So how do you talk about comics, anyway?

[Reign]

@DokiDokiTsuna

I agree. Disagreeing doesn’t mean you’re attacking or shunning someone. With it being the internet, though, I have seen people decide to take the I’m behind a screen so I’ll just be a total jerk route before. I haven't really seen that here, though. I’ve seen a troll or two crop up, but that’s about it.

[skicoak]

I'm rarely viewing things the same way as you do, I'm sometimes frustrated/annoy to read some of your messages, and... that's great! I don't see the problem, I actually see it as positive. I simply wish there were more free thinkers. It does not matter if they have the same opinions than me or not.

Homogeneous echo chambers are the worst.

It's strange to me that a forum of creatives so frequently slips into a creepy hive mind state. Anyone who post here enough, and pays attention has seen it... or even sometimes has been a part of it. It just doesn't seem like something you'd expect from a collective of creatives.

hearing similar views than mine, but in a context so restrictive, so narrow minded,

I think some of this is people who are imitating the majority opinion on some stuff... without ever going through the steps to come to that conclusion on their own. Then having trepidation to be more of a free thinker because it's not exactly the easy path or the one that leads to being liked.

My opinions aren't always chiseled out of marble but too often I'm just challenged for having a differing opinion not engaged in a discussion that might lead to me pondering my point of view.

[LordVincent]

When I speak of the "truth" i am referring to simple basics like "building a brand will take time", "most of the time you won't make a living of your comics overnight" etc. You're creating problematics out of nothing and trying to make me look bad in the process, it's quite troublesome.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

It's strange to me that a forum of creatives so frequently slips into a creepy hive mind state. Anyone who post here enough, and pays attention has seen it... or even sometimes has been a part of it. It just doesn't seem like something you'd expect from a collective of creatives.

Can I ask about this? I've seen it mentioned several times before, but...I've been here about a year, and I don't think I've ever actually seen it...happen?

At least not anywhere that it wouldn't be appropriate...like, if someone has a topic about how artists should be credited, I wouldn't expect to see a lot of different opinions about that. Most people believe it's a moral right; to an extent it's a legal one. Who's gonna roll up and say, "no, actually I think artists should have their work stolen from them"??

There was this one topic about thought bubbles...but I figured it was more like an 'emperor has no clothes' thing, where people might have wanted to disagree, but instead chose to just elaborate on OP's opinion rather than point out that it might not be at all universal. I guess that's kind of hive-mindey...but it was just one notable instance out of the whole year. =/

[LordVincent]

There is no such thing as this supposed hivemind lol, no conspiracy, no nothing. Just people who happen to occasionally agree, and quite frankly, also occasionally disagree. But since this doesn't fit into the conspiracy theory, it's ignored by the one(s) who keep pushing the idea that it exists.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I don't know anything about group of people against other groups of people, but I know I've had posts flagged for no reason whatsoever, plus aggressive posts edited to nice posts after I responded a little coldly/annoyed to make me look like I'm the one being impolite.

That's enough to make me refuse to post on some topics, especially as I can't cite on my phone.
I don't know about a conspiracy, but for sure there is a freedom of speech problem, even when we remain within civil conversation. I'm pretty sure I've never been agressive to anyone, here. But not being agressive is not enough it seems.

[elyss]

It's also important note that certain age groups have a tendency to agree with each other because they have the same set of core beliefs; there's nothing hive-mind about that.

[skicoak]

When I speak of the "truth" i am referring to simple basics like "building a brand will take time", "most of the time you won't make a living of your comics overnight" etc. You're creating problematics out of nothing and trying to make me look bad in the process, it's quite troublesome.

I mean me and punkarsenic were clearly talking about...

especially since for a lot of artistic opinions people could disagree on

There's also a wider gap in artistic approaches the further and further you get away from beginner/basic level questions.

...artistic opinions and perspectives that invite debate.

Did you show up and intentionally go off topic? Then made it personal by calling me "troublesome"? I'm pretty sure someone defined that as...

People went off topic and it the focus of the conversation became personal and occasionally aggressive discourse, or one specific person kept trying to drive the conversation off topic and engaged in an offensive manner in the process

[SleepingPoppy]

plus aggressive posts edited to nice posts after I responded a little coldly/annoyed to make me look like I'm the one being impolite.

Quote the person when you respond to them. It prevents this.

*just saw the phone bit, sorry. Might be best to respond if when you have access to a different device then? Hopefully people don't do that often, as it's very cheap.

[SleepingPoppy]

Did you show up and intentionally go off topic?

Punk was also talking about wanting higher level creators to share their input more often, and Vincent was replying to why they may if may not. That's not off topic. It reads like you're taking the least cheratible view point to Vincent possible, and strikes me as disingenuine as a result. And given that, whether or not you are, it sounds like you're picking a fight fir no reason, I understand why Vincent would say you're being troublesome.

Just how it reads from this perspective.

[skicoak]

Can I ask about this? I've seen it mentioned several times before, but...I've been here about a year, and I don't think I've ever actually seen it...happen?

What you're gonna wanna do is go to some of the locked threads.... then scroll to the point where it's just one (or two) people having an argument with someone that's had all or most of their comments flagged/removed. Quite often, those comments weren't offensive/against the rules... they just got flagged repeatedly enough by the hive mind to be removed and create a one side argument.

I've been there...and I've watched it happen to others.

[SleepingPoppy]

they just got flagged repeatedly enough by the hive mind to be removed and create a one side argument.

Reminder that it only takes two flags to hide a comment. Two people.

(Which isn't to say I agree with it, just think this is relevant information in assessing)

[GabiWolf]

What I would like to see is more topics on traditional publishing! I know it takes time, I’ve done all the research on how to build and become successful online and it really comes down to patients and passion. But how do you branch out from there? Publishers like “First Second” give the advice of building an online name for yourself and entering comic contest. Where are these contest? I have searched online and only came across one webcomic related award. They also won’t look at your work without an agent. Great, I have plenty of resources on how to find an agent for a book, but is that the same for comics?

As someone who works in a library my goal is to be on those shelves, books are not forgot, no matter how many people say internet is king. But I will keep researching and looking, and testing things out, and I would love to come back to the forum and say “Hey guys this worked!”

[skicoak]

Reminder that it only takes two flags to hide a comment. Two people.

How does that change the fact that entire sides of arguments are getting wiped away?

If the argument was the issue, then both sides should be censored instead of leaving just the echo chamber inside a locked thread?

[SleepingPoppy]

If the argument was the issue, then both sides should be censored instead of leaving just the echo chamber inside a locked thread?

My point is only that it takes a couple of bad actors to achieve this result. I'm not arguing with you, I just think it's relevant that it would only take two people to flag one side of an argument? I think that's pertinent to the hive mind hypothesis. I am not trying to disprove or even disagree with you. I'm making sure information is on the table for Doki to include in their considerations.

[elyss]

I agree with @SleepingPoppy. Two people does not a hive-mind make.

[SleepingPoppy]

And you know, whether we buy into the hive-mind idea or not, it is a problem if people are flagging entire sides of a conversation, if the only reason for flagging is disagreement and not inappropriate behavior. If it's chronically happening, we should talk about it. But I haven't personally picked up on this.

[skicoak]

It reads like you're taking the least cheratible view point to Vincent possible, and strikes me as disingenuine as a result.

I welcome you to go follow the chain of events before all my comments get flagged...

and see where my disagreeing with someone got labelled as ...

You're creating problematics out of nothing and trying to make me look bad in the process, it's quite troublesome.

[SleepingPoppy]

I welcome you to go follow the chain of events before all my comments get flagged...

You claimed there was a specific group of people targeting you, yes? And you said before that you discussed it with staff/mods? That's not a hive mind, it's a group of bad actors.

[elyss]

I feel like your typing comes off as a bit brusque, so people take it out the context you might intend it to have. There've been more than a few people on here who have that problem.

@DokiDokiTsuna This is a good thing to talk about in this topic about how to talk about comics. Always state your views and be prepared to site previous comments you and the person you're speaking to have made. This can quickly clear up any confusion or settle on the fact that you'll agree to disagree. I recently had a situation in a different topic where someone mistook what I was saying, and after using this method, we came to realize that we misunderstood each other and in fact had the same view on the topic.