By K.C. Jones
InformationWeek
Licensing and syndication company United Media announced this week that Dilbert is going interactive.
The comic strip character, whose experiences as an engineer at a technology company find humor in the frustrations of corporate life, has evolved so online communities can create and modify cartoon strips.
Cartoonist and creator Scott Adams will encourage Dilbert's online audience to create cartoon mashups, use widgets, rank comic strips, share favorite lists, subscribe to RSS feeds, and add commentary.
"Millions of people will be writing Dilbert comics and instantly sharing them," Adams said in a prepared statement. "It just got a lot more dangerous to be a boss."
Dilbert fans will be able to create mashups with their own punch-lines in the last frame of daily strips. They can also re-write entire strips alone through My Dilbert or in groups through Group Mash, beginning in May. Adams will author random frames with his audience and watch to determine whether groups can successfully develop the strips.
Dilbert 2.0 also features new animated short strips, produced and distributed by RingTales (which already distributes The New Yorker Animated Cartoons), every weekday through iTunes, YouTube, Comcast, and others. Finally, the comic strip has created a new Web site which provides free access to the Dilbert library since 2001 and will expand to include the entire Dilbert archives by this summer.
United Media will also offer more social media features, including widgets for putting Dilbert punch-lines, most popular strips, animation, mashups, and more on personal pages like iGoogle and Netvibes, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, desktops, and blogs.
United Media said it developed technology and partnerships to make Dilbert the first globally recognized comic strip to offer mashups, daily animation, and interactive widgets.
Dilbert fans already have access to Adams' personal e-mail, daily blog, and a newsletter, called "Dogbert's New Ruling Class."
"Scott Adams has always encouraged interaction with his audience, initiating quick and daily exchange via his personal e-mail address and most recently through his blog," Rob Fassino, VP and general manager of interactive at United Media, said in a news announcement. "Dilbert Mashups and widgets are the logical next steps in powering Scott's interactive vision and the overall enjoyment of Dilbert."
Adams' most recent blog states that the Web site will soon provide a "bare bones page" with strips and text navigation to appeal to Linux users.
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