Fwiw, you did successfully step in and mediate that minor tiff between me and Blake on Twitter lo, so many months ago (I think almost a year and a half ago now? Two years? Gah, time.) Anywho, possibly we would have figured it out in time, because we both meant well, but also possibly not, the way these things tend to go. Now Blake and I consider ourselves very fast and tight, he'll be having me on his show for my own Kickstarter launch party on the 15th, and that might not have happened if a mediator hadn't stepped in. So you did some solids while you could manage it, at least one solid, though that said no one can be that role forever or always.
I'm also planning to make Substack my homebase of operations in 2024. And like you, I've decided to not abandon any platforms due to politically toxic subsets of humanity also being there. Because all that does is hand it over to them. There may be a true tipping point, where a platform is no longer something I can use successfully AND the toxics are there, but so far I haven't found that to be the case with any of them, though unlike you I am very cautious on which arguments I wade into, or even pay close attention to. (Though I'll clock what the arguments are, just for my own edification.)
I hope you find the equilibrium you're looking for here on the stack. I love following your stuff too much for you to fuck off entirely! I actually owe you, but instead I'm going to say you owe me so you'll stay! There are also some creator Discords I can invite you to that are largely toxicity-free. There are some of us with fairly differing political leanings there, and we've learned to argue without demonizing, and even sometimes jump on a quick impromptu livestream to debate in good faith. It's been interesting, and very different, and i'm glad I've been experiencing that because it's such the antithesis of what's happening on social media. It can happen when the venue is valued, so no one wants to fuck it up, and the total group is limited in size so the dogpiling can't occur. Or that's my theory anyway.
I could not say it any better then this. I too was stuck playing mediator in the fandom of comics. It's left me bitter and jaded about if people actually care about just enjoying comics like we use to but instead it devolved into petty grade school drama farming.
From The YouTube "creators" it slowly started to show me that some people just wanted to have something to be angry about and hold onto legacy material as if things can not change for the times we are in. It also showed me that I care a lot more about the medium to allow anyone to find something the enjoy and let it be.
But you have people who probably aged out of comics rallying against current trends to just stake their claim on something they aren't even the target demographic anymore. Sad but the majority of people funding the culture war don't even read comics...
And they complained just enough to blow up the egos of fake comics creators.
I've slowly quit myself. I'm just happy we can still create regardless. Bravo for seeing the alternative to this drama.
Huh, chin-scratching read (in a good way). Just started a Substack as I'm not a fan of social media, but still want to share comics. How would you describe the community on here? What has your experience been like compared to say, Twitter?
Congrats dude. I’ve long treated social media as a purely professional marketing outlet and disengaged any personal life dealings from the internet. I continue to pull back and away, wishing I could truly fully disconnect from the hive mind, though it continues to be a great resource for communicating with potential new collaborators from all over the world. If it weren’t for this aspect, I’d be a ghost. And if I ever make enough money, I will be. I’ve continually unfollowed people who don’t seem to share my values (hundreds after oct7th) and have widdled my following down to a few hundred artists who seem focused on making art and nothing else. Happy to hear you’re moving on and forward. I look forward to keeping up with your creative output. Cheers and happy new year
Fwiw, you did successfully step in and mediate that minor tiff between me and Blake on Twitter lo, so many months ago (I think almost a year and a half ago now? Two years? Gah, time.) Anywho, possibly we would have figured it out in time, because we both meant well, but also possibly not, the way these things tend to go. Now Blake and I consider ourselves very fast and tight, he'll be having me on his show for my own Kickstarter launch party on the 15th, and that might not have happened if a mediator hadn't stepped in. So you did some solids while you could manage it, at least one solid, though that said no one can be that role forever or always.
I'm also planning to make Substack my homebase of operations in 2024. And like you, I've decided to not abandon any platforms due to politically toxic subsets of humanity also being there. Because all that does is hand it over to them. There may be a true tipping point, where a platform is no longer something I can use successfully AND the toxics are there, but so far I haven't found that to be the case with any of them, though unlike you I am very cautious on which arguments I wade into, or even pay close attention to. (Though I'll clock what the arguments are, just for my own edification.)
I hope you find the equilibrium you're looking for here on the stack. I love following your stuff too much for you to fuck off entirely! I actually owe you, but instead I'm going to say you owe me so you'll stay! There are also some creator Discords I can invite you to that are largely toxicity-free. There are some of us with fairly differing political leanings there, and we've learned to argue without demonizing, and even sometimes jump on a quick impromptu livestream to debate in good faith. It's been interesting, and very different, and i'm glad I've been experiencing that because it's such the antithesis of what's happening on social media. It can happen when the venue is valued, so no one wants to fuck it up, and the total group is limited in size so the dogpiling can't occur. Or that's my theory anyway.
I could not say it any better then this. I too was stuck playing mediator in the fandom of comics. It's left me bitter and jaded about if people actually care about just enjoying comics like we use to but instead it devolved into petty grade school drama farming.
From The YouTube "creators" it slowly started to show me that some people just wanted to have something to be angry about and hold onto legacy material as if things can not change for the times we are in. It also showed me that I care a lot more about the medium to allow anyone to find something the enjoy and let it be.
But you have people who probably aged out of comics rallying against current trends to just stake their claim on something they aren't even the target demographic anymore. Sad but the majority of people funding the culture war don't even read comics...
And they complained just enough to blow up the egos of fake comics creators.
I've slowly quit myself. I'm just happy we can still create regardless. Bravo for seeing the alternative to this drama.
Huh, chin-scratching read (in a good way). Just started a Substack as I'm not a fan of social media, but still want to share comics. How would you describe the community on here? What has your experience been like compared to say, Twitter?
Congrats dude. I’ve long treated social media as a purely professional marketing outlet and disengaged any personal life dealings from the internet. I continue to pull back and away, wishing I could truly fully disconnect from the hive mind, though it continues to be a great resource for communicating with potential new collaborators from all over the world. If it weren’t for this aspect, I’d be a ghost. And if I ever make enough money, I will be. I’ve continually unfollowed people who don’t seem to share my values (hundreds after oct7th) and have widdled my following down to a few hundred artists who seem focused on making art and nothing else. Happy to hear you’re moving on and forward. I look forward to keeping up with your creative output. Cheers and happy new year