I think about this cartoon often. It's appropriate now: we shouldn't be swapping one walled garden for another. The Adverse basically took all the conversations that were happening on people's blogs, and consolidated them. With the Fediverse, there's the possibility of taking that back, given more widespread use of ActivityPub.
I still don’t understand how people were voluntarily giving up control over their audience in favor of social networks. They basically lost their own little communities and gave them to multimillionaire owned money grabbing machines.
So happy to see you here! Also it's the opportunity to tell you I'm a big fan of your work since years (I know I'm not the only one but still happy to tell it out loud! 😂)
see also API’s, which used to be this super cool way of tying stuff together all over the internet and now is basically just another monetized monstrosity that’s heavily controlled (for good reason in some cases).
Hi there, glad to see you on Mastodon! Love your comics.
I don’t know if you’ll see this message or not, but Mastodon is different than other services you may have used before.
If you want to, on Mastodon, you can own the building. And the door locks. Just start your own instance. It takes some tech know-how, but it’s possible here, where it wasn’t possible on the other networks. Good luck!
I remember the first time you posted this comic, feels like ages ago. It's interesting how little changed in that time and even more people got consolidated to big platforms 😅
Frame 1 Title: How it used to be: Character Matt stands in front of modest building labeled "Matt's Website" with flags "Email", "Netvibes" (sp?), and "RSS" flags flying from roof. Matt says, "Come on over! I've got some neat stuff here." as a small group listens.
Frame 2 Title: What Happened: Matt's modest building is now dwarfed by a giant skyscraper with Facebook logo on it. Sign above entrance says, "Welcome, new active users!" The small group of characters rushes over to Facebook while Matt says, "Actually, follow me over there. It'll be easier for us to reach each other."
Frame 3 Title: Where we're at now: Matt stands outside Facebook building, alone. His modest building stands in background Sign above Facebook entrance says, "Door locks ENGAGED." as Matt yells at... show more
Frame 1 Title: How it used to be: Character Matt stands in front of modest building labeled "Matt's Website" with flags "Email", "Netvibes" (sp?), and "RSS" flags flying from roof. Matt says, "Come on over! I've got some neat stuff here." as a small group listens.
Frame 2 Title: What Happened: Matt's modest building is now dwarfed by a giant skyscraper with Facebook logo on it. Sign above entrance says, "Welcome, new active users!" The small group of characters rushes over to Facebook while Matt says, "Actually, follow me over there. It'll be easier for us to reach each other."
Frame 3 Title: Where we're at now: Matt stands outside Facebook building, alone. His modest building stands in background Sign above Facebook entrance says, "Door locks ENGAGED." as Matt yells at building, "Hey, I made some new stuff. Can you show it to my followers?"
Frame 4 Sign above Facebook entrance says, "PROMOTION! Boost this post for $10,000 and reach a fraction of your followers!" Matt looks at building and says, "Fuck."
I prefer the version including the Facebook notice asking you to pay so people who clicked to be notified, will be notified: exposing the blatant lies of the platform and Zucky selling you the community you built.
ho yes, this is a legend here already ... (some ppl copied it !! ) specially the screengrab version with the proposal from meta to distribute it more advantageously ;D
This is my favorite educational strip when I try to explain the situation about corporate media to non-tech people :) I am fan of it
Welcome to the Fediverse, you found the exit, as well as the entrance to come back to a better home, interconnected again, while preserving you home website :)
😂 So true, Would love to see a comic with FB and TW as dumpster fires overseen by Zuck and Musk and the Boston Dynamic robot makes fun of them for being too robotic.
lol. yeah. remember that " LIke " economy? it was sort of a one way, give us your content and we'll charge you to have your audience back (vs the google model of we'll be on your content, and we'll give you a share of the rewards).
I love your work, however I can't boost it as the mods on my instance are very firm about about using alt text on images. Have you thought about the #Accessibility of your work?
OMG please follow me! There’s no way you would have followed me on Twitter (I’m not *that* cool) but I feel like maybe I’ve got a second chance at being accepted by the cool kids now. 🥹
Image description: Guy made a website and moved his followers to facebook. Then facebook shut their doors on him and he can't call his followers anymore.
Followed you on Facebook, then Facebook got dumb, then I didn't see any of your posts anymore, then I stopped using Facebook, then I discovered you here.
(Btw, please consider adding Alt-text to your images. We have a lot of blind and partially sighted people here who would love to read your comics too!)
I strongly oppose the management choices EM has been making at the bird site, in style and substance, but this art illustrates the idea behind his catchy "freedom of speech but not reach".
This is exactly why I left Facebook couple of years ago. I had a couple hundred followers on my artist page, but my unpaid posts would have a reach of 20-30 people. Fuck that.
have you considered adding alt text for those who can't or won't see your images? I don't see descriptions for the first two, hilarious and on point, comics you posted. Welcome to Mastodon and keep up the great work!
Good thing about the Masto is that by design it can’t (and won’t) become a walled garden. Our concept of being social at social media has long been grossly distorted and manipulated by big corporations algorithm’ing and monetizing our interactions to make a quick buck… and there’s so much we must unlearn in order to re-learn, if you catch my drift 😉
I’m not sure when you first wrote this comic, but it feels like years ago that I saw it and I’ve been trying to track it down ever since - it so perfectly captures the marketing approach of social media sites, and it’s horrid. (The social media, not you of course!)
hey Oatmeal, I love your stuff, but I won’t boost posts without alt text. Accessibility is important. Please consider adding alt text to the media you post. Thanks.
@AeonMach That’s the main reason I left Facebook a few years back. My website had 50,000 followers, but I was lucky if a post reached a few hundred of them. Facebook made it so there was no point being there.
I think the best way to handle blogs and followers is to have your blog support RSS and ActivityPub so people on the Fediverse can easily follow it. And non-fedi followers can comment by making an account on your blog that's secretly also a fediverse account.
The only downside is that now you're not just hosting a blog but also a fediverse server.
It would surprise me if the system for this didn't already exist.
I just registered a domain, and started hand-coding it, so that I can have control over how my stuff is presented and used, without any advertising - the way I want it.
Now when I saw your cartoon, I realized that is exactly how I was doing back in 1998.
airavata
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Dozer / Christian
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •William Ingle-Gillis
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •SVSalon
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Sebastian Tobie
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •ari :prideified:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •funambuline 🦏🌻
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Daniel J
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •RJD
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •lucas
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Ros Jackson
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Pavol Salgari 엔키두
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Olivier Lambert
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Rathlord
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Kirk Biglione
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •nobloat
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •SWN
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Nathan Carpenter
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Ash
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Jeff Martin
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •I don’t know if you’ll see this message or not, but Mastodon is different than other services you may have used before.
If you want to, on Mastodon, you can own the building. And the door locks. Just start your own instance. It takes some tech know-how, but it’s possible here, where it wasn’t possible on the other networks. Good luck!
Kevin Teljeur ❄️
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Tiffany
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Dave Dugal 🔒:mastodon: :donor:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •(ง'̀-'́)ง TimmGleason🍖🍖
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Ertain
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Benjamin Spider 🏳️🌈
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Roni Laukkarinen
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •The Oatmeal
Unknown parent • • •Kelson's Sorta Old Account
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •John M Flores
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Headline: Reaching people on the internet
Frame 1
Title: How it used to be:
Character Matt stands in front of modest building labeled "Matt's Website" with flags "Email", "Netvibes" (sp?), and "RSS" flags flying from roof. Matt says, "Come on over! I've got some neat stuff here." as a small group listens.
Frame 2
Title: What Happened:
Matt's modest building is now dwarfed by a giant skyscraper with Facebook logo on it. Sign above entrance says, "Welcome, new active users!" The small group of characters rushes over to Facebook while Matt says, "Actually, follow me over there. It'll be easier for us to reach each other."
Frame 3
Title: Where we're at now:
Matt stands outside Facebook building, alone. His modest building stands in background Sign above Facebook entrance says, "Door locks ENGAGED." as Matt yells at... show more
Headline: Reaching people on the internet
Frame 1
Title: How it used to be:
Character Matt stands in front of modest building labeled "Matt's Website" with flags "Email", "Netvibes" (sp?), and "RSS" flags flying from roof. Matt says, "Come on over! I've got some neat stuff here." as a small group listens.
Frame 2
Title: What Happened:
Matt's modest building is now dwarfed by a giant skyscraper with Facebook logo on it. Sign above entrance says, "Welcome, new active users!" The small group of characters rushes over to Facebook while Matt says, "Actually, follow me over there. It'll be easier for us to reach each other."
Frame 3
Title: Where we're at now:
Matt stands outside Facebook building, alone. His modest building stands in background Sign above Facebook entrance says, "Door locks ENGAGED." as Matt yells at building, "Hey, I made some new stuff. Can you show it to my followers?"
Frame 4
Sign above Facebook entrance says, "PROMOTION! Boost this post for $10,000 and reach a fraction of your followers!" Matt looks at building and says, "Fuck."
#ALT4you
Etaski
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Bvan
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •#!/usr/bin/jason_howard
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Lon
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Shtgaus
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Skunnyk
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Nick Fox-Gieg
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Lutin Discret
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •P.S: please add alt texts
Karl Voit :emacs: :orgmode:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •#webforum
Don't Contribute Anything Relevant in Web Forums Like Reddit
public voit - Web-page of Karl Voitmaksu
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Hyrulian_rider
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Olm-e
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •🏰Christophe S.❄IceEnchanter🦢
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •This is my favorite educational strip when I try to explain the situation about corporate media to non-tech people :) I am fan of it
Welcome to the Fediverse, you found the exit, as well as the entrance to come back to a better home, interconnected again, while preserving you home website :)
whonose123
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Cap
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Tay
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Oldmanmonza
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Guy James
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •ElvishSkittles 🏳️🌈
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Rai Aren 🖖✨📚🇺🇦
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •ckempo
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Solarspies
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •John Mullinax
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Bears Shouting
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Morten Juhl-Johansen
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •James Freaking Carr
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Also… never too late to resurrect FOAF 😏
G Dan Mitchell
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •neville park
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Lemonzerozero
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Jo Poy
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Kristin (vis.social Admin)
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •TerryJLynch :v_gay:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Timothy Forner
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •lisameve
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Steven Goh
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •johndango
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •AJ
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Opal
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Prodigal Hoosier :verified:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Muzehack
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Chris Pirillo
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Nick Giordano
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •https://www.vulture.com/2018/02/how-facebook-is-killing-comedy.html
Cyber Yuki
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Gray Area
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Jen
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Lawrence
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Kyle Rose
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Manuel *hunting Eudaimonia*
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Followed you on Facebook, then Facebook got dumb, then I didn't see any of your posts anymore, then I stopped using Facebook, then I discovered you here.
What a story!
George William Herbert
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •That’s cheating, I subscribe to email notifications and I have it bookmarked in browser(s), but your promotion could use more self…
An'wen Eira
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •BLUR / away
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •(Btw, please consider adding Alt-text to your images. We have a lot of blind and partially sighted people here who would love to read your comics too!)
Fiaxhs
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Maharana
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Steve B
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •I spend so much time trying to explain this to clients. I’m just gonna show them this cartoon now.
Spectrum
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Skizzievogel
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •rajatdesikan
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Sim
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •chris@strafpla.net
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •(yes, I should have remembered it was one of yours, but…)
edburns
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Thestaroftheworlds
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Graham Skeats #FBPPR🏴🇺🇦
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Chief Boner
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •#hope
Leonardo
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •sa_zh
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Content warning: Justified Swearword.
sjvn
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •ben🌱ui
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Liam @ GamingOnLinux 🐧🎮
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Tom Resing
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Allan
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Alzamon (Alberto GM)
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Kofu
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Baratunde
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •woske 🍉
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Deepnight Games 🥋
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •The Chaotic Good 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🖖
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Debbie Goldsmith 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 reshared this.
Zombie Pirate Gator 🐊
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Cat_Called_Dionisus
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Azrhyga
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Michael / マイケル
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •KLB
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Mark Atwood
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Marius
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •For free.
Nicolas Grilly
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Jeroen Franssen 🇧🇪
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •René Seindal
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Robert Frank
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •MeidesBois
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •M4CHN0
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •dr 🛠️🛰️📡🎧:blobfoxcomputer:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •In the photo albums I found a PDF that had a phone number (hidden by a "log in to FB" button, unfortunately) and an email address
They did take my order by email, but it took 3 days to place the order
When I got there, they couldn't find my order for some filing reason related to the above
Please, FTLOG, just make a regular website with a regular phone #. It's like $10/mo.
Al
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Simon Brooke
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •jtgd
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Alex White
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Josh Adell
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •"If you like my stuff, you can go left or right to my friends' stores also which also have cool stuff."
Das
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •*see @doctorow - https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/
Pluralistic: Tiktok’s enshittification (21 Jan 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.netcybik :deifirev:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Everybody loves Gordo
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •You remember the joy?
I remember the joy.
Studio 8502 :verified: reshared this.
Studio 8502 :verified:
in reply to Everybody loves Gordo • • •Alex O’Neal
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •CCO_Mario
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •smolwaffle
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Steven Sandoval
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Annette C. Boehm
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Laura Kwak
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Jorge Sanchez
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •BadCat 😼
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Jeremy Gibson
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Ewen at Large
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Matt Venn
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •manny ✨
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •mostly comics, just like a real newspaper should be
Invento
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •stoicmike
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Miro Collas
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Tauseef Rahman
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •DougN :coffeev: 😷 :CApride:
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Bodhipaksa
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •jose
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Martijn Vos
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •I think the best way to handle blogs and followers is to have your blog support RSS and ActivityPub so people on the Fediverse can easily follow it. And non-fedi followers can comment by making an account on your blog that's secretly also a fediverse account.
The only downside is that now you're not just hosting a blog but also a fediverse server.
It would surprise me if the system for this didn't already exist.
Stephen Gower
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •Cory Doctorow reshared this.
Supertapani
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •I just registered a domain, and started hand-coding it, so that I can have control over how my stuff is presented and used, without any advertising - the way I want it.
Now when I saw your cartoon, I realized that is exactly how I was doing back in 1998.
Time to bring back geocities 🤔
poetaster
in reply to The Oatmeal • • •