Editing 1656: It Begins

{{comic
| number    = 1656
| date      = March 16, 2016
| title     = It Begins
| image     = it_begins.png
| titletext = You can also try 'Yikes.'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic encourages the reader to post random news stories on the Internet, under the line "It begins." This creates a sense of impending doom, as well as making people wonder what, exactly, is being referred to. This could also encourage people to theorize about what, exactly, is beginning. It could also just confuse the intended audience, as they try to comprehend what the author is saying.

This could in the worst case speedily lead to several people making repost of such a non-news story that would not have gotten any attention otherwise. This may lead to speculation, and other curious theories, going out the tangent it could create fear or mass hysteria.

It may also just qualify as a form of [[356: Nerd Sniping|nerd sniping]], in a feedback loop, which may be either prevented or worsened by company when reading the "it begins" news.

Some stories that might benefit especially from this are those relating to machine autonomy, animal attacks, disease, and so forth. This would call to mind various popular culture and/or scientific hypothetical scenarios.

Perhaps the comic's choice of article refers to {{w|Alfred Hitchcock}}'s thriller {{w|The Birds (film)|The Birds}}, in which birds (especially {{w|Seagull|seagulls}}) begin attacking humans for no apparent reason, or the broader idea of an animal revolution, or just that even animals get sick of us always looking at our smart phones.

The title text instructs readers to try the line "[[wikt:yikes|Yikes]]" instead. The idea is the same, but it would imply a critical moral stance.

Other comics which advocate using catch-all phrases as standard responses for any comment:
*[[174: That's What SHE Said]]
*[[178: Not Really Into Pokemon]]
*[[559: No Pun Intended]]
*[[1022: So It Has Come To This]]
*[[1215: Insight]]
*[[1627: Woosh]]

==Transcript==
:[A post in Megan's news feed on some social network platform is shown. Megan's head-shot profile image is shown in a frame to the left with two lines of unreadable text below. Her comment is to the right of this image, also with unreadable text above both in a black and gray font. This comment is above the news story she has posted below in a frame. Inside the frame there is another smaller frame to the left with a picture of Cueball on a beach, holding his hand out towards a seagull that flies away with his phone. Two other seagulls can be seen in the air above the sea. There is a small heading at the top, and then a larger one below this. Below that again there is two lines of unreadable text:]
:It Begins
::<small>''Local News''</small>
::Seagull Steals Phone, Drops it in Ocean

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Protip: To make your day more dramatic, post a random minor news story with the comment "it begins."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Animals]]