Online Comic Audiences

Gau dog · Post by **Gau dog** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 4:41 pm

I get the feeling that most people surfing and reading online comics are mostly young adults. And thus, most comics cater to this audience. But is there any place on the internet where young kids surf online? Anyone know of any good places where I can freely show them some comics?

LibertyCabbage · Post by **LibertyCabbage** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 5:17 pm

Dutch! might know...

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:00 am

Heh. If I knew that I'd have a somewhat larger readership than I do now. 30 unique visitors a day is not all that successful yet...

Mind you, I'd be more than interested if anyone else knows anywhere else I could try. I'm more than aware that the content of my own work doesn't hold the interest of the vast majority of readers online.

I refuse to include gamers, ninjas, pointless pessimistic sarcasm or pointless silly violence and random silly jokes though, no matter how niche I may be.

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 2:44 am

Dutch! wrote:Heh. If I knew that I'd have a somewhat larger readership than I do now. 30 unique visitors a day is not all that successful yet...

Mind you, I'd be more than interested if anyone else knows anywhere else I could try. I'm more than aware that the content of my own work doesn't hold the interest of the vast majority of readers online.

I refuse to include gamers, ninjas, pointless pessimistic sarcasm or pointless silly violence and random silly jokes though, no matter how niche I may be.

30 uniques? I have a hard time believing that. Like. Seriously hard. Your target audience is pretty effing big and y'know, don't tell me they aren't internet savvy. I work at a school and there are FIVE year olds designing websites and flash programs here.

There are a lot of magazines for kids and kids sections in both local and state papers. Have you like... ever sent stuff there? Or, you know, you are a teacher... why don't you send them to some teacher forums/educational groups?

And if you aren't interested in making money from it, send it to Australian schools. Just a sample of them. Fax them. They're going to appeal to Australian kids and you know, there are NO comics out there for Aussie kids that don't SUCK. Suggest they put them in their newsletters, etc - or use them as a learning tool.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 3:55 am

I've gone lookin' for stuff like that, believe me. There's not all that much out there. A few of the kids in the grade go and have a look every now and then. One of them even mentioned info that's on one of the extra pages, so I know he went looking. Not bad for a nine year old.

As for the rest, nah, there's not been much I've found.

As for 30 uniques, yeah, that's about the average each day for this week. A little slow at the moment, eh?

And yeah, the kids may be internet savvy...but I'm a person who didn't know about webcomics before he started drawing this one, and only discovered eBay about three years ago. If anybody's got any ideas whereabouts to start, I'd be more than interested in hijacking this thread!

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 4:31 am

Really, I think you'd be better off starting your marketing offline, rather than online. If you're a kid with a b-chip you're going to spend most of your time chatting to friends or researching the great white owls or whatever rather than searching for comics. (as opposed to cartoons and TV shows).

I'd write to schools and see if they'd be interested in using you as a learning tool, and get yourself into their newsletters for free. If it's the hits you're after rather than the $$

And if you have tried that and it hasn't worked... man, I would REALLY like to see the letter you sent them. Because the HECK if I can see a good reason why a school wouldn't want you.

Steverules · Post by **Steverules** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 4:50 am

Dutch, I'm shocked as well. Your talent deserves more than 30 unique visits a day. Just goes to show you the most talented on the web are not the most popular.

quote Dutch: I refuse to include gamers, ninjas, pointless pessimistic sarcasm or pointless silly violence and random silly jokes though, no matter how niche I may be.

And thanks for my newest strip. Working title: The pointlessly pessimistic ninja pirate gamer"

TheSuburbanLetdown · Post by **TheSuburbanLetdown** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 6:22 am

The logs have also been a little wacky lately, so you could be getting more than 30 a day.

Nightgaunt · Post by **Nightgaunt** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 6:39 am

gau dog wrote:And thus, most comics cater to this audience. But is there any place on the internet where young kids surf online? Anyone know of any good places where I can freely show them some comics?

Copper I think is a good one. And it's even got pretty colors to deal with my... er, the kids' short attention span. Oooooooh the colors...

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:27 pm

I'm not getting my stats from here lately, so I guess 30 a day is about it

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:53 pm

It may be hard to target young kids on the Internet...most young kids have their access fairly strictly controlled by their parents and filtering software. I mean, how often do you run into a 9 year old on a messageboard or in a chatroom? Not often.

Phact0rri · Post by **Phact0rri** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 9:44 am

I'm pretty sure my comic is kid safe. But like most adults, they probably wouldn't get into it.

CaptainClaude · Post by **CaptainClaude** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:13 am

Oddly, a heckuva lotta adults over the age of 30 like my comic.

I find it a little strange sometimes.

K-Dawg · Post by **K-Dawg** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:42 am

No clue who likes my comics. Probably immature people.

Nicked · Post by **Nicked** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:47 am

I'm pretty sure I have no audience... which means I can do whatever I please!

Phact0rri · Post by **Phact0rri** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:25 am

K-Dawg wrote:No clue who likes my comics. Probably immature people.

*suddenly feels very immature*

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 1:33 pm

Nicked wrote:I'm pretty sure I have no audience... which means I can do whatever I please!

There is an amazing amount of freedom in that, isn't there?

Keffria · Post by **Keffria** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:50 pm

K-Dawg wrote:No clue who likes my comics. Probably immature people.

So, then, everyone on the forums...? :p

"Is there any place where young kids surf online?"

There's no one place where all young adults go. It really depends on the exact demographic you're pitching to. For example, I have a younger brother (14 years old) who spends lots of time on Newgrounds, and who visits forums for things like Runescape and Sumo Volleyball (online games). Meanwhile, my cousin (12 years old) spends most of her time on the internet chatting over MSN or visiting clothing/accessory sites (like ... I don't know ... "Roxy" or "Gap" or something; I don't pay attention to these things... >.<). And kids younger than 8 or 10 aren't often allowed to surf around as they please.

In short, if I'm reading this question right and you're looking for places to pitch your comic to kids, you have to narrow down your audience, and then maybe do a focus group or something.

SergeXIII · Post by **SergeXIII** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 2:21 pm

My comic has way more hits then my message boards indicate. I have no clue who goes there.

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 3:06 pm

SergeXIII wrote:My comic has way more hits then my message boards indicate. I have no clue who goes there.

Message boards tend to have around 2-5% of the total readership active on them.

- Joel Fagin

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