What can Webtoon learn from Tapas and vice versa?

[Iris-Grimoire]

Comment moderation.

I see basically weekly stories of people getting extremely gross comments on Webtoon and they have no option but report and watch as nothing gets done. It's just pushing smaller creators out.

On Tapas' side, better discoverability and app fixes. The site gets super focused on the original content which is has very little variety, even though there's tons of free to read stuff that could help remove the reptutation of being just an isekai library. The app is just missing so, so many features from the browser version too, which ends up harming more than streamlining the experience.

[Llyrel]

Webtoon:

• A notification system. Why creators can't be notified of new comments and likes is beyond me, seriously .__.

• A list of people following you. I mean, I realize that this can be kind of a double-edged sword: on the one hand, I like the idea of having some "privacy" when following someone on Webtoon and I fear that having public lists of followers would dramatically increase the number of people subscribing to you only because they want you to do the same with their series (aka the dreaded sub4sub that also plagues Tapas)... but on the other hand, it IS true that knowing who your followers are helps creating a better sense of community and can also help finding other creators who make amazing content. Seeing just a bunch of numbers, especially when you don't get a whole lot of comments is very... alienating;

• Possibility to delete unwanted comments;

• Get rid of the ratings;

• Higher character limit for series descriptions + social media links for all, not just Original series;

• Better scheduling options. I just want to have a bonus episode between two already scheduled chapters, why do I have to delete the most recent episode to do it? D:

• More ways to earn coins, e.g. by watching ads like Tapas does with Ink. I don't generally use coins to unlock episodes, but from what I seem to understand, on Webtoon you either have to buy them or wait for one of their Canvas Marathon events (which barely give you enough coins to unlock 1-2 episodes, AFAIK). Given that the great majority of the Webtoon audience is way younger than that of Tapas, I think they could really use a system to make their comics more accessible to an audience that seems to be mostly made of minors and students.

Tapas:

• Definitely get rid of paywalls on premium series and opt for a "read ahead" model à la Webtoon.

• More diversity in featured genres, both premium and non-premium. I was incredibly happy to see this week's staff picks, not just because my own comic made it to the list (wheeeee, still can't believe it ), but because finally, FINALLY, I saw more comics in there with a variety of art styles and genres, unlike what's usually featured on the home page of the site. I would love it if Tapas could expand their horizons more, both by doing events to feature more community-created content and by publishing more premium series that aren't just the same style/genre over and over again. As I mentioned many other times in the past, I don't think that the current premium series are "bad" or whatever: the art styles are cute, the stories are not what generally interests me but seem compelling and overall I can see why they're popular.
  However, it really does feel like the site as a whole is very narrowly focused on just ONE specific style/genre, to the point that anyone looking at the homepage may not even realize just how wonderfully diverse this platform is. Although I wouldn't call Webtoon the epitome of diversity as far as art styles and genres go either, they DO tend to feature a bigger variety of stuff, which helps bringing in a larger audience. I think the Tapastry Discord server and the events featured on there were a pretty good step forward in that sense, and I definitely hope to see more events dedicated to the promotion of community created content in the future

• Sub-genres that actually work. I love how on Webtoon your series can show up under both categories you pick. Would love it if Tapas could do the same: makes it way easier for people to find series they might be interested in, as well as giving overall more visibility to creators.

• Supernatural, historical and animals genres. And perhaps thriller, short stories, informative and all ages too. Not sure if post-apocalyptic, sports, superhero, zombies, inspirational and crime would be big enough to get their own categories on Tapas, but I definitely know that we have plenty of supernatural comics scattered all over different sections, as well as stories featuring historical settings and animal/anthro/furry comics.

[dominioncomix]

hard second on the webtoon featured genres thing. At this point, the featured comics on tapas is so samey that it's starting to look like it's just randomly generated previews made with some kind of algorythm, like there can't be that many works that are functionally identical... right?

[Llyrel]

Yeah, well, both platforms have a tendency to focus a lot on romance and fantasy in manga/manwha style (specifically the "big eyes, pointy faces, tiny noses, lots of flowing hair, pastel colors, cel shading and frilly clothes" one) but, among Webtoon Originals, you can still find a good variety of styles: from the extremely simple and cutesy drawings of Smile Brush to the gritty semirealism of GremoryLand, from the traditional looking artwork of Wolfsbane to the digitally colored cartoony style of Just Pancakes... and then there's of course Lore Olympus, which may be a romance, but is definitely not drawn in a manga style they're not the majority (hence why I wouldn't say that Webtoon is super diverse either), but they are there. The home page of the site also seems to pick up on your preferred genres after a while: I used to have a lot of recommendations for romance stuff at first, but once WT seemed to realize that I was searching for supernatural/horror/sci-fi the most, it started recommending me stuff in those genres instead (although the occasional romance recommendation DOES happen sometimes XD).

Which, now that I think of it, is another thing I'd love to see on Tapas: recommendations based on your favorite genres and "comics" and "novels" sections showing you a bunch of different genres based on your preferences, instead of defaulting to "romance" for comics and "fantasy" for novels.

[dominioncomix]

sorry, i mistyped in my original response! I meant tapas, rather than webtoons! But now I'm glad i did rather than embarassed because you gave me lots of great recs for comics!! Thank you!!!

[Llyrel]

Haha, no problem!

[esmesn]

i am Not a fan of webtoon. They need to ....
1. have profiles. It is so lonely over there
2. have any ability to interact with your engagement, be able to see your subs, to find the comics made by people who are commented on and liking your stuff
3. no more rating system please god
4. notifications?????

Tapas, my beautiful child...
1. pls fix the app. i love the website but the app is purgatory idk how to do anything.
2. make sure the website isn't down every three seconds

[hakei]

For a while I thought I had 0 readers in Webtoon because I wasn't getting any comment notifications. It took me a while to realize the Comments tab was only there to keep tracking my OWN comments j;dskfjsaj

So I think Webtoon can benefit from in Tapas's creator-friendly features:
- reader comment notifications
- ability to delete reader comments
- flexible scheduling system
- tags
- no ratings

and Tapas from Webtoon's reader-friendly features:
- better mobile UI
- feature more diverse stories than Korean/Chinese romance fantasies and isekais
- maybe have more free-to-read translated stories? those seem to draw in more people to an app versus only having paid ones

I think Tapas can also do more to support tapastry community creators. Even just looking at the front page, the translated overseas comics are flooding the top, and community comics in the bottom.
Interacting more with creators on social media will be a plus too, since then more creators will begin advertising their Tapas to get the attention of the Tapas staff.

[Iris-Grimoire]

I think it's because it's all getting translated from Kakao works. They existed over the course of several years and followed trends a bit slower, but now the english versions just get thrown at us in rapid succession.

[dominioncomix]

oh! that actually explains a lot! I didn't realize they were translated works, I thought tapas was... Idk... commissioning lots of nearly-identical comics, netflix-style aha

[doublemelon]

1. make sure the website isn't down every three seconds

That's not a bug, that's a feature. xD

[NickRowler]

Webtoons
- remove rating system
- better notification for creators
- better moderation for comments
- better break down of views, likes, followers so that creators can track progress

Tapas
- better effort to appeal to a international audience (non-American/Canadian)
-- this may also include options to easily access non-English comics/novels
- Better diversity of style and genres on the front page.
-- I often feel like the site puts more effort to promote romances (usually with a fantasy angle) which have a very anime or anime inspired style. I just feel like in the past, there was such a bigger range, with sometimes comedies and horror appearing on the frontpage as well as some with really interesting and very different art style. Now I feel like you only sometimes see that stuff in Staff Picks.

[marbl]

Tapas:
A button/bar on the mobile app instead of the small "next page" or having to scroll (its the smallest thing to ever bother me but its one of the reasons I prefer webtoon)
I prefer Tapas' UI over Webtoon's, but Tapas' UX is hot garbage

Webtoon:
Remove ratings
See what comics users created/profile
(I just read on Webtoons, so idk what else lol)

[esmesn]

facts, they need to add that to their marketing XD

[WLHcomics]

For Webtoon

• a more proper notification section, since I never know when I get likes, comments or subscribers.
• a profile page, so it's easier to see how many series a creator made, and learn more about the creator.
• have a forums page, most sites have them, including DeviantArt and Comicfury.
• be able to change episodes around and publish them as freely as you can on Tapas.
• be able to have options to easley get coins to unlock the three extra episodes on some series, like and ad service and what not.
• a section for novels.
• maybe a different style of dashboard since I never really notice the site news until I accidentally scroll down to far, or just so happen to see it.

For Tapas

• have the ability to add a Patreon/Kofi button.
• more genres for our series'.
• make discoverablaty a bit easier.
• maybe some more font options for novels.

[Tanidreams]

Hey Reveal!

I would say that it would be nice if WT had better notifications especially when readers comment on your series and it would be nice to have a profile page or a forum other content creators can communicate with each other on. I believe that a forum with professional and experienced admins would do the site good. I actually quit WT because an admin from a Facebook group started h@rassing my personal account.

For Tapas, more sub-genres and discoverability would be nice. Like if a newly updated series can get bumped up for Fresh and two other genres I think a lot of undiscovered series can get light

[VibrantFox]

i think a lot of the above replies cover some points i already agree with especially in regards to things like comment moderation and removal of the rating system for webtoon and then things like more discoverability and sub genres on tapas

i think one thing i'd like to see for both is more accessibility features like dark mode and image descriptions but also a more unique or standout UI for Tapas. Since the overhaul of the main site it feels like we're desperately trying to conform with our competitors rather than standing out and being unique. Plus I think lots of folks agree that both sites, Tapas especially, could stand to divert some of their attention away from just romance/isekai/villainess stories and branch out into more genres.

I do think that stronger moderation would be helpful too in terms of protecting folks especially marginalized creators from targeted harassment as well as just people generally posting vile things. Like I understand folks are allowed to "express themselves" but there should be limits as for what is or isn't allowed

[myumyudapao]

Webtoons:
-Remove rating system for canvas creators
-Ability to remove/delete comments if you are a creator.
-fix the long old link of canvas urls
-have forums

Tapas
- Give chance to community comics not just hand picked by staffs who's comics are already famous.
- Patreon integration/kofi
-although I understand that webtoon is 10x viewable/popular than tapas
tapas should give support to community creators who are doing well in their platform or set additional support to community creators. (like reached minimum views to get support etc*not just support ink, the support should be coming from tapas) so everyone can do their best here.
the ad revenue is really small.
lastly, please fix the app, it always crashes and the notifications are always delayed.

[ReaperKing]

since i never used webtoon so i dont know but for tapas i think they should add better premium novels/comics or comics in genral at the home page. I'm not someone who dislikes the things they put out but i'm not the only one who thinks most of the stoires are repetivie. cough transported to my own novel cough.
Hopefully they can be more diverse with their genres and more original stories. original as in unique than the last 20 isekei or romance.

[RandomWebComicFan]

Tapas:

• Clean up the user interface when reading. Webtoons UNDERSTANDS this, the bar at the top is small and compact, and it fades away when you're reading or you click it away. That isn't an option on Tapas and hasn't been for far too long. On my laptop up to 30-40% of the screen is taken up by obnoxious bars that I don't want blocking me when I read something. I know full-screen exists, but I like to alt-tab out every so often and having to do this CONSTANTLY is irritating, and something I DON'T have to do on Webtoons.

This is the single biggest reason I almost stopped coming here entirely. Even so when I DO come around my very first action is to check and see if something I'm interested in is on Webtoons instead.

• Add the titles BENEATH the comic covers. Again, Webtoons does this, and it makes seeing what I am looking at much easier. A lot of the comic pages on Tapas DON'T have their title beneath the image, and the image itself is as legible as the Rosetta Stone is to the dyslexic. I hate having to click on something and open a new tab just to see what I'm even looking at and what its called.

• Have the comments section at the bottom (like it used to be). The comment section on Webtoons is overly restrictive but I can see what I'm writing out when I want to post a comment. The side panel on Tapas is an atrocity that often runs text OFF of the screen and makes it impossible to see or edit unless you erase much of your comment to fix it, or post and edit it then.

I'll admit I'm bitching a storm up over this, but these are things that have made the website actively worse since the redesign in my opinion. The worst by far being the point about not being able to hide the bars, which take up FAR too much of the screen on smaller screens like on my laptop. Which I genuinely hate because this website was my haven for quite a few years. I loved coming here and finding new stuff to read; now I maybe check in once a week for any updates to the few things exclusive to this website I still follow, and nothing more.