Opinions on featured content and why it bothers me

While this is a good suggestion, I feel this is rather off topic for this particular issue. The issue wasn't that people didn't like the genre. It wasn't that the story was unexpectedly NSFW; though it does seem to have NSFW content, that's not what people were upset about. It's this:

The story centers around an extremely sensitive topic. A lot of people do not want to see this topic handled, unless done with the utmost care in every single way; even then it's like walking on eggshells for reasons that are completely understandable. I'm glad that Tapastic recognizes the issue, and hope this experience will help them avoid similar problems in the future.

I do agree that such content should be put behind a barrier, and I do think that an actual update of the NSFW is very required for this. I honestly wish it would be possible to flag series that contain unhealthy content, including unhealthy romance, and any sort of glorified abuse, because it should be made clear that such content is unhealthy and should not inspire readers to think of it as anything but fantasy material of a sort that would be extremely unsafe to reproduce in real life.

I honestly think that yes, featuring Learning Curves was a big mistake, and that an equally big lesson should be learned from this. Tapastic has delayed the update of NSFW filter for far too long. Clearly, we need the matter to be taken into hands. I would very much like it if Tapastic (and Tapas) put extra effort in featuring healthy content and making the unhealthy content less easily accessible (or required a specific flagging of it). Just because the App is 17+ doesn't mean anything should be put in front of the nose of any user, nor that any responsibility toward the sneaky underage kids using the App should be discarded as "we have no control, there's nothing we can do" when, clearly, there are many things you can do to put extra safeties.

@michaelson I must say I'm a bit disappointed to see you only replied to @Roxanneh, the person who clearly made an account only to make this post, and is most probably not going to reply again here. It feels to me like you only wanted to fix the image of Tapas and Tapastic that was somewhat scratched by their post. I still feel like we creators don't matter so much anymore. My trust in Tapastic was severely damaged with Tapas, the issues it generated, the key system being unavailable to the existing series, etc. Yes, I derail a bit, and then not so much. All in all, I feel somewhat alienated by the new directions of the staff.
I no longer know if there is an actual future for comic artist in your plans. There is little transparency about them. It's no longer like it used to be. You changed. I know change is necessary, but there's something deeper, at the core, that no longer feels the same, and not in a good way.
It does sadden me. Maybe I had too much hope, too much eagerness, too much love and too much care for this platform. It's a sad thing to think of as well.

Welp, a lot of this seems to mostly be directed at Learning Curves, and while their is argument of freedom to create whatever we wish and 'why should it matter because the internet is full of this stuff'. It should be understood that good writing and entertainment can become quite personal whether we mean it or not. The argument of glorification, is a simple matter of how we represent things as creators. As a child I didn't see many characters who physically or mentally were similar to me. (At the time, I wanted to be tall, with flowing hair, feminine, smart, and my genes and circumstance were just not shown in media). The absence of this probably meant more to developing children and even affects us as adults. Perhaps we should be more aware of the content we create and how it affects others, and for this reason is why it did not seem like a good feature choice.

Good writing doesn't represent something for representation sake. Unwanted teen pregnancy and even wanted teen pregnancy are things that exist and things that can be written well. The content of the story does not necessarily have to be taboo, the flat execution is the problem and its a multitude of elements that fail to even make it appear humorous, just cringey. Even gag a days can have respectable character development. What makes Learning Curves so harmful is that the intro we are exposed to and what I've heard of how it continues, fails to create a story that affects its audience in a positive way. I think more care should have been given to the presentation of these characters, because right now its so far fetched, that yes it is uncomfortable.

Personally I appreciate compelling and well thought out writing, and yes I'd like to see this featured more but it doesn't feel as though Tapastic or Tapas favours these longform comics and is looking for featuring mediums that can be quickly digested. Hence, why 'daily snack' doesn't seem to work for comics with overarching plots.

In regards to relatability and content, Im not talking having a poc or being lgbt positive for no reason but to appeal to the politically correct. I'm talking about good writing, and relatable characters. I mean, have you read Saga? It's a space opera with a winged and horned protagonist, and robotic antagonists who in themselves generate empathy. These stories don't have to be particularly realistic. I believe readers would like to see characters that are more than 2 dimensional and suggest otherwise about their real life counterparts. Perhaps this is where 'writing what you know' comes in well, because its easier to develop something worthwhile. If I was, a young pregnant teen, who grew to write a story in retrospect. I feel as though it would turn out much differently. And if I was to read this as a young teen, knowing how impressionable I was at the time and how other teens are, it may be dangerous to depict a story that doesn't show the realities in a more honest way. Unless you're going to Florence Crittenton High School http://flocritco.org/programs/florence-crittenton-high-school1, you aren't going to get whisked away after a teen pregnancy with all your pregnant friends. You're going to experience a much more realistic world.

That being said, as a 2nd generation child growing up with a conservative family in a non conservative society, I find it easier to see both sides of the spectrum, and in my opinion - I cringe on both sides. There are a lot of issues in our society, that one should not be ignored, but also should be written with care. I don't mean to tip-toe around the topic, I mean actually caring for the contents and considering all aspects of the theme. For example, I didn't watch breaking bad when it came out since everyone i spoke to only made it seem like a glorification of drug use and dealing. Something I don't typically appreciate. At the time, I dated someone who seemed to glorify the drug use in it, and while drug use is very common place and has been in my relationships since, I have no particular interest in it. But the character development of Breaking Bad. All those characters were real, flawed and relatable and we could see a little of ourselves in more than one of them. Without this, breaking bad would of been a flat story with seemingly glorified drug use. Its the writing and how the story is delivered that greatly affects this. Cancer, drug addition and other things are all sensitive topics, but they were dealt in a way that quite frankly was not insulting to those who are affected, and eye-opening to those who aren't. The drugs could have been replaced with someone other addiction and methodological approach and it still would have been good.

Learning curves isn't a bad premise. It is just not well executed. The idea is that stories are featured that make you go 'hey, I really like this'. But many of us didn't feel that, and quite frankly it seems as though this featured content, unlike others didn't care for the audience that frequents tapastic. While the featured and daily snacks, are not currently tailored to individuals. I think the audience of tapastic was misunderstood and so it backfired greatly.

Ok this is a little off topic but related so hear me out.

I'm sensing massive rumbling of discontent among creators and possibly readers. First and foremost with the removal of the support program and no replacement as promised, (a replacement a year later is a little harsh for creators). This was when I first saw a drop off in readership and engagement. The app has amplified this. The featured premium content on the apps is massively different than the desktop counterpart and anything none comic is not available on the desktop. Now people use the app to follow comics they like but I get the feeling that much like myself and people in this thread the featured premium content isn't for them and therefore not using the app. If this was the main way they were reading the comics and not the desktop then thats another drop in readership.
Of course most can or could ignore the featured content they don't like but I couldn't find where to turn off the 'free keys, free coins and daily snack' that held no interest to me and uninstalled the app this morning after growing tired of being badgered. I wonder how many readers have done the same?
I know the daily snack and the app banners are mixed with premium content and creator owned content but theres something pushing away readers. be it the micro transactions (a long hated tradition of mobile apps) of the subject matter of the featured content but its effects are now spreading to all creator owned content on Tapastic.

I've seen popular artists leave Tapas/tapastic in droves now, to Line webtoons. Where the featured contented is modded and edited. Their app is highly reflective of their desktop and not a separate entity with wildly different content. And when i see them leave, I've noticed readers follow them and everyone heres suffers as our readership plummets again

I'm not sure which direction Tapas now needs to take, I think the app vs desktop has divided the platform in two different beasts and the scatter gun approach at marketing is too unfocussed to know where the platform will head and if it'll be properly implemented or given too little attention and been another bump on the road.

But the best and only advise would be this, refine what you DO have before starting a new project. Theres no point in having a dozen half baked, poorly implemented plans for expansion when all that energy could be put into one project and be fruitful.

Sorry to sounded so negetive its just i sense it needs to be said for everyones benefit

I do like the idea of labeling some works "NSFW". People will have appropriate expectations and won't feel ambushed, like I guess what happened here. My issue is that I interpret NSFW to mean violence, nudity and/or sex, as opposed to a topic that is simply very sensitive, but doesn't involve those things. Maybe there could be an option to flag sensitive, but not outright NSFW content?

I think we can all agree here that the problem with Learning Curves has to do with mostly its execution and presentation on a topic where teens have little to no idea about.
Why this is different from fetishes is the fact that the situation presented in the comic is very realistic. Of course, you can have realistic comics about other things, but more often than not the distinction between what is real and fictional is established. I would doubt any teen would go looking for comics on possibly dangerous topics (dangerous as in, things that could harm them and that they do not understand) and like porn, every teen probably imagines sex something akin to it. Not many teens are midwives, nurses, or have witnessed pregnancy.

Tapastic, also, has my uttermost trust as a place of quality. The features are all quality comics and stories. Maybe I won't enjoy the content of the feature, but it should at least be good content, commendable content. The comic is on the popular, trending, snak, or feature banner for a reason. Because it's good.
While people do not have enough knowledge on a certain topic, it would be hard to create a fictional story without the idea that the reader understands the real implications of the themes and ideas being put forward. Education, before it becomes an accessible idea. Or else people will lash out. What I'm saying is that sensitive content needs caring. Pregnancy stories aren't tailored to everyone, and won't be until kids know more about what's right, or, what really happens in a pregnancy.

Another idea is an updated NSFW warning. Please do. I would love for Tapastic to be a place of entertainment as much as education, for no creator wants backlash, and that we can perhaps find ways with educated individuals to better the community.

Tapastic's community is what makes it great. Please don't leave us now.

I love this site, and would love to do something when I SEE that something is wrong. In no way would I take away a creator's rights to create, but to point out to people where things need explaining.

In general I hope tapastic can keep providing quality for us in the future, and that this is a one time thing and that you'd listen to the community. We're what keep you going, and we love you and care for your ideas and content.

Sorry for rambling, but I finally got to log in to the forums soooo

There are scientific studies about the influence of various sorts of contents on different audiences, be it about gender representation, violence, sexuality, fetishes, etc. Many of those works hold sensitive value and explain in which way certain material can be unhealthy, sometimes in connexion to parameters such as how much material is viewed by the individual or under which circumstances... Of course, it is not possible for a platform to monitor everything about user activity, but there are still ways to make the difference between material that is sensitive and possibly unhealthy, or fine and healthy.

I am personally more interested into education, both of creators and readership. If a creator doesn't care to educate themselves about the topics they write about, they are more likely to create problematic material (ie: glorification of something edgy or outright wrong like abuse).

So I very much agree with @yumehop and @BlueWindyHood . It's possible to make content that is more sensitive in its topic, and to make the read safer. It can be extensive, with actual education being provided – here we got a bit out of our way to explain what BDSM is and is not: https://tapastic.com/episode/3254172

...or it can be more sober, in the form of warnings (ie: it's ok to have fetishes that are problematic, so long as you know they are problematic and that you shouldn't attempt such things in real life). Nowadays, the difference between reality and virtuality is becoming more and more blurry, and so it does not hurt to remind readers about it.
I think it would be quite good if authors would become more systematic in their warnings, so to also raise awareness among us, because a lot of authors still don't realize that they create edgy/unhealthy content. So seeing around what is flagged as "don't do this at home, kids" could probably help them realize whether their content is safe to read without warnings or not.

This would only make this community an even better place, in which creators could also learn together.

I'm still concerned on who will make the judgement on what's healthy and what isn't, and to be frank, I'm not sure if this is a place where such a decision should be made.
Do we really want to limit creativity because people fear that they may not fit into the "healthy" category?
Are we going to have finger pointing with people accusing others of not having a "healthy" comic?
I mean, if you look hard enough you can find something unhealthy with even the blandest, safest comic.

What I do believe though, is that clearly defined and reasonable limits should be imposed with guidelines on what's expected.
If the the guidelines are clearly defined, there would be less chances of witch hunts taking place and both authors and readers will know where they stand.

I don't think that's what @noxfox meant. I think he means that it's okay to have comics with 'unhealthy' things or an 'unhealthy' comic so long as people know the difference between what is right and wrong and good and bad for themselves. We want a safe environment, of course, we want racy, exciting, and contraversial comics too, but we would like to be civil and point out where things are not as they seem to keep in the better opinion of the reader(s). For example, and this is a very loose and crude example, a character gets completely wasted, but then creates a masterpiece painting. It would be worthwhile to say "Hey, don't get wasted as much as this character did just to create a painting. You can make art without getting drunk which can be bad for your health"
Or something like that. I'm sure everyone knows that drinking in excess is bad for you, and that's because of people's education and ability to see drunks quite often in society. Pregnant teens and giving birth... Not so much

I feel like the original problem is getting a little fuzzy-- which is that an uncomfortable/offensive comic was picked to show up in everyone's inboxes when it should've been something suited to a wider audience. The idea of policing comics for their depiction (or lack thereof) of "healthy" ideas is a little creepy and too open to personal interpretation. Especially when we have such an international community, people are coming to this site with a wide variety of ideas on what is or is not healthy.

Don't get me wrong, I think the comic handles the subject matter very poorly. Having seen how unwanted teenage pregnancy and parenthood impacts a family and the teen, it's not something I would consider joking material-- unless the joke was on people's misconceptions of how teens are affected by the issue. But this comic seems to be using the teens themselves as joke fodder. I'm a little sad that the staff response is "We get it, teen pregnancy is a bad topic"-- it's more that the way the topic was handled was poor, not the topic itself.

But the idea of needing to ensure our comics represent wholesome ideas and disclaimers for younger audiences is a little overkill. I don't want to have to write out a disclaimer of "SMOKING KILLS DON'T DO IT" every time I draw my character lighting a cigarette.

Maybe what would be better is an age-rating system, where we can specify the intended reading age for our comics. My comic isn't intended for young teens, so being able to let people know it's better suited for young adults might make it safer for the impressionable youth : p And if those teens wanted to read it, they'd have fair warning.

As it's been mentioned, if you dug around you could find a LOT of comics here that may handle sensitive subjects poorly. The difference being that these comics usually aren't showing up in our inboxes. I think it would be in Tapastic's best interest to screen their content before blasting it out to everyone.

I honestly think that the staff is not equipped anyway (at the moment, at least) to be capable of correctly setting standards for what would be considered healthy or not – as shown by their handling of the situation and view of what exactly is problematic about Learning Curves. Still, that doesn't mean the debate shouldn't exist, because they should know about what we think, and that we care for this platform.
In reply to @carloswebcomic, I do believe that here is a place where such decisions should be made, because if it doesn't happen where the stories are, where does it happen? Just because it's an online publishing platform doesn't mean it's not a publishing platform – and by publishing, I mean that it displays and distributes content for an audience. And publishers set guidelines for their content for a reason, you don't want people calling you asshats (and other words) because of the content you publish and allow to be published.

Tapastic does have guidelines, but I agree with @carloswebcomic that they should be clearer. @yumehop described pretty well my point. I still think that warning about the content would still be a good thing, and that creators should also ask their readers for feedback on that a little more. Of course you will get blunt answers like "I personally think it's alright because I know of these topics already, therefore I am annoyed by the idea of having warnings I don't need," which you have to take with a grain of salt: just because some persons don't need warnings doesn't mean that nobody needs them. And minorities shouldn't be left over.

@Michelle I don't think that disclaimers would need to be written every time your character smokes (though you could go for it), but you can make a statement when such a situation appears for the first time, of if it's going to happen a lot in the series, like "while the characters display certain unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, which is not recommendable, this doesn't mean I condone such behavior nor wish to encourage my audience to indulge in them."
NDGO did something similar in an episode of Jamie featuring teens smoking weed, and her disclaimers were welcomed by the audience:

Content warning: They are smoking marijuana. I am not for or against the use of marijuana, you do you. But I am not condoning the use of tobacco or marijuana for underage people. — https://tapastic.com/episode/2264016

Overall, community generally appreciates authors to be mindful and careful of them. When I see the number of extremely positive comments we got for our disclaimers (which are read by 98% of the readers and welcomed by almost 90% –we did a survey), I feel quite positive in saying that yes, this is the next step, this is what should be commonplace in the future. There's a demand for it, and the guidelines should most certainly encourage content warnings and disclaimers – it's not like it would be so hard to add such lines, right? And make sure new creators get to read them before posting their first episodes, possibly with some suggestions of how they can do it.

The community is the best thing about Tapastic, it's what has people excited about it and reaching to everybody to tell them to come over here be happy together. Improving guidelines and NSFW filter as it has been requested for a long time, and doing it with care would very much show that staff cares about the community and the creators. Which we haven't been feeling so much as of late...

(as a side note, and I don't mean this as a personal attack but as an honest recommendation, investing in PR training might be a good idea for staff to handle this kind of issues better in the future – here, I believe you can do much better)