Social Networks and the Six-Panel Problem
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Be authentic. Be yourself. Tell a story. But don’t take too long. It’s complicated enough being a person offline. How in the world are we supposed to create an engaging, distraction-free version of ourselves across social networks?
The answer is just a super-hero away. Batman, Spiderman and the JLA (Justice League of America) have solved the get-to-the-point problem. It’s called a comic book (or graphic novel for folks who call movies films.) This genre knows how to pare down the descriptions, pump-up the action and pull the reader right into a page where every panel advances the story.
If you need to put some personality into your social profile, pitch a new idea, or just have some fun, start by thinking inside the box one panel at a time. To get you going, here’s my story (one of ‘em, anyway) with a few tips for creating your very own six-panel adventure.

