Tapas vs Webtoon(And the sub gap between them)

[Wocalich]

Hello, everyone. I'm Gokce. When @Chuksi told me that it was easier to build an audience on Webtoons, I was a bit sceptical tbh, however, the gap in subs is pretty big(119 on Webtoons and 10 on Tapas). How about you? Is the gap big for you as well or maybe you have a bigger audience on here? This is not a promotion thread, I'm just curious about this gap.

[stephevone]

I just joined both Tapas and Webtoons barely last week but there is a big gap in subs between the two platforms. I am already at 17 subs on Webtoons (and this is without even promoting it) whereas I don't even have 1 sub yet on Tapas. It seems to be a broader audience on Webtoons than on Tapas. But I'm new to both platforms so I'm not one hundred percent sure about it all.

[Wocalich]

First of all, welcome! And yeah, it's really weird. You'd think the episodes would get drowned in the sea of others' updates but no, even without promoting, comics seem to do well over at Webtoon. I wonder what's the difference between that site and this one

[stephevone]

I feel like Tapas is a Wattpad for comic. Wattpad is a huge writing site (it is like the Deviantart for writers). I used to be on Wattpad years ago, and I remember when it was a small-time app on the App Store where small writers could share their stories and novels. Now it is almost like a next-star-on-Hollywood searching site where only the most popular writer gets noticed. If you are a new writer or if your story isn't "popular," your work will get shoved down to the bottom. It was for this reason why I left Wattpad back in 2019 after being on there since 2013 or 2014.

It seems the internet wants to punish small artists and writers for not being popular or not "selling their souls for fame." Just like the popular artists, we small artists want to be noticed too. I wish there was a website for small artists to go to where everyone has a fair chance of getting noticed.

[darthmongoose]

I actually have had the opposite experience. On Tapas I've had consistently steady growth with promotion and just passed 850 subs, good engagement with a decent number of likes and comments every update. On webtoon meanwhile I have.... 14 subs and no comments. No idea how to change that because there's nowhere to promote yourself. I might try uploading at a different time or something, but it just feels impossible to get seen on there.

[Wocalich]

I have to disagree with you there, I think Webtoon is more similar to Wattpad than Tapas, especially considering neither of them have forums. And Webtoon is older than Tapas too, as far as I know.

[Wocalich]

You can just promote it on here, I do that every time there is a new episode.

[darthmongoose]

You can just promote it on here, I do that every time there is a new episode.

I promote the Tapas version here when I update, because this is the Tapas forum. If Webtoon creators are needing to rely on the Tapas forums and that's the secret to getting a foothold, it doesn't exactly reflect well on Webtoon as a platform.

[summermcallen]

Yeah I also have a big gap from maybe 450 subs.
The reason is:
1. webtoon have a lot of more users.. simple but true
2. On Webtoon there is the canvas area where you can see all webtoon canvas. So if you update and someone look at the all list (many people do that), your comic might be the first comic they see. pretty helpful. By tapas you can also see all comics, but normally you see the popular ones and not the recent updated. especially the app is really user unfriendly in this
3. when your rating is high, what it is normally at the start bc we can also rate our webtoon , you appear in a star rated list anywhere on webtoon desktop page. I was there at the start too

[Wocalich]

You're right, but you do what you have to :shrug:

I also promote on Twitter, that seems to help too. I basically promote anywhere and everywhere I can haha

[Wocalich]

when your rating is high, what it is normally at the start bc we can also rate our webtoon , you appear in a star rated list anywhere on webtoon desktop page. I was there at the start too

Now that's interesting

I wonder if our webtoon ever made it there as well.

[darthmongoose]

Honestly since I have over 800 more subs here it just feels easier to focus on Tapas as my main mirror and to use webtoon as just a secondary place to advertise the comic to pick up the odd extra sub on Tapas.

[Wocalich]

I feel the same way about Webtoon but you never know when your story will be picked up by one of the sites so it's best to give attention to both imo

[writercynknapp]

First of all: You have nice art work. That is going to help.

In this second part, I am only offering supposition. WebToons has creators, readers, and critics. Critics follow many series just by looking for fresh updates. I am not a critic, so I can only infer their motives. I am a creator/reader.

You can gather dozens to hundreds of readers & critics on Webtoons. But you need thousands of subscribers to qualify for revenue. WebToons limits the number of subscriptions each reader can follow.

Tapas lets you accumulate revenue with a much lower subscriber count (and lets readers earn ink by watching ads), but you need a huge reader base to earn enough to withdrawal funds. On Tapas, you might find creator/readers on the forums. Helpful in reaching the subscriber limits, but not part of the devoted readership that you really need.

I suggest you post tapas updates in forum threads (use links to make it easy to find, and ask for subscribers). I think you will be successful because your series is high quality.

[Wocalich]

First of all: You have nice art work. That is going to help.

@Chuksi will be happy to hear that, thank you!

I suggest you post tapas updates in forum threads (use links to make it easy to find, and ask for subscribers). I think you will be successful because your series is high quality.

I already do that, but thank you again. I'm hopeful that we will be successful as well, we just need time.

[starless]

Mine as well! I have 150 subs on Tapas, but 30 subs on Webtoon. I guess it's because most viewers of Webtoon are younger than of Tapas. The favored style and story might be different depending on platforms.

[darthmongoose]

Yeah, I originally picked Tapas as my exclusive mirror because I heard (and saw) that the popular comics here tend to have more LGBTQ+ themes (and readers seem more positive about LGBTQ+ content) and more varied art styles. A lot of my long-time friends from the UK small press scene have comics on Tapas and some have seen a fair bit of success. It just felt like I fit in better.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Im in a similar boat with only 9 subs so far. And I only have two subs that interact and comment, one being an irl friend. I debated abandoning the webtoons mirror, but I'd feel bad for the one sub who seems to be really enjoying the comic. Im probably going to keep it up for them.

[darthmongoose]

Wow that's actually pretty surprising! I would have expected BBS would be bigger on Webtoon where the comics tend to skew more action-orientated.

I totally get you on updating for like... the 1-2 people who do seem to be reading and liking pages on Webtoon. At this point I'm like "....well, better keep updating there I guess..."

[IndigoShirtProd]

I think the style and page format is probably what's keeping it from growing faster. I guess compared to the growth I experienced on Tapas we hen i first started, WT is a little faster, but not by much.

Im actually more surprised Errant hasn't blown up, it feels like it should.