What Social Media to actually use?

[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.

[el_fury]

I'm hearing so much about those two hashtags. I'm going to try to participate soon! I missed the last one because I forgot what day it was :]

[jacintawibowo]

Twitter is king! Unbelievably easy to connect with other creators and artists compared to other social media sites. Tumblr is also a popular choice, great for artists to share work.
I also have an FB fanpage and Instagram too. Surprisingly I got readers from both those sites. The trick with the FB page is to have lots of artist friends liking the page so that it gets passed on to other circles.

[PotooGryphon]

Also, does anyone see a use for DeviantArt anymore?

I see DA as more of another platform site than a social media site. So I treat it a bit differently than other social media sites.

I get the feeling that DA is kind of dwindling and artists are becoming less active there. Ever since they've changed their logo, I've just been hearing meh things about DA (shrug). I post randomly there, currently. The 6 months that I really focused on the site, I didn't get many people clicking through to my actual comic site so I stopped.

The best ways, I've found, to get seen on DA is through contributing art to groups and giving out llamas to everyone lol Such a strange system. I rather people visit my comic website (where I can track analytic and earn ad revenue) than read it on DA.

[jmhenry]

And I hear they have some weird algorithms that prevent your page's posts from showing up on fans' feeds.

Yep, they basically ransom your visibility until you pay x-amount of money to boost your post to like farmers that have no genuine interest in your work....

So far though, I'm really liking Tsu, people are surprisingly responsive there and my page grew fairly quickly in just a month of posting. It's like a facebook that doesn't hate creators!

I guess I can make room for twitter now, since everyone's saying a lot of good things about it, I get the feeling I'm gonna be badly disappointed in it, but who knows?

[Jrej]

I am on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and tumblr.
Facebook is mostly for my friends that follow me. Not much strangers on there.
I do get a lot of responses on Instagram, especially for events like Inktober or sketches in general.

I must say I met a lot of talented artists on twitter. It is a good way to be a part of the webcomic community. Could be a little confusing at first but it gets managable. You really got to learn how to navigate through the noise.

Finally for tumblr I wanted to post all creations there, even when it's not from my comic, but I had very few responses. I got to start using it like a blog. I think informative articles get reposted more.

I would keep twitter and Instagram if I had to choose really!

[jacintawibowo]

Same! The community's also quite negative. I actually tried actively making new friends in every possible way on Deviantart one month (forums, groups, random commenting, what have you) and got pretty much no results. I think I only got one new artist friend by commenting on a friend-of-a-friend's drawings.
Deviantart had it's heyday long ago, but it certainly couldn't keep up now.

[dracoplato]

I agree with what the others have said about DA. I used to be very active on it for a good number of years but I barely touch it anymore. I even took all of my artwork off of it at the beginning of the year because it was so dead on there, lol.

[Mharz]

For now, I'm using facebook, twitter, instagram, tumblr, and DA. I use dA to upload my artworks that are not related in my webcomic and I also advertise my commissions there.

I've found, to get seen on DA is through contributing art to groups and giving out llamas to everyone lol Such a strange system.

I could never understand the concept of Llamas there. It's basically worthless! You can't exchange it for anything. I have to admit that even if I posted my art into tons of groups there it won't garner as much favs or comments.

I have only few likes on facebook and most of them are just my IRL friends and these people can't even see the posts unless I link it to my personal account and basically uninterested in what I do.

So now I starting to be more active on twitter I'm actually enjoying using it. My instagram on the other hand, I post WIPS (I do it on twitter as well) there and I don't know why but I'm like attaracting spammers there where they'll comment on your photo of senseless spams that is not related to art.

I'm considering to be more active on tumblr. I don't really have much luck there either. I admit that I have no clue how to use tumblr properly.

[AnnaLandin]

I'm considering to be more active on tumblr. I don't really have much luck there either. I admit that I have no clue how to use tumblr properly.

Tumblr is kind of an enigma wrapped in a mystery. I've had the most success with a.) fanart (which I don't do that often - I have my own things I want to draw!) and b.) participating in community events (Goblin Week, Witch Week, etc. - some of my Goblin Week-goblins even got me am illustration job once!). Original art gets kind of... lost in the sea of funny GIFs and fanart reblogs and whatnot.

I keep trying, though. I figure the followers I do have are ones who stick around for my art.

[shazzbaa]

I'm considering to be more active on tumblr. I don't really have much luck there either. I admit that I have no clue how to use tumblr properly.

Tumblr started out as my worst in terms of feedback (and my webcomic's blog has been a LOT slower to gain followers than my main blog) but I now think I get more response from my main tumblr's followers than I do on twitter!

My experience with tumblr is that - unlike twitter - it tends to be disappointing if you're using it promotionally. We're encouraged to be professional in every other medium, but on tumblr that falls flat -- it's not really built for easy feedback or for creators; it's more built for casual blogging. If you're able to be more personable, post about other things you care about, or if you participate in a community of some kind, you're more likely to find a niche there -- everyone talks about how you need to draw fanart to survive on tumblr, AND IT DEFINITELY HELPS, but I think fanart is just the easiest way to connect with an existing community there.
Fanart from me is pretty rare and never has a lot of time spent on it -- I tend to just scribble an idea I had and then move on to draw my own stuff -- but I only scribble fanart of things I love, and I think that's actually the part that matters.

In real life, if you barge into a room of people and just start trying to sell your stuff, most people in the room won't be interested in you. Tumblr is sort of like that. Interest is slow unless you engage them in something they care about and they find that you have interests in common!

---

Fanart will always get a bigger response, though, even once you have an audience. Here is a trick my friend Steph gave me for surviving on tumblr and not getting discouraged:

• if you post fanart on tumblr, and it gets 50 notes, you got 50 notes! Cool!
• if you post your own original stuff on tumblr, and it's something your followers are familiar with (like, your webcomic characters or something you talk about a lot), and it gets 50 notes, add an imaginary 0. That's the equivalent of getting 500 notes with fanart. Good job!!
• if you post your own original stuff on tumblr and it's characters people don't know yet, and it gets only 5 notes, add TWO imaginary 0s. it's the equivalent of getting 500 notes on a piece of fanart. BE PROUD OF THOSE NOTES!

[Mharz]

@AnnaLandin
yup I noticed that as well. Fanarts is noticeable more on tumblr. I check my tumblr every once in a while and I noticed that two of my fanarts got like 200 - 300 notes but it's still depends on who the character is. My other fanarts never reached 50 notes let alone 20.

Personally, I'd really like to avoid drawing fanarts as much as possible because I prefer original stuffs altho I'd definitely draw the stuffs I'm most interested but unfortunately those interest of mine isn't popular with the people's trends.

@shazzbaa I'd definitely gonna keep those pointers in mind.

[el_fury]

Not sure if this counts as social media, but I had recent success with Reddit. r/comics and r/webcomics have no rules against posting your own comics (as long as you're not spammy!) and I got a couple of new Tumblr followers out of it. Worth the effort if you're still a noob like me.

[anemonelost]

Never heard of Tsu before. Interesting!