Twitter - a waste of time tweeting into the void or the most vital thing for a webcomic creator to use?

[Aspie_Gamer]

You get out of social media what you put into it. I used in to be in the same boat as your friend. My suggestion would as a comic creator would be to check out the hashtag #webcomicchat which is of course the official hashtag used by an account of the same name that acts as a community sort of event for us web comic creators asking all sorts of fun questions once per week. Other than that, take an interest in other peoples work and make friends with them like you would people in real life.

And of course post content that you find interesting of course in addition to your comic and/or other projects you've got going on.

Again, you get out of social media what you put into it.

[KoreanTacos]

You could make that argument about almost any form of social media really, take this forum for example. How often would you click on someones links to their comics through here, not very often, I'm just as guilty of it myself. I mean I use Twitter as a means to advertise my strips, but I've also discovered new content creators and minor events because of it. I wouldn't say I'm dedicated to it, and I don't solely rely on it either.

But I think we can all agree that Myspace is the worst right?

[Kayke]

I think it's different for everyone, but I absolutely love twitter.

I think it depends on what you expect to get out of it. I like using it to talk to other comic folks, see what they're up to, tell jokes, share experiences, answer questions, engage with fans, post works in progress and promote my comics. I wouldn't say I use it primarily to promote my work, because I tend to use it in a more social way, but I HAVE gotten work from it.

If you're just using it to post links to your art to get page views it might be a waste of time. If you're using it to communicate with friends and other creators it's not.

[Shanny8]

TWITTER WORKS.

I use it almost every day, every week to promote my webcomic. I dont think my readership would be as high as it is if I didnt promote & get the word out via social media. I also use it to talk with fellow artists, writers, and the fans. I get better responses from Twitter in regards to my comic than I do with Facebook, Google +, or Tumblr(which I barely have any followers on). I dont even do Instagram.

[VermillionWorks]

I find using Twitter to promote my projects has had....hit and miss results. The right tags can help a lot.
I think it's worth the effort though for good 'hit' days, same with Tumblr. XP

[blinkingkills]

i would use twitter if i had any idea how to use it. i never spent much time on it before so its very confusing to me. I wish i could get into it though, because it seems fun.

[Ambat]

In my case, I've been using Twitter on a very regular basis loooong before I even considered making a comic--I used to be in another online art community that had a BOOMING Twitter population, and it was primarily used not only as a way to share the work you were doing, but also to meet and talk with other people in the community and make friends and just have a good time overall. Back then, we used to use Twitter almost like a chatroom--we wouldn't use the @ mentions, we'd tweet hundreds of times a day--and it was a lot of fun! I met a lot of my closest friends that way that I'm still close to even now.

In the webcomic community, I've more or less had the same experience--a LOT less tweeting, but to be fair I'm nearly 10 years older than I was when I first started Twitter and therefore a lot more busy, haha! But for me, I don't really view it predominantly as a place to promote my art or whatever--I DO post my art and comic and all that to my Twitter, but I also use it just as a way to talk with other people about things that I like, whether it's comics, music, animation, etc.--or to be a part of largescale conversations about issues or topics I'm passionate about.

I really think Twitter is best enjoyed as a social platform as opposed to a "post my art and run" type platform you see a lot on Tumblr or dA or other such sites. I've definitely met a lot of really cool people in the webcomic community through Twitter who I now consider very close friends!

[alaingrey]

I've only gotten two subscribers off Twitter and they were coworkers or fans of my company not me : D I think if you're looking to suddenly become popular because you've done a few tweets you'll be dissatisfied. That said, Twitter is fun and its nice to talk to friends. I use it mostly to promote the video games I make, share photos of my pets with long distance friends, document my quest to become a master chef, and share some of the art I make since I don't have a blog or active tumblr.

So basically, use it because you're having fun. It's a pretty great real-life networking tool, as well and its nice to follow people you meet at conventions, parties, etc... Will your comic get famous because you make tweets that good? Probably not :9

[agentfink]

I love Twitter and made some good friends over it!
This past week I earned a reader and they liked the comic so much, decided to be a patron.
Be sincere, participate in the communities and hashtags and good things can happen.

[Devika]

I think twitter might primarily be good for networking with other artists over promotion of your art. I'd say instagram is better for the latter, since you have a gallery and your stuff doesn't just disappear into the void. Also, people can get a sense of who you are as a person, which might or might not be something you want (let the art speak for itself vs. personal connections).

[DMBrigman]

As others have said you really get out of Twitter what you put into it. At the beginning of 2016 I wasn't very excited about Twitter I had a few followers and none of my stuff went anywhere, feeling much like you do. But now, I couldn't live without it! I have made great contacts, friends, and gained subscribers for my webcomic.

What helped me: Stop thinking about Twitter as what people can do for me and more about what do I have to offer others. Follow people who post interesting and relevant content, like and retweet people's stuff. Reply to tweets to strike up a conversation. Share works in progress, promote your stuff, but also tweet some personal stuff. Pay attention to what you enjoy seeing on your timeline and what frustrates you and emulate that. Participate in hashtag events like #comicbookhour and #webcomic chat. I have found great success just being nice to people, by answering questions, replying to their observations, talking people's stuff up.

[Wishjacked]

I love Twitter!! Without it I would certainly be having a much less rewarding time making my comic— Twitter is a less of a promotion tool (although I've gotten a lot of readers from there!) and more a social tool. I talk to a lot of other creators and some of my readers there, give out a lot of bonus content, and really just get to mix and mingle with a lot of friendly folks, which is something that's pretty tough to do on other websites. It's less about growing my readership and more about growing relationships.

So yes, Twitter is invaluable to me.

[Kura]

I've never gotten anything out of twitter in the 'promotion' aspects and that's most likely because I frankly do not have the free time to do a lot of advertizing.

But I genuinely like it for seeing other artists work, streams, talking, that kinda thing. That's what most people add artists on there for, not be just be spammed by their 'read my comic' updates (which are generally not minded as long as you don't post them a million times a day or have that be the ONLY thing you ever post). It's just a nice social platform that works better for you when you treat it as a social platform foremost and promotional tool secondary.

[shazzbaa]

If you go to a meet-up with the sole intention of putting your brochure into other people's hands, you'll probably leave feeling like you wasted a lot of paper on people who weren't interested.
If you go to a meet-up to connect with the people there, talk with others who share your interests, learn from the pros, meet people you're excited about and find out what they're passionate about, then you're honestly a lot more likely to leave the meet-up feeling like you made some real connections.

I think any social media is a lot like that. I've made the comparison before that Twitter is a convention and Tumblr is a party, but ultimately both are groups of people finding a way to connect with each other. You're gonna do best with the community that you can comfortably engage with.

[Mharz]

I actually never thought that I'd like twitter. I created my account back in 2011 but I left it for four years because I wasn't really fond of it and because I thought people just use it to stalk celebrities LOL. Then I found out about #webcomicchat and #comicbookhour in the forums so I decided re-activate my account and I've been using twitter ever since. I've met some nice friends that I talk to from time to time.

The thing I would suggest is that you show genuine enthusiasm. Trust me, people can sense it from a mile away if you're only doing it for self--promotion. Only follow the guys that you think that can help you and those who wants to make friends with you. Don't do it for the sake of adding numbers on your account. Follow for follow is never good. Also, it's your account so just be yourself and feel free to tweet whatever you want. It's your timeline. Express and give value (still working on that give value thing actually).

[GesuGesu]

Fuckin' LOVE Twitter as a social media platform. I used twitter before I got into webcomics, for stalking celebs n shit.

I don't really promote my comic on my twitter though. I don't see why I need to promote something somewhat embarrassing for me to people I know. Most of my followers are from the Youtuber or cosplay community too... Not really art related.

[tko]

Well, I'm kinda new here - both in twitter and webcomic (until now I was rather into paper comics) - but it e occurred to me that twitter is fun. Yes, I use it to promote the series that I write, but it’s also a great way to share thoughts on stuff like movies and games. I don't have the time to write proper reviews but I can manage quick, witty messages (am I bragging? nooo, definitely not ). There's a downside - if you're not very well known - like me - most of this content is going down the drain. But you can say this about mostly everything - there's just so much stuff out there! - so that's not a reason to resign.

[Shanny8]

@Kimoisempai there are cosplay artists on Twitter, you know..? Just thought I'd throw that out there.

[hushicho]

Twitter's okay, but it's not great. I don't really care for it much, but then it's not done that much for me, and I have put plenty of time into it. It's adequate for keeping people posted if they want to tune in and serves okay for keeping a feed active on a site, but it's nothing really special. I don't have the time or inclination to share every little thing happening in a character limit, and I think the limit really makes for an awkward platform. It's okay for what it is, and if you like it that's great! I think it's very luck-based honestly, and I don't really have time to keep throwing virtual spaghetti at the virtual wall.

[GesuGesu]

I know... but... I feel like comics show what goes on in my mind, and i'd rather not have my cosplay friends see. I'm a bit of a private person and don't share too much with my irl friends