Much Ado about Birdsite (Social Media Notes) (Patreon)

Hello! This is a public Patreon post regarding my current social media platforms/strategy. It’s primarily aimed at people who may follow me on twitter and have concerns about the platform.

If you are reading this because you follow me on Patreon, you are already in the best place to keep up with my work. Thank you so much, and if you don’t care at all about social media, go in peace and enjoy your day 🙂

tl;dr: If you want to keep up with my work, you can follow me on Patreon for free monthly updates, or my email newsletter for free quarterly updates.

If you are curious about how I’m approaching social media at the moment, read on!

# Background

I enjoy making comics and putting them on the internet, and I want to bring delight, connection and useful information to as many people as I can. These are the primary goals that inform my choices below.

Many of you have been following my work since the days of Wasted Talent and I’m extremely grateful for and proud of the community of readers I have. You’re all awesome!

I know your time is important, which is why I don’t want to waste it by asking you to sign up and follow me fifty different places, that would be silly and rude. I am the one responsible for navigating this inevitable platform churn. When this is all sorted out I promise I will let you know here on Patreon and through tinyletter what has settled out and you can decide for yourselves what to do with that updated information.

#Ok so Maybe Twitter Is Going to Get Much Worse in a Hurry…

…and maybe it’s not! I’ve been through this so many times and I simply refuse to go through the whole “the sky is falling” bit again. Twitter might pull through, it might not. Either way will be ok (eventually, cosmically).

It is, however, normal and rational for enjoyers/participants of the Twitter platform to be assessing the current situation and exploring alternatives. Many, like me, are concerned about losing track of their favourite people.

I am leery of social media in general these days and that makes me reluctant to invest in ANY new platform. “Building a following” (gross terminology) on these platforms - to me - is a distraction. It dilutes my attention and makes me less happy and healthy.

I think many of these apps have become quite deliberately predatory. They exploit creatives who are trying to make a living, and they are designed to be literally addictive to people using the apps (myself included).

Furthermore, I don’t support or trust most people running these companies. I am committed to not repeating the mistakes I’ve made in the past and finding a healthier path forward for myself.

That being said.

• I still want to:
  • Draw comics (making new comics is always my priority).
  • Share my comics and be discovered by new people who would like them
  • Connect with other artists and make friends
  • Have a fun and healthy time when I’m online

I am signing up for a lot of places to experiment and see which of them might meet these goals, but if the balance isn’t there for me, I’m gone.

I am listing all these places below in case you are also investigating them and want to observe my flailings, or to help prevent your FOMO. :)

# I do, in fact, have my own websites.

My own website and newsletter seem the most durable and defensible things, so I want to keep building “micro-sites” (eg: sz fast, guides, wt) to host my projects. You will always be able to find me and my latest work at http://www.jammyness.com .

# Other Sites and my Relationships To Them

For interactivity, these are the platforms I am experimenting with and what you can expect if you follow me there:

• Patreon.com/jam is the #1 place to follow me right now, I am investing the most of my time here. I will be experimenting with “public” posts a bit more so that following as a non-subscriber will still keep you broadly informed on my work. I really value the privacy this platform allows for and I work really hard to post regular and interesting stuff here :)

• tinyletter.com/jammyness is a quarterly update, big news only. If you just want to make sure you don’t completely lose track of me in the future, that is the most lightweight way to stay connected. No sign up required, no spam!

• Twitter @jamdr0id - I’m not going to comply in advance, and I’ll be here as long as I can tolerate. I have been there since 2008 (ugh geez wow) and I have a LOT of real friends there. I am monitoring to see what conclusions others come to. 

• Mastodon @jam@mastodon.social - I honestly still enjoy “micro-blogging” and a bunch of interesting techy people are there so I’m experimenting with it for now. I think there will be more written toots (shitposts and photos of cats) than art there. I don’t want to fall into the same trap(s) that I did with Twitter so I’m trying to be a bit judicious about it.

• TikTok - Not for me, sorry

• Facebook/Meta - No

• Instagram @jammyness - Instagram *is* Meta and hence I don't trust it very much. I’m there very casually for now and am intentionally not investing a lot in the platform because I don’t like how they treat creatives.

• Tumblr jammyness.tumblr.com I will be honest I still really like tumblr’s format and its post-type flexibility. I dislike how they have… navigated certain policies in the past (see: tumblr exodus 2018) I mostly use this as an archive for illustration art and podcast eps. If most people start hanging out here I might too.

• Ko-Fi ko-fi.com/jammyness and Gumroad jammyness.gumroad.com - I use these platforms to sell pdfs for now. If you "follow" me there you will receive a monthly update that will be the same as what will be here publicly on Patreon.

• Twitch - “Not yet” I do have an account there at twitch.com/jammyness and would like to stream art more but I am rebuilding my streaming setup right now. My priority is making new comics.

• Cohost (“it’s like tumblr? Sort of?”) I have a blank account at cohost.org/jammyness, I am lurking for now while I figure out what’s going on.

• Pillowfort (“it’s like livejournal? Sort of?”) - I have a blank account, I am lurking for now.  jammyness (pillowfort.social)

• Livejournal, deviantart, Artfol, Webtoon… no, not for now I’m so tired lol. I have the "jammyness" name at all these places though.

Anything else? What am I forgetting? Hm. Soundcloud?  haha If you think it's exhausting reading this list imagine how futile it is trying to "maintain" all of them.

# But seriously, follow me on Patreon

Well bless you if you’ve read this far, let me tell you a bit about my Patreon. Right now I am working on writing solarpunk comics. That means mostly science fiction, some instructional/helpful stuff. I still write autobio sometimes when the mood strikes and technical comics too.

I do “special events” throughout the year that all Patrons usually participate in - such as voting on what I should write about for a bonus hourly comics day, fanart requests, AMA comics, as well as discounts/advance notice of anything I’m selling. If you follow my Patreon I guarantee you will hear about new stuff first.

$2/mo - Quality Tester: you get access to the detailed monthly newsletter (everything in one post so you won’t miss anything!), special events, and two exclusive posts per month that are usually finished comics or illustrations, WIP comics, or practice pieces.

$7/mo - Lab Tech: Two extra exclusive posts per month that are more “behind the scenes” oriented. Scripts, thumbnails, pencils for upcoming comics, and more information about “how” I do what I do.

$25/mo - Collaborator: This is basically the “shipping discount” tier! Instead of buying and paying for shipping for every weird little sticker and zine I randomly make, I just mail ‘em all to you quarterly. Including new books! They just show up at your door :)  You don’t even need to worry about catching when things go on sale. Plus, you get one more extra post every month that’s like a private vlog about my life and a private Q&A sesh

Attached is a “2021 Rewind” pdf summary of what I shared on Patreon in 2021 so you can get an idea of what’s in here. (I will be making a 2022 round up pdf for all Patrons next January!)

And one last time, if all of that is still too overwhelming (I get it, trust me) just click follow :) it’s free! Sign Up | Patreon

thxbai