point that comes up in my comments section or in conversations a lot.

"Why are your sub numbers so low?"
"I don't understand why this is not more popular."
"You need to do something to get your numbers up, I've seen some really trash comics with three times the number as you."
"You need more subs."
"How do so little people KNOW about this comic????"
"You're doing something wrong Kura, how are you subs so low?"
"What the hell is with this lack of support?"
"Why is your subcount so low???"
"You REALLY need to do something about your subs."

And yeah, when you're asked that question so constantly all the time you really do start to question 'what am I doing wrong?' even when I usually don't really care too much about numbers as long as the $money$ numbers I'm getting from the comic are not taking a dive and are still able to help with the bills. Though it is nice that a lot of people I know, and readers that I only know as readers, want me to do well and succeed. That flatters me, really it does.