I’ve found my motivation comes in short bursts. I’ll have days where I’ll finish five comics in a couple of hours, and then entire weeks where I’m unable to bring myself to work on anything at all. Everyone always says this, and it’s really true: The best way to feel more creative is to just force yourself to sit down and make something.

I’ve got a note where I keep all my comic ideas — there are hundreds in there, and some are good, and most are terrible. But, I get into a bad habit where, once an idea has been sitting in that note for a few months, I start hating it, even if it’s potentially a good idea. A lot of my favorite comics have come from finding a funnier way to frame an old idea I’d been ignoring for a long time.

This comic was inspired by one specific comment I once received on Reddit, but it really speaks to my general experience over there. If someone doesn’t like something you made, they believe it is their moral imperative to let you know in the most devastating way possible. They call that “constructive criticism.” And nothing makes them madder than telling them you don’t care about their dumb opinion.

I actually drew myself into that one, which I rarely do. I find myself doing that with comics that are specifically about social media — those weirdly feel more personal than other comics I draw.

Social media is so fascinating to me. Reddit is wild because it feels like everyone is always doing one of two things: Trying to be a comedian, or trying to fight. That’s obviously a chaotic dynamic that I love watching unfold.

On Instagram, on the other hand, everyone needs you to know that they know more than you do. And even more than that, that they care more than you do. That’s such a fun dynamic to me, too, because it’s really the heart of social media: the idea that I’m sharing a version of myself for public consumption, and that persona I’ve created is better than you.