I suppose ethics are great when they are convenient

Note – I don’t currently Twitter. I found this post when I was trying to decide whether or not I should start.

There’s a massively successful webcomic called MegaTokyo. Now don’t write this off because it’s a comic, this is a site that’s making some real money, from both advertising and merchandise, and has a serious following that borders on fanatical. Four collections have already been published from the comic and can be found at any major bookstore. It’s certainly a successful endeavor.

Now the comic is supposed to update three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But with the very nature of a comic (lots of time spent drawing, cleaning up, inking, scanning and what if you don’t have the next strip figured out yet?) it’s not always possible to maintain a rigid schedule. Fans are usually understanding when the site gets a day or two behind, but it’s still disappointing to visit and see nothing new.

So what the creator has done is add a little twitter widget on the page displayed beneath the comic. He keeps it strictly related to the progress of the comic, giving updates like “illustrations done, inking”,”comic done, getting it scanned, should be up this evening” or “water pipe broke, won’t be getting a strip up today, sorry.”

This is a great move in my opinion. It accomplishes several things. For one, even when there’s no new content, readers know it’s coming, and often can get a feel for when and why it’s delayed. Secondly, even when things are on schedule readers love being able to keep tabs on the comic every step of the way. It let’s them feel more involved and close to the project and spurs on the kind of devotion that makes a site like this a success.

So yeah, I’m not a massive fan of the twitter craze myself, but I thought I’d throw out at least one smart use of it i’ve seen.