How much posting on your wall is too much?

[dglisson]

Hey everyone!

Just curious, I was actually reading some threads on here where some reasons that folks have stated for unsubscribing to a comic is that "the author posts on their wall way too much."

Enough people chimed in that I really wanted to ask the question, "how much is too much?" For example, I usually try to promote new things to my readers or tell them about things going on, or even let them know about additions to my Patreon--sometimes I'll do it once a week, then a month will go by without me doing it at all.

I personally have seen creators vary from once in a blue moon "I won't be posting for a while, just wanted to let you guys know" but no other posts, to those who post every few days just to say hi. Either way, it doesn't bother me at all which is why I wanted to ask a question to make sure I'm not turning off readers.

Just curious what you guys consider to be too much posting?

[PotooGryphon]

I post sparingly to my wall, mainly only when I have something important to say about the series, wish readers a happy holiday, or announce upcoming events/giveaways/shouts to Oops fan art/livestreams.

It works out to maybe 1 wall post per week.

I'm very acutely aware how annoying artist wall post notifications can be so I try not to abuse that with promoting various things. I don't promote my patreon account on wall posts nor small livestream events. I let my custom banner ads, big comic series banner, and links in the series description/episode description/artist bio promote links to those.

[shazzbaa]

Oh geez, yeah, I have to admit I find artist wall post notifications kinda obnoxious. I don't know why!! I don't begrudge creators for posting there -- it's all we really have for non-comic news -- but I really don't like getting those notifications.

I think the thing is that the wall isn't like twitter or tumblr or facebook where updates scroll passively by on my timeline -- I'm alerted every time, and have to go specifically to your page to see whether the update is relevant to me or not. Timelines are like a friend sending you a text letting you know something, Tapastic wall posts are like a friend sending a text that just says "hey I wanna tell you something, stop by my house."

But overall I'd say it's at least partly about content, not just frequency? -- like if you're letting me know that you just started a patreon, for instance, or letting me know of an upcoming event for you, that makes sense to alert me about. If you're just posting sketches of your characters on your wall and alerting me every time, that's gonna get frustrating.

[UzukiCheverie]

The only posts I tend to make to my wall are posts that pertain to everybody and I haven't drawn up an announcement for (and are probably not that important to draw up announcements for). Livestreams, to name one example. But if it's an announcement that I really need everyone to read - cause a lot of subs tend to ignore post notifications, I do the same, there are just so many of them from so many creators - then I'll do an episode announcement paired with a comic of sorts.

There was one creator I got really peeved off with for posting too many announcements though. I won't name names, and I didn't approach her about it or anything, but she was posting announcements so often and hitting the "notify subs" button for every single one, and each post was just random pics of random stuff that I didn't care about lol and so it got annoying really fast to see her filling up my notifications panel with more and more posts of these things. Like ffs that's what I use Facebook for, not Tapastic.

I think some people forget though that you're not actually obligated to hit that notify button. You don't need to hit it to post on your wall, it should only be used to notify subs if it's an important announcement that relates to them. If it's something that doesn't affect your readers or is something that your readers wouldn't be clawing to know, then it's best just to leave it as a regular post without hitting that notify button - or just leaving that kind of stuff to Facebook entirely if it's really irrelevant. Pick your platforms wisely.

I don't know if I'd ever unsub from someone if they posted too many pointless sub announcement posts. Have I gotten real close to doing it? Yes. Hell, I've gotten close to unsubbing from people for having too many series that they didn't put any work into and just kept uploading more without continuing the ones that they started in the first place. I think the only "dignified" unsubs I've made - and I really don't unsub that often without good reason - is for comics that just ended up turning into garbage later on down the road and didn't have the charm or content that it used to have, the content that I subbed to read in the first place. But these kinds of comics are few and far between, thankfully it hasn't happened often enough for me to be hitting the unsubscribe button on a regular basis.

Buuut I'm getting off topic.

TL ; DR if it's not something your readers ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW either pertaining to you or your work then don't hit that notify button, just make it a regular post :U those notifications add up m8

[nathankschulz]

Post with this in mind:
Some of your subs have 10 or 20 creators they're following. Some subs are following over 200. It piles up in either direction. I'd recommend posting once a week at most, unless its important or is a nice little thank you or Happy Holiday thing. Honestly, when I have a ton of notifications from creators... I just mark that they were all read so I can clear the number from my dash.
I rarely post to my subs unless its really necessary or a cool little thing for them. Unless I hear otherwise, I assume my subscribers only want me to post the comic.

[Kura]

I hate my wall... because I, and apparently tapastic staff. Can't keep this guy from spamming it =_= it just full of him demanding updates. (I have deleted so many of this guys posts too but he just keeps coming back)

https://tapastic.com/kurapikasuki

I don't often make wall announcements, or even announcements in general. Though there are some that generally can't be avoided because they will affect updates. I'm just not a very interactive or attention seeking artist. I keep trying to be and every once and a while I'll put more effort into attempting to communicate, but I always go back to being silent aside from moments where I really have to say something because it's affecting the schedule.

[PixyByte]

I'd say once a week is good, any more than that and you run the risk of crowding someone's notifications feed.
As a reader, I love seeing what the artists I'm subscribed to are doing, BUT I don't need 3+ notifications a week about them going live or what seems like line by line updates on their next comic. Some people go a little crazy with wall postings lol

[nathankschulz]

@kurapikasuki Who the hell is that pedro person? Why are they spamming your page so hard? What a dick

[AnnaLandin]

I post stuff I feel is relevant for my subscribers!

I post milestone images for every 100 subscribers, I post announcements - I announced the con I went to this weekend, for example, and when I redesigned my Patreon-campaign - and I post the occasional notification of a livestream. It's less than once a week, I'd say - maybe once every two weeks? - and most of it IS milestone-images.

I use the author's note field beneath my episodes to do general links and chatting instead. At least before the big update, I know that not every subscriber got the notification even when I clicked the little notify-subscribers-bell (I think it hiccupped on the app?), so I know that the best way to get people to read something is to tie it in with an episode.

Who the hell is that pedro person? Why are they spamming your page so hard? What a dick

For some magical reason (I'm honestly starting to think it's a curse), @kurapikasuki attracts some of the WORST readers on the internet.

[SirHellsir]

once a day is already pushing it, what makes them annoying is to make random announcements unrelated to the comic like new youtube vid (unrelated to the comic) or playing games on twitch, etc etc

[sorrelma]

i try not to post on my wall too often because i don't want to bother my subscribers + it seems like most people don't really look at my wall anyway
i kind of wish there was something like an embedded twitter feed on the profiles. i feel more comfortable posting consistently on twitter than on a feature that either gets no exposure at all or dings my subscribers every time i use it

@kurapikasuki oh my gosh that sounds so irritating !!

[Pandastrophic]

I think posting everyday or even more than once a day is too much for me, I follow like 100+ series and I honestly stop reading the posts from people who posts too much because it tends to be trival things. Like there is twitter for that XDD.
I personally post whenever there is an important update on the comic or other things, I try not post more than once ot twice a week unless its urgent.

[J.Lovelace]

I don't have a problem if artists spam messages... mostly because if I am not in the mood to read the news, or not interested in what the artist has to say... I just hit "mark all read" without checking, and go on with my day.

The only thing that really annoys me is the way replies work. When I comment under the wall post, every single person that comments after me counts as update and it sends me a notification. So now imagine being the first to reply and then 20 people replying after you... notification every few minutes. Now that's what bugs me.

[Dozzer]

I believe that if someone's gonna share something on their wall, it AT LEAST needs to have some kind of purpose to the series or share some sort of art. I myself try my best to post on my wall once a week (try because otherwise I'd forget it's there to post to).

Let's say that a creator insists on posting daily BUT actually has original work included every time. I think that'd be fine (and impressive).

I have engaged some single-sentence, irrelevant wall posts before, especially if it sparks a fun convo, but if it gets out of hand, I know for a fact that it will cause people to stop paying attention to them.

series: The Middle Crowd

[BlackMantaStudios]

Halfway through my stay here on Tap I decided to file away all my random art into a separate series (then ultimately setting up a dA account), but I was guilty of hitting the notify button just to share them a couple of times. But mostly I just click the bell icon to announce schedule slips or to greet subscribers on holidays, then just attach my art with it as a sort of postscript, so that my subscribers don't hate me that much.

Creators sharing posts doesn't really bother me personally, but I understand a lot of people being annoyed by it. I sure hope I didn't drive away any subs because of my wall posts.

[demthorshie]

I'm not exactly too crazy about excessive posting of wall posts if what the author is posting about isn't really necessary. Then I just get a sort of spammy feel out of it! In turn, I rarely ever post on my wall to subscribers unless i'm making an announcement or have reached a certain milestone (I posted a thank you message along with some art as a thank you to my subscribers when I reached my first 100 subs.)

[hades]

how i feel when posting announcements

[niinasalmelin]

I rarely post announcements because I'm also active on twitter, tumblr and facebook. Also if I have some news I can also tell them alongside the new comic update (they are more likely to read that one anyway). But when I've used it I've told something about the comic or if I've opened picarto or twitter account.

I admit I've been unfollowing people because of this. One person posted stuff on their wall 2-5 times a day! Almost every day of the week. If it's once the week or more rarely I don't mind it, but if you update your wall more than your comic I subbed you for, then I'm out.

[rairy]

Sometimes I post on my wall, mostly I would attach with my sketch/artwork for my reader to feast. Im sure subber interest to see other artworks beside your comics, instead putting them in comic and interrupt the flow, I choose to post them on my wall. Posting every hour and everyday can be annoying in my opinion especially ranting status. if that person like to post their daily life like a diary, i think its better to post them in facebook.

[CaptainUfo]

I rarely post on my wall, only if there is something really exceptional (schedule changes, milestones, holidays etc). I don't mind when someone I'm subscribed to posts once in a while (say, once or twice per week at most).

The thing I find kinda annoying is that wall post notifications from other authors end in the same place of the notifications from your own wall and series. So on one side it's kinda frustrating to log in, see a bajillion notifications in the corner, then discover it's nothing relevant about your series, it's just other people stuff. On the other hand, if you are subscribed to authors who are particularly chatty and flood your inbox with their stuff you may miss in the middle of everything important stuff about your own series.