Recently, Webtoon creator and youtuber n.d.bern created this petition asking for more resources for Canvas staff. She also mentions the lack of behind the scene insights and lack fo ways for canvas artists to find audience.
It got me to think (more than usually) about the relationship between these platforms and creators, especially ones that's becoming as monolithic as Webtoon. I don't fully understand the power/financial dynamic, but I know that it's very asymmetrical.
This research paper does a good job highlighting the relationship (Note: it was published in 2019 so some some info are outdated, and the focus is mostly on the South Korean side of Webtoon)
"Webtoons have become economically prosperous, with resulting financial repercussions for the Korean comic book/magazine market. The Webtoon market is valued at US$368 million, and this is expected to double to US$894 million by the end of 2020 (KOCCA, 2017)."
" According to government research, copyright sales of Korean Webtoons are currently estimated to account for 18.8% of the country’s entire comic market"
At the same time:
"Webtoons are no exception, and the “self-study” several interviewees referred to was seen as a form of free, extra labor, in an extremely competitive environment, where, for instance, the opportunity to sell copyright was limited to those who are famous and popular—only 1.8% of all Webtoonists gain the majority of their annual earnings from selling copyright (KOCCA, 2018, p. 75). In the case of Naver Webtoon, approximately 120,000 amateurs uploaded their content on basic and second tiers every month; however, only 0.03% of them go on to be commissioned by the platform (DIGIECO, 2013, p. 15). Moreover, according to many of the interviewees, the average monthly compensation for amateurs’ work is set at around US$360: a figure that falls far below the minimum wage. Thus, some scholars argue that the working and living conditions of the majority of Webtoonists remain exploitative and precarious (Jin, 2015, p. 201)."
If I remember correctly, Webtoon has also raised the requirement for canvas creators getting paid by a lot since 2019, despite the platform's success. Now they're planning to roll out a tipping system, which I'm very skeptical about because it's likely a way for them to circumvent giving its resources to creators. There are a host of issues I have with the way the platform highlight creators. The Canvas team is doing their best, but the platform itself generally focuses mostly on trends and popularity, rather than sharing works of all creators; this create a lot of constraints on creativity if we want to financially succeed on Webtoon. In addition, there's a lack of transparency and statistic for us as creators to understand our engagement.
Some of this apply to tapas too, I just don't have as much info on them.
As the paper points out later, Webtoon has a lot of benefits. It's a space to find audience. t's crucially a place where amateurs can show off their work. Finance and popularity isn't necessarily why we do this in the first place. But I still believe that webtoon needs to do a lot more to make it a fair platform to creators.
I'm wondering what ya'll think about the dynamics between webtoon and creators, how we can continue to advocate for ourselves as creators, and what are you think these platforms can do better to support creators.
