Month: March 2021

After spending the morning wrestling with The New York Times, I can point people to this article about Facebook moderation and the problem they have with satire.

The example they printed of a comic strip that Facebook mistakenly removed from its site, and then allowed back on, was one of mine, the one I did on masks last summer.

 

Somehow Facebook flagged this comic's appearance on The Nib as a dangerous statement about Covid and masks, and removed it from The Nib's page.  It wasn't long before it was reinstated, because the concern was obviously an error in failing to see the irony, but it did reveal a blind spot in Facebook's efforts to moderate its content.

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But I was totally blindsided by the article this morning.  I was happily reading it because it was about my pal Matt Bors and his site The Nib, and then suddenly there was my comic, but without the Tom the Dancing Bug header, without the By Ruben Bolling byline, and without any attribution at all.  No mention of me, as though the comic was created by some kind of Nib algorithm.

I had to spend the morning wrestling with the situation, but I finally did get in touch with the editor of the article, who was very apologetic and took full responsibility.  They added an attribution, and they said they'd look into replacing the image with the full image, as the comic originally ran, including the header and byline.  We'll see.

 

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Anyway, I've been focused on my own little drama of attribution, but the problem for The Nib explained in the article is an existential one for The Nib.  And the good news is that Matt tells me that The Times getting in touch with Facebook for the article caused Facebook to finally take The Nib off "restricted distribution" probation status.  

For now.

If you've ever thought about joining the INNER HIVE (or even if you haven't), this would be the month to do it.

Members get each weekly comic strip at least a day before it's published anywhere online, plus commentary, sneak peeks, extra exclusive comics, palindromes, giveaways, additional comics, "content", craft projects, juicy gossip, weather forecasts, "other stuff," cautionary tales, hot takes, etc.

But if you sign up for the INNER HIVE from today through the end of March*, I will donate $25 to The Food Bank for New York City, to help provide food for those in crisis during these trying times of the pandemic.

So at base INNER HIVE membership levels, more than DOUBLE the amount of your sign-up/initial membership dues will be donated to help those in need.

You can join through any of these platforms; click for more information or to join:

• PATREON(monthly billing)
• SUBSTACK(monthly billing)
• MAILCHIMP / CAMPAIGNZEE(billing every six months)

(If you don't want to join through one of these platforms, you can make a single PayPal payment for a prepaid two-year non-recurring membership, also triggering the $25 donation.)

More info on inner Hive membership can be found here.

So not only do you get early access to stupid comics, exclusive access to stupid commentary on those stupid comics, and other stupid stuff, you help those in crisis.

Tom the Dancing Bug was designed as a newspaper comic strip, and with the collapse of the newspaper market, the Inner Hive has been absolutely critical in keeping it viable.  I deeply appreciate all who join, and I do my best every week to make sure members get value and are happy with their membership.

Please join the team making Tom the Dancing Bug.  And make me donate!

THANK YOU,

Ruben Bolling

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Not applicable to Gift Memberships.

*Because Patreon and Substack membership dues are monthly, for members who sign up through those platforms, membership must be maintained for four months to be eligible for this pledge.

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JOIN THE INNER HIVE HERE.