What Social Media to actually use?

[serenitysquirrel]

I already know I don't' want to do a facebook.

Tumblr for sketches and lore seems pretty nice and easy, and an extra place to mention updates.

Do I need a twitter? I don't even have one for myself.

Just thinking over things to add and do over the coming winter hibernation.

[joannekwan]

Tumblr for me. I don't think I have time for much else.

I have a twitter but I never use it. I created it originally to follow one of my friends, but she never did more than 5 tweets, so my account's just collecting dust.

[Aetherwing]

Twitter is a great tool for webcomic artists. I can already say that I've met a lot of really cool people through Twitter and even got a few new readers. I have a Facebook but I don't really see much activity through it. It's mainly for the people I know personally who read my comic I guess? Tumblr is good to have, but I haven't had a super amount of luck with it.

But yeah, Twitter, I definitely recommend Twitter.

[AnnaLandin]

I'm using Tumblr and Twitter, and that's about all the social media I have the headspace to get into. I don't use FB, and I never have; social media is such a timesink already that I'd prefer to limit myself to ones I actually want to have.

Twitter is great for webcomic-creators! There are a bunch of other creators already there, and following them will let you into the webcomic-ecosystem, so to speak, as will participation in the various comic-related hashtags, like #webcomicchat and #ComicTalk, which both happen weekly.

[zelkats]

Facebook might not be a great place for webcomic creators to connect with one another but, as for connecting with readers, well, it might be useful. I mean, when signing up for Tapastic, using their Facebook sign-in has always been the first option given to users so imagine how many people in Tapastic use Facebook. And whenever they like, comment or share content on Facebook, their circle of friends will see their activity (that depends on their privacy settings of course).

Twitter does seem like a pretty good option. I should use it more often even if I'm not fond of the character limit and a few other things. Then again I already have a lot on my plate right now XD;

I don't know much about tumblr. I hear it's a great place for fanbases but I'm not sure how indie artists fare there.

[AnnaLandin]

I don't know much about tumblr. I hear it's a great place for fanbases but I'm not sure how indie artists fare there.

You certainly do a lot better on Tumblr if you draw a lot of fanart - I don't, so the growth of my audience there is pretty slow. However, I count the ones that stick around as genuinely interested in my creations, so yeah. Both positives and negatives there.

[colinwmd]

Another vote for Twitter from me. It's incredibly useful for just staying up to date with what's happening in webcomics, as pretty much everyone is on there. It's certainly my main social network. I have a personal account, and an account that only posts comic updates (for people that don't necessarily want to hear all the nonsense I tweet)

I'm on most social networks actually, just for the sake of having a presence where people can follow me if they want. For example, a Facebook and Google+ page, a Tumblr page. Oh, and I have a Tsu account that seems to be more profitable than Tapastic at the moment (although on both scores, I'm a long long way off earning enough to withdraw the earnings).

But the only one I'm especially active on, besides a couple of webcomic forums, is twitter.

Oh, also does Reddit count as social media? I guess so. That's very useful if you draw gag comics. Not necessarily great at getting repeat visitors but it does get your work seen by many if it's popular and gets some early upvotes...

@AnnaLandin That explains a lot! A lot of people seem to be excited about tumblr but I've never had much luck there, even using hashtags

[Raven_C]

I use Tumblr mostly. I've gotten a lot of followers on my original art blog ever since I set up a separate fanart blog, because people find me first through fanart and then eventually some of them become interested in my original stuff. So I guess that helps. Although...I guess if you don't like drawing fanart, it's natural there will be a bit of a slow growth in follower count.

I have twitter but I mostly use it for ramblings. But I love going on there cuz I get updated with what's new on my favorite artists and sometimes interact with them.

And I have facebook too, but all I ever do is log in, upload some drawings that I've accumulated over the past few days/weeks and then log out. So no interaction there. Hahaa. Lately people have been following my stuff there, though. Not a huge number, but I was surprised by how many people found me on facebook, considering I don't even promote it or anything.

[PotooGryphon]

I have profiles on pretty much on all social media outlets, my main ones that I'm an actual person on are Twitter, Patreon, a little Tumblr, and a little FB, and all the other social media site mirror posts from these main places through "If This Then That" codes. (Super useful to automate like that)

I get the most out of Twitter. There's a really sweet awesome supportive webcomic community there and weekly comic chats that help us all get together and mingle.

Reddit has also been good for promoting weekly updates, but it's important to read each subreddit's guidelines before posting.

I've been getting more activity from followers on Facebook since trying out some of @michaelson's tips in his thread post here:

Building a Social Media Presence with No Budget

And since taking some friend's advice (through twitter lol) and treating my Tumblr page more like a blog and less link spamming, I've gotten better results there too. I post things like WIPs, tutorials, blogs about my art process, and the occasional Undertale fanasrt reblog lol

Each social media site has its own unique way of operating, so each one tends to require special attention. @_@ lol

[colinwmd]

@CyndiFoster I've just been looking at my IFTTT account I set up years ago and never used. Looks like it could be the answer to get rid of a lot of my faffing, so thanks for the reminder! Do you have any public recipes at all? No worries if you haven't, but I thought if I had some to start from it might make it more straightforward. I seem to be having trouble creating a DO recipe at the moment, it seems intent of creating an IF!

[PotooGryphon]

Most of my recipes I just found browsing the site. I haven't made too many of my own. It's not perfect though because a long facebook post doesn't translate well to a twitter tweet (for example) but for sites like instagram I don't pay much mind to it.

[Kayke]

I use Tumblr for a few different things. I have an art blog for general art updates and stuff, but then I also have one specifically for my comic... though I tend to use the art one more since it's got a larger following.

I, for one, LOVE Twitter. It's a great way to connect with readers and other creators. It feels a lot more personal than Tumblr so your followers tend to feel like they know you more which can be beneficial. Like I have 2000 more followers on Tumblr than on Twitter, but when people come up to me at cons they always say they know me from Twitter which is interesting. Also most of my Patreon supporters are people who actively follow me on Twitter.

I'm also a fan of Instagram for works in progress stuff. I will say a think that sucks about insta though is that you can't post links in the descriptions of images, so you have to get people really curious about your work before they'll take the effort to migrate over and follow you on other sites.

[BraveHeartTatsumaki]

I only use Facebook for personal stuff, friends, family, etc.
I have twitter but I haven't used it that much as a media for my webcomic, seeing your comments then I should start using it more, because from the time now, I've just been seeing stuff of the people I follow xD.
I've seen lately that Tsu is growing pretty good as a social media, I might give it a try too one of these days.

[Kamikaze]

We started out on facebook so it's kinda grandfathered in that way. We're part of a lot of comic nerd groups and end up sharing our work with fans through those groups. Each person on the team has a personal twitter that we use to tweet about our lives and our comic. Even comic creation. We have an instagram which is great for posting to facebook twitter and tumblr. Fun stuff.

Our most successful has been facebook and twitter. Tumblr is great, but we're not really well known yet. Instagram is just a method for us getting stuff up n tumblr. xD

[chiharu_j]

Well I guess you don't really need twitter but I really like using twitter so I'm with most of the others, you really easily connect to the most awesome people there. I tried tumblr but that never out too well or maybe I just wasn't doing it right I don't know. Facebook reauires a lot of attention but you could make a page if you're willing to maintain it but twitter has worked out great so far.

[aspiderjonny]

I have a facebook, tumblr, and twitter for my comics/myself. Twitter is the social media site I use the most mostly because of the ComicTalk and WebComicChat on Sundays. Facebook probably the least because only my friends/family really check it out. Tumblr's in the middle for me.

[dracoplato]

I'm going to give another vote to Twitter, the webcomic community on there is really active and really friendly

[el_fury]

I am also avoiding Facebook. I feel like I may be missing out on the opportunity to reach a lot of people, but I already hate how much time I spend on there on my personal account. And I hear they have some weird algorithms that prevent your page's posts from showing up on fans' feeds.

I have been upping my Twitter activity lately, but I still feel like it's generating 0 buzz for me. I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it. :\

[el_fury]

Also, does anyone see a use for DeviantArt anymore?

[AnnaLandin]

@el_fury A lot of generating interest on Twitter is using the right hashtags. Are you participating in #ComicTalk and #webcomicchat? Also, following other webcomic creators helps a lot!

Also, does anyone see a use for DeviantArt anymore?

Only so that I can use their portfolio function and look at some pretty pictures other people draw. I only post there maybe once every three or four months, because I keep forgetting about it.