Current Spotlight decision - killing the cat with curiousity

Kenn 2015-10-31 03:55:56 UTC #1

Okay does someone want to explain the current Spotlight decision to me? It's a comic that hasn't updated in over 6 months.

I'm hoping for an answer that can't be beaten down with 'but it hasn't updated in over 6 months'. I'm aware it's a popular comic, it was on the top spot for ages for popular, but yeah - colour me confused.

jmhenry 2015-10-31 13:25:27 UTC #2

I guess it's just the downside of having spotlighted comics hand picked by the staff. I remember seeing some comics get the spotlight more than once , or an author has two comics and both of those get spotlighted on different days.

PotooGryphon 2015-10-31 13:47:56 UTC #3

Well, In AtokNiiro's case, Treehouse has gone on hiatus due to the artist developing carpal tunnel. So there's that to consider and be patient about. It looks like the banner AtokNiiro made for this spotlight is new art though, and very appropriately cute Halloween themed which is perfect for the end of October. Treehouse is a fun webcomic with a lovable high energy art and fun compelling story so it makes sense that it gets featured. Also the episodes are separated in a way that gives a good bite size chunk of story in each one which is something the staff really looks for for easy sharability.

I do agree that it can be frustrating to see repeats of the same artist/series getting featured again when there are so many other artists/series that can be feature, however, there's probably a complex reason behind there choice of feature. Like testing what gets the most engages and when while also keeping it a popular series that readers already love, so on and so on. Lots to consider for sure.

Just gotta wait your turn and keep making the best comic you can so you can be the next to get featured.

Kenn 2015-10-31 16:21:20 UTC #4

I mean this isn't anything personal about 'oh but my comic isn't there rarararar'. I'm actually currently on hiatus due to personal issues so honestly I couldn't care less about the popularity of my own comic.

But back to what I said 'Yeah, he's made Halloween art... but the comic hasn't updated in over 6 months.'. The reason for hiatus doesn't really feel relevant, not that I'm saying that isn't unfortunate for Atok, and this honestly isn't an attack on him as a person or an artist - I honestly think his stuff is fantastic.

But I can't get my head around it. With so many fantastic comics updating every day, why pick a comic that' s been inactive for so long? Like, if he was about to come back on the scene, cool, I get it, but when it's just being featured for featured's sake? Even if it was a comic that required more exposure I guess I could understand, but he already has a huge following.

Kenn 2015-10-31 16:22:29 UTC #5

I don't even really have an issue with the same authors with multiple comics having separate promotion, as long as both are justified in having it.

PotooGryphon 2015-10-31 16:32:54 UTC #6

The Tapastic staff like to test to see what works and what doesn't to get the most engagements out of the front banner.

Like what Michael already explained in this thread

The last several October banners haven't been performing as well as expected because they were too creepy/scary despite it being the season for that. Makes sense to end the month with a fun cartoony banner.

There's site analytic and user behavior taken into consideration. The amount of updates don't really factor in if that series is still performing very highly.

Yeah, posts like these do come across as "rarararar" lol Actually the above mentioned thread kind of answers this thread question. Michael thoroughly explains the performance of each month. Performance is a big explanation of why they choose the way they do, however he does also explain some why in a few posts.

jmhenry 2015-10-31 16:54:18 UTC #7

I thought it was weird seeing the same comic in the spotlight more than once, but that pretty much explains it.

I'm honestly not that worried about whether I see my comic on spotlight or not(just pointing out something I thought was weird). Given what works with the site anayway, I'm comfortable with the idea that it'd never happen at all. I'm more focused on not disappointing the readers I already have.

Kenn 2015-10-31 17:06:37 UTC #8

But literally none of this is relevant to the topic.

But still, really? Tapastic may be crazy busy, but the staff definitely know the big names on their site. Even if they did pick a big name, surely there's an active comic that's performing well, right? There surely would've been a conscious effort to arrange to have it featured, especially as it's new art.

To be blunt, this mindset irks me. Honestly it's the second thread with comments regarding The Spotlight I've made and both times people who think the way that it's been done fairly just point the finger of accusation in my direction. It does make me wonder how many threads have been cast in this light for the same reason when the reasoning behind it comes with sincere intent.

I'm probably just going to leave this topic at that, what actually lead me to make this topic was discussing it with other creators who didn't think great of it either (even someone saying it angered them) it looks like on this end everythings a-OK [thumbs up], so there's no point in really keeping the discussion open.

AffectedMind 2015-10-31 17:35:37 UTC #9

Sir, everything got explained and you still act like don't understand anything... I wasn't very happy about repetetive banners either, but it's October and those comics fits the topic. Sure they are probably bunch of other comics good for Halloween, but if none will ask for spotlight (and you can) or would you actually as an admin browse this 10k or more comics, read them and decide: Hey I want them in my spotlight! I mean it's hard man, I think the staff read those. It's not like: I'm too lazy to pick someone else, just throw this few for whole month.

(Personally if I will have enought chapters I will fight for spotlight on my own!)

keii4ii 2015-10-31 19:37:55 UTC #10

But it hasn't been explained. The question was not about repetitive banners (which has been explained); it was about featuring a comic that hasn't been updated in months (which hasn't been explained).

@Kenn You already know the gist of my stance on this. I personally am okay with it as an isolated case; I would be concerned if this were to become a trend. Featuring inactive comics after inactive comics (even if they haven't been abandoned) could not only discourage hardworking creators, but also make the spotlight seem less valuable/attractive from the reader's point of view. "Is this gonna be yet another series that I'd have to wait forever for an update... IF it's gonna be updated at all?"

Fortunately, it doesn't seem likely that the staff would make a habit of picking lots of inactive comics. Has there been any other case like this in the past? None that I can think of (though I don't keep records or anything, so there might have been a few).

The staff is always trying new things with the featuring, trying to see what works and what doesn't. Instead of saying "okay staff, EXPLAIN YOURSELVES," just let them take our concerns into consideration. If this ever becomes a trend, then we can demand an explanation. XD

AffectedMind 2015-10-31 20:22:56 UTC #11

Okay my mistake.

And I agree, tho it doesn't really discourage me, maybe some artist does, but personally don't bothers me. Even if the story is being inactive, maybe it's nice and interesting (didn't really read it, sorry). It can be more hurtful from the reader point of view like you mentioned. I still stay with what I said about browsing all those comics and there's a lot of it.

I didn't notice. I don't think it will become a trend, that would be a true harm for the artists and for the readers.
it's not like InkBlazers or something...

Kenn 2015-11-01 03:40:47 UTC #12

Thanks Keii, I probably came across a little aggressively in my responses, but it was hard not to feel frustrated when it was literally the only point I mentioned lol. Even reading it back I couldn't understand where the subtext was coming from.

Honestly I was only looking for an explanation as to why such an inactive comic. Even as a one off it just feels odd to feature a comic that hasn't updated in ages (with those subscribing from the Spotlight also probably left wondering when they'll get to read more).

Jrej 2015-11-01 12:32:54 UTC #13

We hqve enough things to worry about. The spotlight is under the full control of the Tapastic staff so let's step back and let them run the show.

I'll be focusing on my comic, keeping in mind I could win a spot there some day. Just like a webcomic lottery!

jmhenry 2015-11-01 14:32:08 UTC #14

His issue isn't not being in the spotlight, it's more that the spotlighted comic is one that hasn't been active in months.

Note: Not trying to kick the beehive, just clarifying.

Jrej 2015-11-01 15:12:29 UTC #15

Yeah I know. But if the comic is good quality and generate traffic. Who cares how active it is. It could be finished and still entertain readers!

michaelson 2015-11-03 01:02:24 UTC #16

I understand that it can be frustrating to see a comic that has been inactive be featured in the spotlight section. We typically don't feature inactive content, this was sort of a special case. I happened upon Atokniiro's post on Facebook with the updated cover image and thought it would look great in the spotlight section. This is sort of why Anything About Nothing's banner was pushed a couple days back.

Atokniiro drives a fair amount of traffic from his facebook page to our site whenever he posts. Since he was already driving so many of his fans to the front page of Tapastic, I thought it'd be nice for them to see the banner being featured. But me being me, this was obviously an experiment

A majority of Atok's fans that clicked through are already registered on Tapastic AND subscribed to his series. However, we still saw a high percentage of those users subscribing. Which at first doesn't make any sense because you can't subscribe to the same series twice. So what did they subscribe to?

The Trending + Popular section got a lot more love on Day 1 of Atok's feature. We verified this by cross referencing what readers subscribed to Treehouse were subscribing to.

So yeah, hopefully this answers some questions. Does this justify featuring Treehouse? Well, we didn't actually know what effect it would have, so maybe not? But I believe with our 3 day rotations, we can conduct more experiments like this.

**Disclaimer: the snippet of the trending and popular section was just a random screenshot I took a second ago and included in this post for dramatic effect. These weren't necessarily the series that benefited from day 1 of the feature.

Kenn 2015-11-03 12:10:03 UTC #17

I'm sure you know what I can be like but actually it all makes perfect sense

I appreciate the actual full detailed response. The fact that I know usually you're definitely against featuring inactive content is part of the main reason that turned the cogs in my head, but honestly I can't see any problems with these reasons you decided to go that way.