Time to confront some self-reflections with building a community and keeping a loyal fanbase.
The Problem With Social Media Is…
This:
It’s funny how this happened after I got an official Blue Sky account after signing up for the waitlist. A few creators I follow and regularly see are on there and honestly, in terms of content it still has some of the same problems I had with Twitter. Not the left or right stuff, but the fact that scrolling down just feels like going through gossip channels. Sure I get to link some review requesters accounts when they want to. And I feel a little more comfortable interacting with the posts. But it can still be a lot to go through. The only difference between there and on Twitter is that this is still going through the Beta phases. Less people to deal with to get more exposure, but still a few bugs like connection crashing when too many replies are made.
I guess there really is a big difference to wanting something and having it.
Meanwhile I find Threads to have what Instagram lacks, easier linkage to pages I want to share. With backway access to the other platform by accounts. Since a lot of creatives I’ve been following just have Instagram accounts, this is a huge help in some regard. Plus I get more likes than Instagram, just wish the traffic to my website was easier. Because I want to see less of the stuff that make it like Twitter such as the left and right debates that I find so exhausting.
How I wish I could keep those away from my feeds like I can do on Minds. Oh did I not mention that? Yes, I have an account on Minds and have X dollars and something cents worth of some tokens in Ethereum. You can get paid in the amount of post likes you get. All the more vital because downvoting controls user feed a lot easier than Twitter. By downvoting I keep the political gossip, pervy anime art, and other stuff I don’t like away. Meanwhile blocking a user from my feed is still there like when I found a user who put up an anti-semitic Sweet Jesus, Pooh! comic, but it’s just as inconvenient as Twitter’s feed control. At least the effort for that action felt worth it. Besides that, I follow users like Steve Lieber who promotes his Mastodon account through this.
As for Mastodon… sigh… honestly there isn’t really much interest. There are a few strips here and there like Rooney the Rabbit and War and Peas and webcomics like Mega Maiden and Kamikaze but the content on there is very limited. I couldn’t even bother following certain creators like Greg Pak because I found the kind of gossip that can get exhausting on his profile. I love his stuff like Ronin Island and Mech Cadets, but seeing people’s lectures about current events makes my eyes tired. And this was the server that’s supposed to be devoted to comics. The main Mastodon server barely keeps my attention.
Stick to Your Niches
But… much like Kurzgesagt video said, it’s better to stick to your niches. It just so happens I have been doing stuff on the socials. For all of Facebook becoming a background, I still join groups dedicated to writing, blogging, and all things indie. While I no longer post (directly) on Twitter/X, I still visit the list of Independent Comics I put together.
Being pay to win platforms can’t keep me away.
Instagram is something I’m still trying to wrap my head around, but I’m putting all of my focus on my niches not the trends. I just wish links on there didn’t require highlighting and right-clicking. Why do writers do even do that? Artists posting their work and short videos I get, but why leave links if they’re not in Stories? At least Threads gets around that problem.
Which is why keeping a niche focus on those other networks is never far from my mind. Although indie animation takes up a good percentage in Tumblr when Bluesky can’t make up for it.
Even if some of them don’t have what I want exactly; it just might take time to get everything together.
But other times, I found that newsletters are the best thing to stay in touch with passions. Some are here on Substack, others are more tied to what I share in interests. Newsletters from the likes of
, , and a few others that aren’t necessarily on Substack like The Pullbox and Indie Comix Dispatch. Publishers and creators with their own newsletters too, including Greg Pak.I won’t cut myself off from the world, because there are still things that catch my interests like
and Ground News. But I would rather go around indulging in things that keep my mind immersed in thought provoking scenarios from the daily hustle than gossip like Warner Bros. and Paramount doing a merger.The whole reason I do stuff on Substack is because this place is for writing. I share stuff like guys who go through the creative process on Substack Notes for crying out loud. It’s why I left my Patreon creator account. I just didn’t feel comfortable there.
Should Social Media Be Neglected?
I am definitely keeping my social links despite all of the controversies. Not for anything dumb like credibility, it’s all for convenience. Like at-ing at people involved because that gets more views on average. I saw the data…
More importantly, you gotta stick to what you’re comfortable with on a platform. Substack takes up more of my time than posts to socials for those reasons. Also because I don’t have the patience to do gifs, even for promotions. Can’t do that on Bluesky right now anyway.
Frankly casuals like most of you probably won’t want to get onto platforms that seem half-finished. Not just because of Bluesky’s waiting list but Minds having a few bugs that slow the token payments among a few other issues. Especially since as an investor for that website on WeFunder… I know that they haven’t gotten their paperwork together.
The hard part comes from keeping a following/community going. I heard the story of a guy with a huge number of followers and none of them showed up to his table at a convention. So imagine that when you’re a neurodivergent introvert. This stuff is a lot of work! I’ve been neglecting my Tailwind for the most part because it felt like I was giving myself more work.
But this is the life I chose for myself and I gotta get the proper balance together.