When you think your subscribers are "fake"

nothing09876 2016-05-26 14:12:30 UTC #1

Do you know the feeling when you have a hundred of followers. And only half of them read your comics?

Do you sometimes have the feeling when you post something to your subscibers and several hours later, no one didn't reply, it's like no one didn't even give a fudge about your post?

And do you sometimes have the feeling when you think that when a person compliments you, you feel like they were just faking it?

For me, I had those feelings, and I always think that my subscribers are just fakers. I mean... Are they?

PotooGryphon 2016-05-26 14:23:45 UTC #2

For me personally, no on all accounts.

It might be because I've built up a bit of a thick skin but I don't take anything personally. Whether it's a lack of viewers or simpler comments. I rationalize it that this is an international site with users from all different time zones and each person have busy personal lives and they probably can't spend all day on Tapastic like me lol Also perhaps a simple comment is all they can manage in English, which is fine and awesome.

I thing I'd consider first before chalking it up to fake subs is that I need to find a better time/day to update and I need to promote it more across social media to catch the attention of readers following there as well. I'd run more trial and error and maybe even try drumming up fun events like an art request livestream to build interest again.

Being a content creator is hard work and keeping interest can be even harder, however I think there are ways to gain it back.

J.Lovelace 2016-05-26 14:36:42 UTC #3

I get that feeling, but only at Deviantart. Got over 1K watchers there, but only around 100 views my works. Maybe 50 drop by regularly. There's a trend gong on, people watch only to gain a watch-back. Some even unwatch an day after.
Here on tapastic, if 1K followers subscribe to my comic, the pageviews match the amount of followers, and I am very content.

I think that's normal to be upset about this kind of thing. But even if stuff doesn't go as planned, I'll just keep doing my thing. Because I love it

And about the wall posts, don't worry baout these. The reply system is a bit shitty and some people just don't like to deal with it, so many of them just don't bother commenting, which I understand.

zetina 2016-05-26 14:40:05 UTC #4

Half of hundred is still 50 and that's a lot of people with eyes on your work

sarrowsmith10 2016-05-26 15:27:18 UTC #5

It's not unusual to feel that way. If you are really itching for feedback, I recommend doing a review exchange with someone. They agree to go page by page and leave feedback and you do the same for their comic. (Although its probably fair to do an exchange with someone who has similar page count)

Just a thought.

Sanz 2016-05-26 15:35:00 UTC #6

I advertise on instagram a ton, not so much twitter because character limit kinda annoys me, but loads on facebook. so i get people who come from every where sometimes i use to think they just subbed and were like "oh this looks cool" but they never return then a few days later i'll get like 36 notifs from someone liking pages so....if they do look they don't look i don't think they are fake...maybe just not....looking everyday.

all the time...but i have confidence issues i address lol.

i do wonder sometimes but i also remember tap isn't on the top of the list to check everyday for most non creators. like facebook or twitter is.

no one ever comments when i post to them, im not complaining...because i very well may just be annoying. haha and i appreciate them for putting up with me.

mintycanoodles 2016-05-26 15:40:51 UTC #7

lmao I used to feel like that on here, like no one was even reading my wall posts even when it was a question I was genuinely hoping they'd answer - then I realized you actually have to click the little bell icon so subscribers can see it and wow I was embarassed. it took me a year on this site to figure that out wow

and yeah, feeling like someone is faking a compliment, I get that. sort of, more like, I think they're genuine but I just want to correct them like, no, no, you really don't understand. im lying to you all im actually a piece of shit I don't deserve praise. but i think self-consciousness comes with the artist territory haha

60Six 2016-05-26 15:44:54 UTC #8

Though I'm pretty sure are at least some bots that follow everyone (that literally aren't even people), what reason do people have to subscribe to you if they don't like what you do? I've only known of a very, very few cases where someone watched an artist purely because they dislike them, but that was just to see what drama they would stir up next and it was on the hell hole that is DeviantArt. There isn't much drama on here for people to follow, unless it's in a juicy comic.
So...do you have "fake" subscribers (excluding any bots)? I really doubt it. Do you have some inactive or busy ones? Very possible, we all do. I'm a terrible subscriber myself and am awful at commenting and liking the comics I follow despite how much I enjoy them (Something I fully admit and am trying to work on). Not every subscriber is going to be an active one that always has something to say or check your comic the second, or even day, it updates. But I really doubt anyone is subscribing to you because they just want another notification to ignore in their inbox.

keii4ii 2016-05-26 15:56:50 UTC #9

Confession: I suffer from anxiety (used to be literally debilitating; now recovering...). Anxiety is always trying to convince me that no one actually cares about my story or my characters. It won't stop trying even when there is no evidence supporting that. Hell, it won't stop trying even when there is evidence to the contrary.

Even so, I think "fakers" is too harsh a word. Why would people fake it? Not-that-interested is a description I can agree with, but faking? They don't have anything to gain from faking to be a subscriber. (Unless they're trying to get you to sub back, which would be silly of them. But I don't think that's common on Tapastic.) There is no intent to deceive.

That said...

Doesn't explain when you consistently get less than 50% of your subscribers even viewing your updates...!

Sounds like impostor syndrome.

Morair 2016-05-26 17:06:33 UTC #10

I did the same thing lol

Aspie_Gamer 2016-05-26 17:34:12 UTC #11

Putting yourself out there on social media seems to be the way to really get the word out every time you update. I've built up a comfortable 75 sub count but when I updated Life of an Aspie for the first time in ages, it seems nobody cared thought that could be because I was on hiatus for so long. Once I start updating frequently again, I expect that to change.

aspiderjonny 2016-05-26 17:52:20 UTC #12

I think it's unfair to call people who don't read regularly "fake subscribers". For a while, I wasn't reading the comics I subscribed to because school and my own comics had me feeling overworked and I kept forgetting. I still wanted to read time, I just couldn't. Now I'm trying to catch up. Not everyone can read your updates the day they come out, but I don't think you should feel discouraged in making new pages.

shazzbaa 2016-05-26 17:59:55 UTC #13

I think it's important to remember that having that FEELING is valid and okay, but you can acknowledge that it probably doesn't reflect reality. As others have pointed out, there's no incentive to pretend to be a invested subscriber when you're really not!

I can definitely relate to the feeling, though; I remember when someone could tell me to my face that they really love my stuff and I would tie myself in knots trying to figure out what motive they could possibly have for fake-praising me. I think, like all anxiety, you shouldn't feel bad for having that thought, but you gotta know it's your brain that's lying to you.

(Though I will mention that when you're posting on your wall, specifically, there are a lot of reasons why people might not see it or not comment -- there are a lot of weird problems with wall posts and notifications that make them easier to miss (mobile users don't get alerted to them, people don't want to comment because it will notify them of every other comment, etc etc))

thomassayle 2016-05-26 20:31:03 UTC #14

Yeah took me a while till a found i found that,but still people wouldnt take notice. :(.

Anyway yeah of course i do,thats where half my humor comes from in my comics.

Alamino 2016-05-26 22:45:11 UTC #15

Awe never take a compliment as fake. I mean think about it this way, if they didn't care they wouldn't say anything.

And Don't be sad when you post something to your subscribers and no one replies. Personally, it's only recently I've been actively talking to people or leaving comments on posts. Before that I'd read it and think 'eh maybe they don't care what i think' and move on... so people may see it, but some may not answer because they don't feel like they matter... or they aren't logged on... or you have the 'ghost reader' (that person who isn't on the site but returns over and over to read your comic and can't comment because they don't have an account and are too timid to make one...)

Another mention: " you have a hundred of followers. And only half of them read your comics?" Don't fret it! Maybe they are like me, and wait for you to upload 20 pages before they binge read them... I mean I know I have a bunch of comics i do that too so I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Don't let you get yourself down. ^_^

Mharz 2016-05-27 00:56:20 UTC #16

I thought about the "not getting feedback" thing as well. I even addressed it once on a wall post. But I never think my subs are fake. Of course some subbers do it as a bookmark to read in the future probably (especially those who have 1000+ on their reading list.) It's not like everyone who sub at your comic will check it every single time you update. There are some subbers who waits for the pages to pile up then binge read it (like me).

Also not people commenting doesn't mean they don't care. Some might be shy, or probably not good at giving comments. I personally don't give comments on individual pages because I perceive the stories as a whole. Plus I'm shy and not good with words. #totallyguilty

Bottomline is, don't let it bother you that much. Just keep on creating and constantly updating your comics. Plus pageviews are more important (because ad revenue).

On a side note, Twitter has more "fakers" there because I have people following me then will unfollow the next day when I don't follow back. Still a good social site to shoutout your comics.

mac 2016-05-27 00:58:18 UTC #17

ok theres like,, a few comics that im subscribed to that im not as interested in as i was before but i either forgot to unsubscribe or just didnt have the energy to and i feel like thats a different situation

AnnaLandin 2016-05-27 05:54:49 UTC #18

No. No, they're not.

There could be any number of reasons why someone is subscribed to your comic but not actively engaging with it - maybe they've subscribed so they can find it again and read it later, because they don't have time right now. Maybe they're the kind of person who wants to read a whole bunch of updates at once, so they're waiting for a pile of new episodes to build up before they read it. Maybe they're really, really shy and don't like commenting, but are still enjoying your comic.

No. If it's just a couple of hours, it's entirely possible that your readers are just in a different timezone than yourself, and just aren't awake to see your post. Also, not all subscribers get notifications for wallposts, I don't think - at least before the launch of the new app, it used to be that app-users didn't get those notifications. If the majority of your 100 readers are app-users, that might be a reason for the silence too!

Also, I've put years into posting art online to the sound of crickets chirping, because I prioritize drawing my own original stuff, and the internet prefers fanart. I'm used to feeling like I'm shouting into the void - it's not anyone's fault that people didn't respond. Original content has a harder time getting traction online, and it always will.

No, but it sounds like the issue here isn't with your number of subscribers or their silence, but rather with your self-confidence. When someone compliments you, believe them. It's 99% likely that they are sincere - and if they're that 1% who are, what, lying to you because they love fake-complimenting people or something? Then take that compliment and run with it. Someone said something nice to you - awesome! It doesn't matter if they didn't mean it.

Also, re: how many subscribers you have vs. how many of them actually read your comic/comment. I have 3600+ subscribers - I still have only 30-50 people who comment regularly on the pages. That is a LOT of silent readers, and probably a whole bunch who don't read it but are still subscribed. That's normal. You're always going to have a big bunch of your audience who are passive.

jennula 2016-05-27 06:00:23 UTC #19

...I am one of those who have subscribed to a lot of comics because they look awesome, but I do't have time to read them right now. And then when vacation comes, I'll probably read them all and go on a like-spree XD

Simon_M 2016-05-27 08:43:11 UTC #20

Well... any place where there's social network elements involved there's a chance of "soft" likes. It's one of the cons of all of the stuff being free: whether the subscription means anything or not is entirely up to the subscriber. Which is how you end up with artists with 1000 subscribers and 0 patrons in Patreon