@stiatent They do have an option to select the genres that interest you, but I have never once seen them actually use my selections.
Just tried it again: Apparently the favorite genres option is just another way to search. They should absolutely apply those filters to their homepage. Maybe then I won't get spammed with things I have never once expressed interest in.
Don't forget to like and subscribe. (This is me being part of the problem and not the solution).
@Tubacabra Everyone here is having an honest conversation about things that can be improved, as well as fellow creators' concerns about the Forum and Tapas. And you're here dropping your link and tagging people to subscribe to your story, which is out of place in this thread since it is not a promotion. Please learn how to read the atmosphere and respect your fellow Tapas creators. This will not take you anywhere; you will just be looked at as a sore thump.
@itsforevermonday Believe me, I have plenty of experience being looked at as a "sore thump". That was basically my social position in highschool. Thanks for bringing back some bad memories!
As for the "disrespect" that I'm showing to my fellow creators, it was purely meant to be a joke. I apologize if I offended you, but I also don't see anything wrong with me including a link to my story as a footnote. I never told the link to be that big...
Nevertheless, I thank you for your input, I need as much info as I can get. @NickRowler and @abigaillmartin
Wishing everyone here the best of luck! ️
@Tubacabra oh didn't know that, yea sucks if they don't stick with our selections, hopefully they update it.
The Tapas admins have always been friendly and helpful whenever I reached out on helpdesk, hope they stumble here and become inspired by everyone's suggestions
Yhep those filters should definitely apply to homepage too, like YouTube. It's what makes YouTube addictive for most bec the suggestions feed you similar topics, songs and movies. A higher chance for Tapas to keep others outside the Romance fanbase glued to their website and not feel overwhelmed by the default Romance catalogue.
I don't think there are many readers at all anymore i see like one or two accounts that are dedicated to reading but everyone else is a creator. I generally think the forums themselves need to be advertised more on the tapas apps and webpage. You can find it if you press more but there's not anything in place to actually encourage readers to find new stories on it.
I think the main problem though is that forums are going out of style completely. As much as I don't want to admit it as a person that stays clear from most forms of social media but outlets like tik tok, twitter, Instagram and even reddit have grow vastly more popular than forums like this. Because of this its more beneficial to promote on those platforms but some people don't like to go near them or don't have to time to make the promotional material that some of these platforms need.
There's an interesting discussion going on right now on similar topics on the Tapas Discord, in the #general channel. Discussion starts yesterday afternoon and goes through this morning.
I thought this was really interesting because it has some insights from long-time creators who used to be contracted with Tapas about how the site has been failing its community creators over the past few years and why. And probably I am just slow on the uptake, but I learned a lot about how Tapas is actually run from this discussion.
I am aware that most people here are creators, but I am not sure if "The problem" actually is a problem.
I am pretty much of an extrovert-artist and I like to talk to other people about my art. Soooo... I used to get into contact to other artists on Deviantart the same way as I did here. Forums on Deviantart basically work the same way and I went there to promote my stuff, get to know a bubble of really nice other artists and talk to them, to have company on my way. - Do I expect to find COSTUMERS here? No way! But I did actually find artist whos writing style matches mine and with whom I can totally develop alongside.
Some day I will have a healthy bubble of supporters (whom I support aswell), so I do not get bored and frustrated posting into an empty void and then I will maybe not be seen in the forums as much to be completely honest, but I do not think this is a problem. This is just what I am using the forums for.
Especially because as far as I see it there are special places here to post and share your stories and others that are just for talking about other stuff. So it's not necessarily the way that "spamming own stuff" must disturb the others.