Social Media.

[colcool007]

My enjoyment of comics has spilled over into social media. And that has given me the ability to engage with some of my comic book heroes. For example one chat I am currently in is with Alan Hebden (Meltdown Man, Rat-Pack, Convict Commandos, The Amazing Maze Dumoir, Mind Wars) and Ian Gibson (Judge Dredd, Halo Jones, Sam Slade) about the art of Jesus Redondo and who was better. We are agreeing that on the art side, it's a score draw.

Mind you, if you remember the original run of the Twilight Zone, you might prefer this chat about Alan's homage to the episode A Hundred Yards Over the Rim

I am also able to chat with Lew on a regular basis. There is also Dave Kendall (Deadworld), Brian Williamson (Hookjaw), Ian Kennedy (Commando, Victor, Warlord, Bunty, Wizard, Crunch, 2000AD, Scorcher, Rover), David Roach (Anderson Psi-Div, Nemesis), Mike Collins (Doctor Who, Judge Dredd), Hunt Emerson (Firkin, Little Plum, Calculus Cat) and many, many more.

Social media has been great for making contact with fellow fans and has allowed me to chat with many such as Al, AndyB, Shaquille, Adam Eterno, Tony Ingram, starscape and many others.

So how have you used social media to enhance your comic enjoyment?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Hiya Col

I appreciate what you are saying here about the benefits of social media for communicating with field specialists.

However I have definitely encountered forums in particular which reveal even [some, by no means all] recognized 'experts' to be anti-social, selfish people who are prone to acting in an obnoxious manner for reasons best known to themselves.


I will not 'name names' but you have doubtless heard of some of these people, some of who are comic artists/ cartoonists and writers.

In fact the second worst site I was ever on was made up of 'creatives'. The absolute worst forum I joined was an academic site about WW2: eventually I left and they asked me back so I went on and some nit-picking pedant tore everything I wrote apart, so I gave him a scathing reply and just abandoned their site again.

This one is great though, it is a real laid-back attitude in general which few glitches compared to many other specialist sites.


The internet, if nothing else, has revealed the true nature of human behaviour, which is revealed to be both good and bad at every level of human activity.

I am glad you have been able to meet up with some nice folks by the sounds of things, however I have definitely encountered an abundance of selfish prats on other forums.

[paw broon]

I eventually gave in and opened a Facebook account, partly 'cos Colin kept on telling me how I was missing so much. Well, I still haven't found all that stuff I'm missing. Where is it? And isn't what we're doing here on comicsuk, chatting about comics? In public, not in private, where it seems they're keeping it all to themselves as a wee clique on Facebook? Actually, discussing the work of Jesus Redondo interests me but there is so much info. available elsewhere to satisfy me - including the link I sent to Colin the other day.
I tend to agree with ISPYSHHHGUY, but then, I am a tech feeble, awkward, old sod, as I may have pointed out elsewhere.

[SID]

I have emailed with one of my all time favourite artists - David Pugh, artist of Dan Dare, Slaine, Loner (Wildcat) among others.

In fact I bought some original Dan Dare artwork. Brilliant.

[dishes]

One thing I don't like about facebook (not only a comics-related problem)

Some artists use facebook as their main outlet for announcements, and for generally sharing their thoughts to the world, instead of on their own website or blog.

This isn't so bad if it's a public page anyone can follow, but some seem to do it on a regular facebook page, so only their "friends" can see it, (or people who remember to check their page regularly for public posts.). And I NEVER add anyone as a facebook friend unless I know them in real life. Never. That's what twitter is for.

So I feel like I miss on some announcements and find that someone I like has been publishing some work I don't know about. But then, worse things happen at sea,

[abacus]

Facebook is not for me ,it seems similar to me to those people who have to be on their phones every five minutes ,what on earth do they have to talk about?.In fact I'm not sure how I finished up on this site I must have pressed random buttons when cleaning the keyboard

[Lew Stringer]

One thing I don't like about facebook (not only a comics-related problem)

Some artists use facebook as their main outlet for announcements, and for generally sharing their thoughts to the world, instead of on their own website or blog.

This isn't so bad if it's a public page anyone can follow, but some seem to do it on a regular facebook page, so only their "friends" can see it, (or people who remember to check their page regularly for public posts.). And I NEVER add anyone as a facebook friend unless I know them in real life. Never. That's what twitter is for.

So I feel like I miss on some announcements and find that someone I like has been publishing some work I don't know about. But then, worse things happen at sea,

I see your point. Personally, I've found the solution is to have two Facebook pages; one for friends only (I only accept requests from people I know) and a public one that only focuses on my work:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/lewstringercartoonist/

Quite a few comics creators do this, but I agree that it must be frustrating if they only have one, private, FB page where they show their work. Self-defeating too, really.

[Lew Stringer]

Facebook is not for me ,it seems similar to me to those people who have to be on their phones every five minutes ,what on earth do they have to talk about?.In fact I'm not sure how I finished up on this site I must have pressed random buttons when cleaning the keyboard

Same things people talk about face to face really. I do draw the line at people who share photos of their meals though.

Here's a recent example of how Facebook can be beneficial; a couple of weeks ago a friend posted that her cat had gone missing. Many of us shared the info on Facebook and the cat was found a few days ago, alive and well, (a few miles from its home), and is now reunited with its owner. Now, people who hate cats will scoff (and they can get lost themselves as far as I'm concerned) but it was a heartwarming story of social media being used for good.

[abacus]

Same things people talk about face to face really. I do draw the line at people who share photos of their meals though.

Here's a recent example of how Facebook can be beneficial; a couple of weeks ago a friend posted that her cat had gone missing. Many of us shared the info on Facebook and the cat was found a few days ago, alive and well, (a few miles from its home), and is now reunited with its owner. Now, people who hate cats will scoff (and they can get lost themselves as far as I'm concerned) but it was a heartwarming story of social media being used for good.

Yes ,I am sure Facebook can be useful at times , but I prefer a computer with less clutter and if there is anything on Facebook I should know my wife will show me on her tablet. I am not anti social but like the quiet times as well.

[Lew Stringer]

Yes ,I am sure Facebook can be useful at times , but I prefer a computer with less clutter and if there is anything on Facebook I should know my wife will show me on her tablet. I am not anti social but like the quiet times as well.

I tend to use FB mainly for keeping up with what colleagues and friends in the comics industry are up to. It's like having a brief online comic con every day. I don't think I'd see much use for it if I wasn't working in comics and probably wouldn't have signed up for it.

[philcom55]

As a comparatively recent convert to Facebook my main reservation is that it can all too easily take up whole hours of your time which could have been spent more productively elsewhere. Thank goodness I don't do Twitter!

[Phoenix]

my main reservation is that it (Facebook) can all too easily take up whole hours of your time which could have been spent more productively elsewhere. Thank goodness I don't do Twitter!

You do do ComicsUK though, Phil, and that can be just as time consuming.

[Adam Eterno]

I was an avid user of Social Media from early on for business with Linkedin and using Facebook helped me keep in contact with friends and family all over the world, especially after my son was born and I didn't have the time to contact everyone regularly.

Col has only recently introduced me to the concept of using Facebook to help my comic collection though and I'm hopefully setting up a few trades to help grow my Commando comic collection. If I could do the same for my other comic 'wants' I'd be a very happy boy!

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I use facebook but I rarely put on any photos of me and I rarely even mention what I am up to other than adding on old comics pages etc.

There are no photos of me with my latest pint of beer or anything like that.

I was in the boozer yesterday, and yes I am mentioning it here but only because we are discussing social media: I do not see the point of broadcasting what I am up to .

Every other Tom Dick and Harry is already doing that, I see no reason to join in.

I have had a few cartoon jobs through private messages on facebook so it can be useful.

I look through it rather than contribute anything.

I have more respect for the people who refuse to go in it: they are more mysterious!

People seem to want facebook in general though, many spend many hours on there.


I am keeping it but I will never be a heavy user.

[koollectablz]

I did use FB a fair bit when it first came out, but after that first flush of interest I got bogged down in being overwhelmed with pictures of, people's dinners, people's pets and people's kids.

I logged out and haven't touched it for about five years. Cant say I've missed it. Social Media really is for younger people IMO - unless you use it as a means to an end and have a specific purpose in mind.

Twitter I signed up, didn't understand what to do, never touched it again.

One thing I have found very useful is making a family group in whatsapp that everyone adds to every so often.