My post was Flagged for Advertisement. Is that fair?

[diamantecreate]

People are allowed to ask for a paid collaboration but they are not allowed to propose of one.

As an artist in the world I put up signs so people will know what I can do, how I can help them and what I charge for it. It seems illogical to me that someone on this forum can ask to pay for something they want but cannot show on their own what they have to offer as a product to sell. It seems like a one-way street.

It is not organic market and means that many artists will not do business on this platform. Perhaps that is the intention of Tapas Forum? It does not feel very nice to have a post flagged for commission strategies. It seems Tapas Forum is assuming people all can advertise to pay-- or shouldn't do business at all. Most advertisements are about asking for money for a service they offer. We all know that.
With all do respect, I feel you should remove ALL business related content if you can't stomach what most people think that is... what you call solicitation (people asking) is the ying to the yang of what you do allow-- people offering..
Thats my reflection.

DiamanteCreate

[Leyelle]

yes, it's fair, as the tapas forum is not meant for making sales of any kind. those are the rules we all have to live by. if you want to advertise, use social media

[VibrantFox]

its been a longstanding rule on the forums even in its early years. while it may seem imbalanced its one folks have had to adhere to like it or not.

people are allowed to say that they are seeking artists but comission promotion or solicitation of most types has been disallowed and as far as i remember theres not much workaround except maybe doing that promo on the discord since it seems to be permitted there

the primary use of the forums, as i saw it, has always been for networking and community building: talking to fellow creators or readers on tapas. the promotion thing is somethig that has existed but exploded in some pretty one sided ways but we manage.

like leyele mentioned tho its best to just seek out alternative places to promote your commissions than trying to war it out with any moderators here on the forums. as i mentioned i /think/ the tapas discord allows for such promotions in the proper channels and pretty much any social media (ie twitter instagram bluesky etc)

about the only semi successful workaround ive seen were threads that made it a gathering place for everyone to contribute, like "artists post your commissions here" or "share your meberships (if you have kofi or patreon)" im sure most of those have long since been archived since they're years old but i definitely remember them existing at some point or another

otherwise not much option than to just accept the rules and work with whats available 🤷🏾

edit: also wanna add that im saying this as someone who also complained about it early on but still managed to find alternatives. like if youre really itching to get your art out there along with services you offer try posting to the sketch a day threads or post your latest chapter/page/panel threads and have links to your other sites (social media, tip jars, etc) in your bio (check the settings tab) so that if someone digs your style and their curious they can find it all there. its how i managed to find a few clients here and there beyond just those "looking for artists (paid/unpaid)" threads.

[rydellcallen]

I get where you're coming from! It does feel a bit one-sided if people can ask for paid work but can't offer their own services. A balanced approach would make the forum more fair for everyone trying to connect and do business. Hopefully, they reconsider the rules to support both sides.

[ShidoDraws]

Well, think of it this way. If everyone can advertised their work on the forum imagine the people who are looking to hire. It's great that you get to put yourself on a kind of active site, most people post once and disappear for months, years or they just never come back to check. It sounds great to have a bunch of people post their portfolio but it discourages community and community is essential to success. Eventually the collaboration category will just be like the promotion category where it'll be ignored by the community.

I understand everyone wants their work and services to be seen but you should know promoting on a thread isn't the only way. And if you don't know where to promote your services then you don't actually know where you customers are. Find them, just letting you know the Tapas forum isn't one of those places. Admittedly some people come here every now and again looking to hire people but that's become more and more rare since most people here have moved on.