A fellow cartoonist came up with an excellent idea. Over 9,000 of us cartoonists belong to a group on Facebook, he suggested that we start liking each others' pages, which is an excellent idea, because if we all followed each other, we would have 9,000 followers! Of course only a handful of people bothered to participate, but I found it interesting that many cartoonists don't have fan pages set up, they have personal pages, and this is great if they had the "follow" button activated on their personal pages.
Why? Because, no offense, but I don't want to be "friends." I don't know you, I may like your work or may just be learning about your work, but I would prefer to lurk and follow rather than be totally engaged as if we know each other as buddies.
This is important for so many people who don't have a fan page but who do have a personal page.
I've noticed that people over the years who have asked to "friend me" and whom I declined, are part of my "followers" -- that is, they can follow along with things I post publicly, rather than things I post for my real friends who I engage with.
I'm conscious of this fact and every once in awhile, I throw them a bone, well, I don't want that to sound rude, but I will post malignant things that aren't so important as to give my location or any personal info, you know, like, "Isn't this sunset pretty."
Hey, sounds boring, but people are following for some of these pearls of wisdom.
So to allow people to follow you, I've copied the Facebook rules here from their instructions page:
How do I allow people to follow me:
Friends follow you automatically and can see your posts in News Feed. You can also allow people who aren't your friends to follow you:
2) Click Followers in the left column
3) Choose Everybody next to Who Can Follow Me
Your Followers can see posts you share as Public in News Feed.
My Tomversation comics pages is here Facebook.com/Tomversation - I post comics, but also other comics related material and pop culture stories.
Support HuffPost
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.
Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your contribution of as little as $2 will go a long way.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
Sign up for Peacock to stream NBCU shows.