I dropped quite a bombshell with this title, didn’t I? I’ve been posting content on this site for over six years and I now I want to leave? I should explain myself. The short answer, running it isn’t fun anymore. The long answer? Grab a snack, this will take a while.
Not too long ago, the average post got 15 to 20 comments. It’s very little compared to big creators, but it was enough for me. I enjoyed bantering and discussing things with my fans. I had my own little community. It wasn’t a perfect relationship, however. My fans would often send me AI generated fanart. I used to be more of a fence-sitter when it comes to AI art (I even made some myself), but over the years, my opinion became more negative. I still shared AI fanart because I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. It wasn’t the right thing to do, I was being an enabler.
I gradually stopped. I would still share whatever fanart I got, but I started speaking out against the use of generative AI. You know the saying, “Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing.” The final step of my change was banning AI art on my website. I told my fans that I would only share human-made art from now on. I expected some backlash, but what I got genuinely surprised me. 68 comments and they were all negative. Where did all these people even come from? I didn’t even get a third of that on my average post. Credit where credit is due, nobody harassed or insulted me, but still, it kind of hurt.
I thought I only had to deal with it for a day or two, but my decision had long term consequences. Some people said they would leave my website. I thought they were just trying to scare me, but they meant it. My comment sections became barren. Judging by the analytics, some people did stick around, but I only get one comment every few weeks. I’ve said so many controversial things over the years, but banning AI art is what killed my audience? It’s almost comical.
I don’t feel like laughing, however. I don’t want to cave to peer pressure, but losing the comments still sucks. Did those people genuinely like my content or did they just want someone who was spineless enough to share their AI art? Without comments, running this website doesn’t feel like a hobby anymore. It’s just a chore. What can I get out of this website that I can’t get out of social media?
I hoped that I could rebuild my audience if I just kept promoting Dim & Bright on other websites, but it didn’t happen. Even if a comic or a YouTube video was successful, it didn’t bring any regular commenters here. My last resort was to pay 100 euros to advertise my comic on Facebook. I have an income, I can afford it. According to the analytics, I got over a thousand visitors per day while the ad was active, but none of them stuck around.
I don’t know what drew my original audience in, I just can’t replicate it. Since my last resort didn’t work, I’m leaving this website. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone for, but I need a break. Maybe one day, I’ll get a large following on another website. I’ll direct them here and create a new community. Until that happens, I don’t want to run or promote Dim & Bright. My profiles on other websites are enough.
I have one final message for the fans that are still here. Thank you for sticking around. This isn’t your fault; you have no obligation to leave comments. If you think I’m being a needy brat, maybe you’re correct. I’m ending this post with links to my profiles on other website. If you want to read, watch or play my future content, follow me on those.