Post by @jeypawlik@comicscamp.club

Jey Pawlik 🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@jeypawlik @comicscamp.club
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"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 1. The comic is black and white with halftones. While at an event with a lot of folks milling around, Jey talks with another person. The two were talking before the comic began and the person says "~ oh cool! You do comics?" Jey happily responds "Yeah, I even have books!" The person asks "Do you have an Instagram?" This surprises Jey, and their smile leaves their face as they reply "Uh, no. I don't. Sorry." The person looks worried and says "Wha-- Why not?!" Jey shrugs it off and says "It's a long story." The person is curious and asks "What happened?" Narration over a black background: "Sometimes a decade's worth of posts, art, followers and comments are just taken right from under you without notice."
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 1. The comic is black and white with halftones. While at an event with a lot of folks milling around, Jey talks with another person. The two were talking before the comic began and the person says "~ oh cool! You do comics?" Jey happily responds "Yeah, I even have books!" The person asks "Do you have an Instagram?" This surprises Jey, and their smile leaves their face as they reply "Uh, no. I don't. Sorry." The person looks worried and says "Wha-- Why not?!" Jey shrugs it off and says "It's a long story." The person is curious and asks "What happened?" Narration over a black background: "Sometimes a decade's worth of posts, art, followers and comments are just taken right from under you without notice."
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 2. The comic is black and white with halftones. A black panel with white text. Narration: And you lose all trust in platforms, because YOU don't own anything. Jey and Max get home with suitcases in hand and look well rested. Jey says "We're back!" and Max says "Two weeks without internet was heaven!" Jey laughs as they sit at their computer and say "Gotta see how many emails I gotta sift through! haha" The panel turns dark as Jey looks more closely at their computer screen. An email from Instagram has appeared and reads: Instagram Take action or lose access to jeypawlik Hi jeypawlik, Your account has been suspended. This is because your account, or activity on it, does not follow our Terms of Use. If you think this was a mistake, you have until December 19, 2023 to appeal.
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 2. The comic is black and white with halftones. A black panel with white text. Narration: And you lose all trust in platforms, because YOU don't own anything. Jey and Max get home with suitcases in hand and look well rested. Jey says "We're back!" and Max says "Two weeks without internet was heaven!" Jey laughs as they sit at their computer and say "Gotta see how many emails I gotta sift through! haha" The panel turns dark as Jey looks more closely at their computer screen. An email from Instagram has appeared and reads: Instagram Take action or lose access to jeypawlik Hi jeypawlik, Your account has been suspended. This is because your account, or activity on it, does not follow our Terms of Use. If you think this was a mistake, you have until December 19, 2023 to appeal.
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 3. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is holding their head, terrified they say "How? What?! This has to be a mistake!" From Instragram: Reason: Automated Bot-Like Behavior Jey's hands start falling down their cheeks as they read the reasoning. They say "My account wasn't hacked. My activity is clean." A big "Appeal" button appears above Jey and their mouse clicks on it. They nervously look at their computer screen saying "It's just a mistake, right?" The Instagram appeal form reads: Provide your Personal Info: Full Name Instagram username Registered email address Attach Identification: For individual accounts, take a clear photo of yourself holding a handwritten sign with your full name and Instagram username. At the bottom is a "Submit" button. Jey looks tired and frustrated as they take a selfie with the info Instagram asked for. A new email comes in from Instagram that reads: Hi jeypawlik, We reviewed your account and found that it still doesn't follow our Terms of Use. As a result, your account has been permanently disabled. Learn how our Terms of Use help keep the Instagram community an authentic and respectful place for people to express themselves. Jey is in utter shock as the words "PERMANENTLY DISABLED" are huge an intimidating behind them.
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 3. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is holding their head, terrified they say "How? What?! This has to be a mistake!" From Instragram: Reason: Automated Bot-Like Behavior Jey's hands start falling down their cheeks as they read the reasoning. They say "My account wasn't hacked. My activity is clean." A big "Appeal" button appears above Jey and their mouse clicks on it. They nervously look at their computer screen saying "It's just a mistake, right?" The Instagram appeal form reads: Provide your Personal Info: Full Name Instagram username Registered email address Attach Identification: For individual accounts, take a clear photo of yourself holding a handwritten sign with your full name and Instagram username. At the bottom is a "Submit" button. Jey looks tired and frustrated as they take a selfie with the info Instagram asked for. A new email comes in from Instagram that reads: Hi jeypawlik, We reviewed your account and found that it still doesn't follow our Terms of Use. As a result, your account has been permanently disabled. Learn how our Terms of Use help keep the Instagram community an authentic and respectful place for people to express themselves. Jey is in utter shock as the words "PERMANENTLY DISABLED" are huge an intimidating behind them.
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 4. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is angry and throwing their hands down as they exclaim "But I did everything they asked!" They explode, raising their hands above them in rage. They say "Bot-like behaviour?! How could a bot give a selfie with my name and handle?!" Note: this story takes place before AI was a thing. Jey, at their computer, shows the meta-suite on their screen and says "All I did was use their stupid META suite to schedule posts" a note above the screen reads "THEY MADE THIS!" Jey collapses onto the ground and their spouse rubs their back. Jey, defeated, says "I hate social media." Time passes with a large gap between panels. Jey is at another gathering, much like the one on the first page and is chatting with someone. The person asks "Oh cool! You do comics? Do you have an Instagram?" Jey grins and has a new response, saying "No, but you should check out my website instead 'cause I actually own it! And have you heard about RSS?"
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 4. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is angry and throwing their hands down as they exclaim "But I did everything they asked!" They explode, raising their hands above them in rage. They say "Bot-like behaviour?! How could a bot give a selfie with my name and handle?!" Note: this story takes place before AI was a thing. Jey, at their computer, shows the meta-suite on their screen and says "All I did was use their stupid META suite to schedule posts" a note above the screen reads "THEY MADE THIS!" Jey collapses onto the ground and their spouse rubs their back. Jey, defeated, says "I hate social media." Time passes with a large gap between panels. Jey is at another gathering, much like the one on the first page and is chatting with someone. The person asks "Oh cool! You do comics? Do you have an Instagram?" Jey grins and has a new response, saying "No, but you should check out my website instead 'cause I actually own it! And have you heard about RSS?"

1/2
I was inspired recently after someone asked me about why I didn’t have an Instagram, to make a four page comic on why. I'm not going back to Instagram.

Maybe I can just hand this out if people ask me now.
#Comic #Autobio

Replying to @jeypawlik@comicscamp.club
Jey Pawlik 🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@jeypawlik @comicscamp.club
Public en
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic bonus page. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is at their convention booth selling their comics. A person comes up holding their phone and looks concerned. They say "Excuse me, I scanned your QR code but it doesn't go to your Instagram?" Jey replies "Oh, we're out of business cards so it goes to our website." The customer asks "But why doesn't it go to your Instagram?" Jey says bluntly "I don't have one." The customer exclaims rudely "WHY?!"
"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic bonus page. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is at their convention booth selling their comics. A person comes up holding their phone and looks concerned. They say "Excuse me, I scanned your QR code but it doesn't go to your Instagram?" Jey replies "Oh, we're out of business cards so it goes to our website." The customer asks "But why doesn't it go to your Instagram?" Jey says bluntly "I don't have one." The customer exclaims rudely "WHY?!"

2/2
Want to follow my work if social media dies? Check out my RSS jpawlik.com/blog/feed and my RSS how-to's jpawlik.com/blog/tag/rss/ and/or sign up for my newsletter~ jpawlik.com/blog/mailing-lists/
#Comic #Autobio

Replying to @jeypawlik@comicscamp.club
Erinaceus
@erinaceus @chaos.social
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@jeypawlik I don't understand this. Why would it make a difference for someone who just wants to look at your comics whether they go to your website or to an Instagram account?

I mean, it would make a difference for me, because I don't like Meta, but if you don't care about politics is there any advantage of Instagram?

Replying to @erinaceus@chaos.social
Jey Pawlik 🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@jeypawlik @comicscamp.club
Public en

@erinaceus because owning your own space is important. The comic is about Instagram permanently suspending me and losing 10 years of posts in an instant. With my own website, that won't happen because I own it and run it myself.

Instagram is a huge disadvantage to me because of all this. They decide what they can do with my stuff, not me.

Of course not everyone can do this, but it's important to think about regardless.

Replying to @jeypawlik@comicscamp.club
Erinaceus
@erinaceus @chaos.social
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@jeypawlik I see why having your own space is important. What I don't see is why people would be shocked to hear that you do not have an Instagram account.

Replying to @erinaceus@chaos.social
Erinaceus
@erinaceus @chaos.social
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@jeypawlik Or why people would rather look on your Instagram account instead of your own website.

Replying to @erinaceus@chaos.social
Jey Pawlik 🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@jeypawlik @comicscamp.club
Public en

@erinaceus OH I see what you're saying now!! And honestly I don't know. People, especially when it comes to looking at art, are just really obsessed with Instagram and it really bothers me.

It could be the comfort they have in a website they know how to navigate? They're not willing or ready to try out RSS? They like being on one website and one website only (I saw something similar when I used to have a Twitter)

Baseline, it sucks and I do wish more folks were ready and willing to go to privately owned websites!

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ericjames* / E.J. Wolff 🐺‼️ (they/it)
@ericjames @booping.synth.download
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@jeypawlik@comicscamp.club

this reminds me of how @fluffy@plush.city mentioned folks are less likely to listen to your music if you're not on spotify, and they'll be surprised if you aren't

kinda sad how algorithmic, corporate social media and streaming services have turned art into a commodity. a thing purely meant to be consumed rather than experienced

Replying to @ericjames@booping.synth.download
fluffy 💜
@fluffy @plush.city
Public en

@ericjames @jeypawlik yeah, and also people are so used to streaming that if you tell them something like “Oh my music’s just on Bandcamp” they’ll say something like “I’m not subscribing to another service just to hear your music!” and then you have to explain what Bandcamp even is, and then they walk away about 10 words in because they think of music as just background noise instead of something to actively enjoy and curate.