Just something on my mind

[hjfsdh2222]

Ya know, I have been hearing a lot of people complaining about how Tapas is shoving away all our small creator comics. (Which I completely understand. I totally hate this move too. If webtoons does it successfully why can’t they. However this isn’t really why I made this thread.) But I have also been hearing some people say, “oh why can’t it be like before”. And that got me thinking.

Webcomics weren’t as popular years ago as they are today. At least not in the same way. I mean you had Explodism and webcomics like that, but not these long dramatic webtoons we see now. Tapas and webtoons and all these other sites really made webcomics into a popular form of storytelling. And the readership is still growing because of them. So even if you think that you would have gotten more readers if Tapas wasn’t such a bitch, those readers wouldn’t have even been there without Tapas.

That’s why I think the best time for webcomics is yet to come:) Even though it may be hard to get readers, at least there are a lot of readers to be gotten:3

So what do you guys think about the future of webcomics?

[Heliox14]

You know, you have some pretty good points.

I think, honestly, we're going to have to branch out. Use other types of mediums. VNs, videogames, and maybe even use VR webcomics.
Think about it man, VR webcomics! How cool would that be?

We're going to need more sites though. More user-oriented sites, that cater to lesser-known creators rather than big names.

And somebody please work on a suitable replacement of Wattpad...

[hjfsdh2222]

VR webcomics?! That’s gonna be trippy O_O

[FedoraSpooky]

That is definitely an encouraging thought. Honestly, as nice as having your own website could be, it seemed a lot harder to find an audience back when there wasn't really any centralized places devoted to webcomics. I loved reading webcomics all the time growing up, but thinking about it, most of the ones I found were ones I'd purely stumbled upon by chance, or through a curated site like keenspot.

These days I can search for webcomics that have the kinda stuff I know I'd be interested in and I'd be far more likely to find something that hits the mark! So yeah, I think things are getting a little easier as far as putting your stuff out there where a lot of people could see it goes.

It's still tough for the little guy, sure, I'm living that fact day by day... but it does beat the days of having to go to a publisher and even then only getting small limited releases from them unless you're already a big name.

It really does help to think positively about this. Webcomics are a long game, and who knows how much things could improve if we just stick it out and keep creating until then?

[spicy_sweets]

I came here as an alternative to wattpad
If you love criticism that actually helps, I recommend scribophile. You critique others to get critique of your own writing. :>

[Jenny-Toons]

For me, the future can sometimes depend on the creators themselves.

The whole debate about Tapas and Webtoons not helping the little guy has been going on for so long. Personally, I definitely understand the feelings. Some of the actions from both sites have good intentions -- but they're poorly executed. They can be rushed, and I just see it as them trying to go out good ideas without fleshing out those good ideas. Too much miscommunications.

With that said -- there are still so many other options out there that exist. But why are they not as popular as Tapas and Webtoons?

"Well...there's just not enough traffic there...I can't thrive there"

That is what I've heard a few times around these forums: a few people already stop looking at those other options the minute they don't see possible growth there. But we often fail to see that once upon a time -- Webtoons and Tapas were small. Once upon a time, it took them some efforts for them to have the traffic they have now (Webtoons kinda had it better cuz it's attached to Naver, but Tapas was self-built on its own).

Sometimes, we do put a lot of emphasizes on the websites carrying more of the weight. I'm not gonna lie -- there is so much more we could gain if the websites did better. But, as I've said before in several other posts, it's also a part of our job to get out there as well.

The future of webcomics depends on the creators just as much as it depends on the readers and websites.

We have to be more willing to post on those sites without traffic, because if we don't give them a chance, they'll never gain traffic.

We have to be more willing to post things that aren't popular now, because if we don't give it that chance, they'll take a while to get popular later.

I think, honestly, we're going to have to branch out. Use other types of mediums. VNs, videogames, and maybe even use VR webcomics.Think about it man, VR webcomics! How cool would that be?

This. This is what we should be doing more of -- branching out, taking a few more chances.

As a creator myself, I'm definitely not on any side to these things. Just...sometimes, I get a bit tired when people do give possible solutions and the only answers that come up are "not enough traffic, the sites too new, etc."

[LordVincent]

I mean another problem with sites like smackjeeves etc is that they simply do not have anything like ad rev or the patreon pledge program in place to generate revenue. Small creators looking for audiences need more sites to increase their exposure, but big creators who need to make money to pay the bills just cannot justify using them because it might hold some readers away from sites that do generate money. For example if reader x prefers site y over site z, but site z has ad rev. If I update site y at the same rate as site z, the reader x will choose site y. That means I just lost any ad rev that reader x, someone who does not have any intent on supporting on patreon, could have generated. When happening on a larger scale, it could mean we are literally losing meals.

What this results in is that big creators slowly abandon these sites, or deprioritize them, leading audiences to go to the sites that actually benefit the creators. All you have left is small creators trying to get noticed on platforms that are full of 1. Other small creators, and 2. Some stubborn regulars that still stick around. In the case of smackjeeves, they also lost a lot of said stubborn regulars when they did #topanimebetrayals against creators that held their most active audience members.

If a small site wants the attention of professionals and the audience power they have, they need to provide financial incentive. Just how the business rolls. (My socialist upbringing is kicking me in the nuts for saying that but hey)

[DiegoPalacios]

Many forms of media started as niche interests before they became massive.

Sometimes technology makes something more accesible, or
something that was obscure becomes a trend.

Technology and trends change. And today these changes are exponentially faster.

So i can see webcomics being more massive after a case of a hit. Something like a
gateway series (a serie that wakes up the interest of the general public in a genre or in some
media)

[Heliox14]

Believe it or not, same here!
Wattpad was...scary, to say the least. shudders
Don't bring me back there.

[Jenny-Toons]

Yeah, that's definitely how the business works. I'm not disagreeing with that.

I kinda spoke more about creators who aren't big yet, who are beginners, and are (more or less) talking about not seeing any results.

That's why I left out mentioning veteran creators and creators who depend on comics for income. That's a whole other road that gets complicated and messy.

For my part, I probably should've been more specfic on which creators I'm referring to. But, I was mostly referring to beginners. Because, mostly with beginners, I've seen people not be willing to go to those sites or not be willing to use social media to promote their works and kinda rely heavily on those two big sites.

Beginners can't really do that, at least not right away.

[Zaboem]

Even trippier, AR webcomics. With augmented reality, imagine watching the events of a webcomic unfold through images which are superimposed over your environment. Gamercat sits next to you on your couch playing his vidya. Rocky the Rock is just outside your window in the rock garden. Voice actors speak to you in stereo surround sound.

[jurinova]

I've been reading online comics for a long time and way before webcomic hosting sites they were already popular. The trick was that back then everyone had their own site and they key to finding audience was networking with other comic creators. There were link exchanges, webrings and other means by which people found each other. Once you found one webcomic you could check their link list for other recommendations... And it worked pretty well! If an artist of a popular webcomic recommended other comics then of course people flocked to read those as well.

Nowadays we have social media but I feel like it's not working as efficiently as the old system, eventhough there should be way more readers to be found. It's now more about promoting yourself and hoping to get noticed, instead of promoting yourself and others and knowing they will do the same. Readers seem to be more likely to post recommendations to comics than creators are, but creators are more likely to have followers that want to find new comics to read.

I suppose what I'm trying to say (in my current feverish state) is that if people want to stop relying on just hosting sites to find them readers, then networking is agood way to go. Hosting sites are not on the comic creators side, so it's a good idea to find other ways to promote work anyway.

[Heliox14]

That is heckin trippy.
I'd probably pay for that.

[Wumbl]

It normally gets just a bit worse before it gets better.
With the increasing popularity of the medium things are definitely gonna get better (knock on wood tho)

[hjfsdh2222]

Definitely so so true networking is everything:3

[Klaustasya]

Woo-hoo i'm the beginner here xD i need an explanation about the "Networking" thing cause i don't know what it means and what it consists in, but sounds pretty interesting :3

[LordVincent]

Be very careful in your approach to "networking". Some of the people I've been in contact with who valued networking very highly did it in a very toxic way and basically pretended to be people's friends. Then as soon as said people were of no use to them anymore they ditched them.

Even if you're the selfish kind of person willing to be that kind of guy, doing that will lead to your "networking" backfiring on you and creating a very bad reputation for you.

Networking only works if done right and you actually have a genuine drive and will to approach and maintain friendships and collaborations and would love to do so even if it didn't help your comic grow. If your one and only goal in networking is to get famous, you are doomed to fail.

[Jenny-Toons]

@LordVincent made the biggest point.

Definitely. I whole heartedly second this notion.

Networking is cool and it's definitely beneficial. But there's a fine line between networking to get a foot in the action and using people.

Never become that person, guys.

When people say network, we mean to build meaningful, sincere relationships -- ones that are beneficial to the scene AND because it's nice to get to know people as , you know, people.

When you use people, you have played nobody but yourself in the long run.

Less people will be willing to help you, and less people will probably wanna work with you or read your stuff. You can and probably will be blacklisted should you use people.

Be willing to help others, even if that doesn't help you in the moment. Get to know people, give advice, talk about your interests but also listen to others.

If you wouldn't wanna be used, don't do it to others.

Network with respect to others.

Not at their expense.

[jurinova]

I agree with the previous posts about networking. It's a great tool but it's rude to misuse it.

However networking can also be about communities and working together towards common goals. Like on this forum for example. Talking to each other on here isn't really building friendships but it's building a stronger sense of community between creators. It's impossible to be friends with all the creators out there but if there's a strong sense of togetherness then that can be really good for everyone as well. Not to mention sharing tips and being able to discuss possible problems with a large audience.

I suppose for me what I miss most about the old days of online comics was the sense of community. Everyone was struggling to get readers, so there was a common courtesy to help others and it never really felt like a competition. Now that people have to fight for the top spots on hosting sites it's not as encouraging to help others as it was. I'm really happy this forum at least exists, because on a place like Webtoons it feels strange not to be able to connect properly with readers or other creators. It just feels like a race between creators and not a community in any way.