Yo, I'm 
Lady T. and I make the new adult fantasy webcomic MagicalMashup!
I've been taking a step back to assess quite a few things and one of them is my time management when it comes to what platforms I wish to actively engage in that have the best reach for sharing my comics and art works, but that are also doable for me on a semi-regular basis.
I also want to know where y'all put the majority of your time and effort in when it comes to sharing your works and engaging online! If you don't do any social media platforms, what's your take on getting your work in front of as many eyes as you can (or do you not care)?
I love being able to meet folks in person and share my art and talk about it face to face. So the con scene used to be my jam! I had taken a break from cons to focus on making my comic over just sharing my art and was rearing up to do a few to hype some interest for my comic, but alas the Rona hit and so a lot of the in-person interest I was hoping to garner didn't pan out and instead I've had to rely on my online networking skills, which aren't terrible, but it's defiantly harder to get a grasp on when the networking platform of the day can change overnight DX.
Here are the places I've tried (or wanted to) and my takes on them:
(I'd love to hear others thoughts on these platforms and others too!)
Instagram: This is where I have been the most active over the last few years and where I rebooted sharing my art with folks online. I think it's great for my stand-alone art pieces, but don't think I've received a ton of readers to my comic because of it. I like that it's a picture-based platform but it also usually means that words not in are rarely read. This place works best for comics that can be posted on that site and read on that site as folks on insta don't really leave insta. I think it's also legit for poets and authors that make their own art and graphic design with their written words. It looks as it should be an excellent place for illustrated prose as it has a generous text limit, But I don't see that a lot.
Twitter: Imma is real. I don't like Twitter. It's too fast and I don't like that my feed gets flooded with posts folks I follow liked but didn't share. Like dayumnnnn I don't need to be all up in they business like that. I miss old Tumblr bc you could like in peace and share what you wanted. Anyways, Twitter is where most of the art folks from Tumblr migrated to, sadly, so I started using it more (had it for years but literally only posted random thoughts every few months lol). Art threads and shares are a fantastic way to get noticed so I will give twitter that bc I have gotten some notice that way at least. The Twitter crop is trash though and good luck finding older artworks from folks you're interested in. Not even the media tab is truly helpful bc gif responses are in there too :/.
Tiktok: I really feel like I'm not doing it right while on this site, but what I have done has gained more interest than I thought it would (and that's not a lot haha) in the shortest amount of time and it's just me talking over some short speed paints. It's pretty much what I want to do with my youtube channel that has nothing on it, but in a way that doesn't burn through hours of my day to make a post. I really don't know how it's a medium that's been working for artists, but it is and I have had fun doing the voiceovers and showing my process in small bites.
Deviantart: An archive of the past that I keep around, but too many unfortunate encounters made me just leave it as a time capsule and move on. It's still up and about though and I did try to revive it, but doesn't look like much has changed so I'm ok with letting it just exist where it is.
Tumblr: Though still around with a dedicated few, it's a far cry from its former self. It used to be a fantastic place for engaging with fandoms, and sharing art, but if you were really into telling stories with your OCs and interacting with others, it was popping. I mainly use it as another mirror to host my comic as I don't have my own site built yet.
Facebook Groups & Pages: These are pretty cool for networking with other Comic creators, but not so much for getting your own work noticed, though you may learn something helpful. I made one to reach some of the older folks I chat with, but I don't do anything serious with it, nor have I gotten any results from it.
Reddit: It's truly the wild wild west there, but if you can find a subreddit with interest aligned to your work, you might just gain a good bit of interest for your art/stories in a short span of time. I found a few new readers from posting my art in a plus-size subreddit as my protagonist is plus-sized and was surprised at how many folks took to it. Yes there was like one negative nelly and a few silent dislikers, but overall it was positive. There are subreddits for comic creators too, but I've found better luck here on Tapas for that. Exploring niches that align with your works seems like a more legit way to go, though it seems more for explosive blips of intrest over a long and steady flow.
Pinterest: If you know your SEO and have the time, it could be worthwhile to do this, but it's one of those places where you have to dedicate a lot of time to tagging and categorizing your work for it to appear in the search engine, but if you know how to do that, You could get a good number of eyes on your work, but not sure how much of the eyes would translate to engaging with your comic over just liking the picture shown.
WordPress: I mainly use it to keep track of topics that I find interesting/helpful on my journey as a comic artist, but this could be applied to other blogging platforms as well. I think blogs work best when you already have an audience somewhere else and use it for some supplemental engagement and a creative outlet. They are great for sharing helpful information, teaching, and keeping track of your own progress though.
Pillowfort: It's been down longer than it has been up, but I hope with the latest up they were able to iron out the kinks. It's very reminiscent of old Tumblr with bits of Reddit, so I'm curious to see how it will shape up. I'll have to lurk some more on it before I give final thoughts.
Artfol: ladyt_musings:_ It's a Twitter and Insta hybrid, but it suffers from slow loading times. I am happy that it's easier to tell when you like something now as hearts register more clearly now. They also allow NSFW work when tagged appropriately which is something. You can also tag your art with up to 10 tags and the site is accessible by android and ios so that's nice. It's ap accessible only too so that's kind of suc.
Bubblehouse: LadyTMusings This is a newer one too that allows you to post your art in many different ways from process slides, to before and after and even videos. it's the new platform that I'm most impressed with, but the major downside is that it's ios only (there is a waitlist for Android though). Which is a shame, bc I do like experimenting with how I post to the site, but your reach will be limited audience-wise for a while.
Youtube: I would love to really dig into making longer format videos, but they are truly a time sink and so I haven't dedicated much time to developing my channel. I mainly use it to house some Patreon exclusives for now, but I know quite a few comic artists who do have a youtube and may be able to offer better insight here.
TLDR: My take on how different social media platforms have performed for me in regards to getting my art and comics out there. Please feel free to share your experiences with them or any others not listed.
Lady T.
