ALRIGHT LONG POST AHEAD /CRACKS KNUCKLES
also just to add before anyone gets to reading this if they do, I agree with the Trending > Popular debate. The only thing I use the Popular section for is to check if I got in that day, so it's more a goal that I set each day lol When I want to find new comics, I go into Trending and Staff Picks.
The front page banner is not a guarantee to success, just like how paying for leaderboard advertisements on external web sites like Project Wonderful/Google Adsense isn't a guaranteed success. The reason why comics like Gamercat are popular is because they built a fanbase over the years on their own websites and then migrated over here. The Tapastic front page banner is not why those comics are popular. Even if you have a front page banner, if your comic isn't worth reading or subscribing to, it's not going to change anything. That's not even primarily what the banner was built for; getting more viewers/subscribers is only a portion of the reasons why they use the banners. There are plenty of comics that are popular on Tapastic that never actually got a banner (ex. KiwiKitty, Exercise in Futility, Maximumble, etc.)
As for comics like Fail by Error that started here and shot to stardom, they have a special recipe that has the following ingredients:
1.) Good art
2.) Good jokes
3.) Being in the right place at the right time.
4.) Luck.
To quickly address the bolded part, Fail by Error started right at the verge of Tapastic gaining steam. While comics like The DaneMen, Homo Sexience, PhD Comics, Randomphilia, etc. were slowly meeting their Tapastic end (DaneMen, PhD Comics, and Randomphilia are still around elsewhere, although I don't know what happened to the kocoa brand of comics >.>), a new breed of popular comics were coming in - which are a lot of the comics we know and read and associate Tapastic with today (whether they're originally from Tapastic or not!) Comics like Fail by Error headed this new trend with guns blazing, followed by The Gentleman's Armchair, Lunarbaboon, Mr. Lovenstein, Fowl Language, SnaiLords, and so much more (sorry if my estimation dates of these comics starting is a little off, haha). And with a little luck, they became recognizable and decently-famous comics on and off Tapastic.
So if it's done this way, Gamercat strips and HJ-story strips and all those other popular strips will be up for like, a week, and comics like Fisheye Placebo will be up a lot too, even after not being updated (believe me, FP is STILL pulling in tons of subs, lots of DA migraters and stuff, and Gamercat is always pulling in a LOT of people). And by the time they go down, another strip's been made. There are flaws with this and defeats the mission that Tapastic is trying to fulfill of exposing new creators and new series to the world of readers and helping them get to a level of success that they consider success.
Lots of people have discovered new comics through the Trending and Staff Picks sections, myself included. It helps highlight new strips that are worthwhile, without going through the whole worship routine of comics that have more than enough of a fanbase, on and off Tapastic.
While this is true to some extent, people who are on the front page are people who got enough traffic to do so. Correlation does not equal causation (am I using that in the right way? lol). It's not like people are just getting on the front page, then booming in popularity. They gain traffic their own way with their own hard work, and that GETS them on the front page, and then they get even MORE traffic as a reward. You're viewing the front page as a negative thing. Take a step back and look at it from a different perspective.
If you get even in the Fresh section (which you can get just by updating), you get some exposure. Make it your goal to get to a subscriber milestone (100, 500, 1000, etc.), make it a goal to get into the trending page, and make it a goal to get into the popular page. Then go even further - aim for a front page banner, aim to be a part of the supporter program, aim to be a part of Ad Revenue, aim to be in the first 3 pages of the popular creators list, aim to start selling your comics in physical form, aim to get put into Premium when those series' are finished, etc etc. And at the end of the day, all you can do is give the people a comic you're proud of.
It's a goal for people to shoot for. There are people who have been on the front page a lot, others not so much, and some who are starting to show up MORE there.
Over the last year I've added around 1,000 subscribers. Given the data I have at hand I can't tell how many are actively engaged. I can't even tell where they all came from. I only know with 4 popular strips spanning between February and June that burst me onto the frontpage and generated around 600 new subscribers. This would heavily imply my audience is considerably less than what it could be. Hundreds, more likely between one to two thousand less.
This is an everywhere thing, not just a Tapastic thing. It happens on individual websites, it happens on SmackJeeves, it happens on ComicFury, it happens on Youtube, etc etc. Lots of people subscribe-and-go for different reasons (either because they lost interest, didn't want to step on toes by unsubscribing, or actually expected you to subscribe in return like they do on Tumblr). There is literally nothing Tapastic can do about that, unless they have a timer built in that deletes users if they're inactive for a set period of time, but that's unfair to both sides, especially if the inactivity is out of the users' control.
Whether or not this is the case, why should this be any of your problem or business? And how can you make assumptions like that when, from a staff point of view, you're just an outsider looking in? (this sounds a lot harsher than it is, but you get my point, sorry u o u )
They might already be making "tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of subscriptions" and "millions of page views". You and I as creators don't know how much money Tapastic creates, but it's been clear from the start that this place has been a place made by creators, for creators. Tapastic has always been finding new ways to give back to the community financially and give them new opportunities to work towards or even just flat-out get a chance to live off your comics (ex. Ad Revenue, Support, depends on how much money you make with this).
Hell, for all we know, Tapastic might just be the most profitable company of 2015. They certainly are the most prospective in the sense that they're doing so much to help us creators out, and it seems they've only been moving forward more and more since they began their humble roots as ComicPanda.
I get that we all care about Tapastic and want to work towards making it a better place, but if they use this algorithm you've clearly put so much thought into, what's actually in it for you?
You say this:
But it's clear that at the end of the day, even if you might not have fully intended it, and this is not just for you but for many others, no matter how you sugarcoat it, that's what it's all about; getting the exposure you want, and I feel like that's sort of what you want out of this algorithm you're proposing.
To wrap up what I'm saying, it doesn't matter what algorithm you put in - if your comic isn't good (in art and story/content, mostly the latter), if you don't update (and I know you've had speculations about this, which others have responded to, ex. finished series that should still get attention; Coffee Shop is the first one that comes to my mind), or if you just don't play your cards right or market yourself or put a decent attempt in from your own end to get known, you will never get anywhere. And yes, I agree that some comics are a little over-saturated in fame, ex. Gamercat, but they're always going to be in the spotlight for one reason or another because they've gotten to that point that they can. That's almost just inevitable, and pushing them COMPLETELY off the front page with exception algorithms just because they've garnered more success than us is a little unfair to them (they're people too, they're working their butts off too, and for some of them they're doing it because they need to make a living and comics is how they do it.)
The Trending and Staff Pick sections are giving lots of new creators and new series the little shove towards the spotlight. But you need to take the remaining steps to get there, you can't just stand there shaking your little butt off and wondering, "WHY DIDN'T THEY CARRY ME THERE?!" You have to put in the work too. Isn't it a lot more satisfying that way anyway?
But hey /holds up hands I'm not staff, I'm not expressing the views or opinions of the staff and who knows, some of them might see merit in your idea. I'm just offering food for thought as to why this should be a thing from a sole reader's AND creator's view. That's all u o u /Long post would have been done hours ago if I hadn't accidentally fallen asleep while watching Netflix ooooopsssss
