My changing relationship with Social Media
Social media continues to grow, and yet I find myself shrinking my presence there. Is this wise? I'm not sure, but I'm doing it anyways. Here's the scoop.
Social Media Spring Cleaning, 2018 Edition
It seems about once a year, I get a little fed up with social media (or some component of it) and write a little “rant” about it here on the blog. (The word rant is in quotes because I use it lightly here. I think of a rant as something I am genuinely pissed off about, and that is not the case. So it’s not really a rant, but I don’t know what else to call it.)
This time, I'm changing my approach to social media in general, although I will delve into specifics in a bit.
I’ve come to believe that social media isn't really very social at all (with some notable exceptions) and that sadly it’s mostly all about getting attention, and that is wearing on me. Yes, I completely get the irony that I share my work via social media and essentially look for attention for that too, so I include myself in what I am writing here. And of course I am sharing this article on my blog and then will share it on social media, too. I know - life is full of contradictions.
I'm just changing my approach to these things - and my opinion of them - and I no longer feel like I used to feel about social media. I'm not seeing the same benefits, and I really don't understand the need to be "everywhere, all the time".
I am also examining my photography work and taking on new perspectives, opinions and ideas about what I want to be, photographically speaking, and how I just might be able to “get there”. Since my thoughts and plans are nowhere near complete or final, I’m not digging into that today but it has caused a lot of self-reflection, which can be difficult but productive.
One thing I have learned about myself is that spending a lot of time and effort on social media is just not rewarding to me. Sure, I love all the comments, feedback, attention, likes, etc as much as the next person. My ego likes it, and it gives me a little “high”. I think that’s a human reaction to positive feedback. But, it doesn’t really improve my quality of life or help anyone improve theirs. It’s sort of like consuming sugar - you get a quick high and then it drops off. Then you want another hit to feel high again. It’s essentially a vicious cycle, and one that likely doesn’t end well.
We recently took a week-long family trip to Chicago, and I rarely got on social media that week. It was wonderful. I spent time with my wife and daughter, took some photos, consumed some great food and just enjoyed life. I didn't post a single photo on any social media site that week, and frankly I didn’t miss it at all. Not one bit. (Ok, truthfully I missed creating and sharing a video, but that’s the one exception.)
Now don’t misunderstand me here - I am not quitting social media, though I have quit some sites and may quit more. I like to think of it as spring cleaning, social media style. I was way overdue. It’s time to tidy up the house. Things were messy. Stuff was scattered everywhere.
There are just too damn many sites to post on, and doing a consistently decent job on any one of them is nearly a full time job. Doing a consistently decent job on multiple sites is damn near impossible. You could kill yourself trying. The saddest part about this is the constant feeling that you aren’t doing enough, aren’t good enough, and all that horrible baggage that comes through comparing yourself or your life to others. So, I am shedding weight, cutting ties, cleaning house, dumping the losers…whatever you want to call it. In other words, I am getting focused on only those sites that really matter to me, because there is only so much time in a day, and life is far too short. And frankly, I don’t want to waste my time on things that aren’t helping me move forward with my creativity.
The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time. - WJ Davison
The point is that I have been a mile wide and an inch deep with all this stuff for too long. I don't like it. I find myself getting more realistic with what I can and am willing to do, and I don’t want to pretend to keep up with all this crap. It’s a total drain on my creativity, and doesn’t add to my quality of life. I would rather be creating something useful than mindlessly scrolling through a social media feed. Not to mention that I love to do many other things outside of photography, and I have neglected them for far too long. I am reclaiming some of my personal time, and it feels good.
Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. - George Bernard Shaw
And by the way, I have also unsubscribed from a lot of email “things” that have long come my way. This may look like I am withdrawing in some ways, or that I am running away from things. In truth, I am running toward a better life for myself. How can I be creative, educated and curious if I spend all my free time on social media? In this day and age, I think it takes an active effort to make time for the things we love, or else they will get lost in the shuffle of life, work, relationships, social media and more. There are just so many distractions.
To those of you who post on many, many sites each day/week and like it, benefit from it and thrive on it - more power to you. I’m not sitting in judgment on anyone else’s choices. To each his own, and all that. You do whatever suits you. I’ve just arrived at a point where I want to be better in a lot of ways, and reducing my life’s digital clutter is one step in the right direction.
So, below are some of my thoughts on these various social media platforms that many photographers use, and my current thoughts on these sites, how I am using them (or not) and whether I will continue to use them (or not). Surely I have missed listing quite a few, because I was never on them all and never planned to be. But now I will be on even less of them.
500px
This site was great in the early days, but became a ridiculous game of “vote for my photo” just so that a photographer could try and get a high score on a photo and sit atop their “leader board” for a day - presumably just to pick up lots of views. What a waste of time. So I quit posting there a few years ago and now that they have been sold, I decided to delete all my photos from there and delete my account. I wasn’t using it anyways, and it did nothing for me. It’s gone, good riddance. One down.
Vero
A few weeks back, a lot of photographers got all excited about this app, calling it the next Instagram or some such. Out of pure curiosity I bit, opened an account, followed a couple of people, and posted one photo. I haven’t opened the app since, and haven’t thought about it since until I started writing this article. The funny thing is that I don’t see anyone talking about it anymore either. I haven’t closed my account there yet, but likely will. Am I really going to see anything there that I don’t already see elsewhere, or get “discovered”, or come across some great opportunity? No, no and no. This is likely destined for the trash bin. It’s not a bad site, but it feels like a waste of my time.
Update: curiosity killed the cat, so I went in and looked at this site again. I had some pending “connection requests” or whatever they are called, but otherwise it’s all the same stuff all over again. Still not sure I will keep it. I don’t see the point.
Ello
Remember this one a few years ago? It was all the rage for a little while, but it faded quickly. I also forgot about this one, and didn’t even remember how to log in. But I figured it out and deleted my account. Same reasons as above. Again, not a bad site, but a total waste of my time. Good bye.
Google Plus
This was the first real challenger to Facebook a number of years ago, and I loved it for a long time. But it faded, and to my knowledge is mostly dead as a social network. I haven’t posted a photo there in ages, but I will admit that my YouTube videos get cross-posted here (which I choose to do). I don’t actually go onto G+ to post my videos, but since Google owns YouTube I have the option to cross-post here automatically. I figure it takes just one more click, and it may help in search, which I do care a lot about for my videos. So technically I still use this site, but only as an automatic option. I don't actually go post here at all, but obviously I am keeping it.
Trover
I used this site quite a bit for a while (a few years ago), and have to admit I sort of liked it. But I quit posting there a long time ago, and haven’t logged in in ages. I don't anticipate getting back into it, simply because it’s not a core sight for me. I will keep it alive for now but won't spend time on it. Possibly getting deleted, jury is out on that one.
Snapchat, Steller Stories, 1x.com, EyeEm, etc etc etc
Never signed up, don’t care.
Viewbug, Pixoto, and any other contest site
Never signed up, don’t care.
I never got into this site. It’s way too hyper for me, and being rather OCD already it’s just too overwhelming for me, visually. Too much stuff, and most of it is just noise. I have my photo posts from Flickr and Instagram automatically cross-post here (along with my YouTube videos), but otherwise I don’t actually log in and use it…and I don’t care. I have considered deleting it, but still not sure if I will or not. Any reason I should keep it?
I rarely pin anything, but have to admit that some of my old pins continue to drive traffic to my blog even several years later. There’s a particularly long life for some pins, if you get lucky and start getting some repins. It just snowballs. There’s no formula here that works every time but once in a while it really works well. I will pin some more at some point, but it’s not a focus for me. But owing to the fact that it drives traffic for me, I will keep it. It’s also not a bad site for discovery, if you take the time to dig in and sort through all the junk.
Flickr
So many have predicted the demise of Flickr for so many years - and some say it’s dead already - but I still love the site. No it’s not a big traffic driver for me, but I do get photo licensing requests from here more than any other site (besides my blog). But mostly I continue to post because I just think it’s a great way to catalog my work, organize it, and share it - and I enjoy the community. I will keep this going for a long time, methinks.
Facebook personal page
I sort of have a love/hate relationship with FB. On the one hand I get some great engagement on my personal page and obviously all my photo friends are on it, but on the other hand there is just so much noise that it’s annoying. However, there is a secret benefit to FB and that is using Groups. In fact, I often log into FB and just go straight to a couple of groups that I enjoy. There are great people there, great photos, and worthwhile conversations happening. I absolutely love all of that. I get inspired constantly. That keeps me coming back more than anything else.
But, I get added to new groups a lot and that is annoying, so I have been cleaning that out and removing myself from them. While it doesn’t actually change my feed very much, it does make the experience on the site more enjoyable when there is less clutter. Obviously I will keep this one. I don't have a huge following here but as the largest site it’s too important to skip.
Facebook business page
I also have a FB Page for my blog, and I almost never use it. I spent countless hours trying to build it up over the years, only for FB to decide that I would have to pay to show my posts to those who already liked my page. That felt like a kick in the shins, and wasn’t worth the money, so I only post there a few times per year, and guess what? No one sees my posts - surprise! I actually think about deleting this page all the time. I may have to pull the trigger on that. It’s just sitting there, and the only way to get it active is to post all the time and pay for engagement - and I am not interested in doing either one of those. So, this is likely headed for the trash bin. If you can think of a reason for me to keep it please let me know.
I like IG, I really do, but I wanted to love it. But I have to remind myself to post there…it doesn’t seem to come naturally to me. Sadly, there are a lot of people who seem to do the whole follow/unfollow thing which is super annoying, selfish and egotistical. Like many sites, it’s become a game about how big of a following you can have. There also seems to be a lot of pages that buy followers, which just makes absolutely no sense to me at all. I have been unfollowing a lot of pages there recently, which cleans up my feed and provides me with a better viewing experience (but no, I have never done the follow/unfollow thing). My feed is cleaner and I can be more engaged with those pages I do follow. I just want to see my friends’ photos and those of some photographers that I don’t know but whose work I admire. Obviously I am keeping this but my engagement and activity there will remain about the same, which is what I would call "medium".
YouTube
I absolutely adore YouTube these days and it’s by far my favorite site. Since I have been creating videos there over the last couple of years, I have really grown to love the whole idea and process of creating, editing and sharing my videos. It has literally given me a new lease on my photographic life, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I also really enjoy following along on the adventures of other photographers and travelers, and learning about them, their lives and their creative process. It’s actually inspiring to me, and makes me want to do much more there than I have done thus far. So, I will be talking about this again another time, but suffice it to say that this will be the site where you will find me the most. YouTube allows me to share my passion for photography with the world more easily than on any other site and I just want to pour more time and effort into this platform. I’m all in for this one, head first.
Some parting thoughts...
"Get busy living, or get busy dying." - Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption
Have you ever seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption? If not, I highly recommend it. At one point in the movie, Morgan Freeman's character Red says "Get busy living, or get busy dying." I love that quote, and it's so appropriate. We only have so much time, and I want to spend it doing something of value. There's no point in wasting time. You can never reclaim it.
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. -- George Bernard Shaw
Well my friends, if you read this far - congratulations! Haha, seriously though thanks for reading my ramblings. By all means feel free to leave a comment, provide some feedback, share your own experiences and thoughts, challenge some of my decisions and assumptions, etc. This is just me talking and I don't pretend to know it all. I’m wandering in the dark half the time, and I bump into a lot of furniture. :-)
I just feel like I am coming to a place where I want fewer distractions so I can spend my time on creating things of value. Social media is pretty much the biggest distraction there is, and it’s a natural place for me to start cleaning house. That is one thing that I have come to realize - I want to create things that inspire people, help them improve their own creative efforts, and just enjoy the entire process. So that’s what I plan to do with my newfound free time: create, inspire, be curious, learn, think, and grow. Sounds like a win to me.
What are you doing with social media? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts! Thanks for stopping by today!
Is anybody else sick of Facebook?
Facebook has changed a lot, and not for the better. It's harder and harder to drive traffic to the blog...so here is what I am doing about that!
It's harder and harder to justify time spent on Facebook - and what I am doing instead!
I like Facebook, generally speaking - I really do. It’s a great idea. Being able to connect with like-minded photographers from around the world has been one of my favorite things about it. How else could I meet and interact with people who share common interests? It’s brilliant. And the fact that I can easily connect with them online, and then actually meet them in person when I travel? Absolutely love that.
And of course, it’s allowed me to connect with casual consumers of my work - some have become customers as well, and that’s all been great. Even if someone isn’t a customer, it’s still great to get feedback and interact with folks around the world that have some sort of interest in my photography.
However, I am growing weary of the day-to-day grind of posting and sharing my work there. It takes a lot of time, and it takes a lot of effort. And mostly, it’s about ego. Of course I want people to like my photos, but posting online is more about getting them to “like” my photos. And the payback is dubious, at best. I wrote a long article about all that here, if you would like to read it.
And by the way, spending my limited free time there just mindlessly surfing destroys my creativity. Absolutely cuts it into shreds. And that sucks, because I want to create. I have a TON of things I want to do, learn, and create - and being on Facebook is not helping me get them done.
Facebook has changed for the worse (but this isn't exactly news to any photographer!)
These days, you see a lot of complaints about Facebook, and I think they are valid. It has changed. It’s no longer a pure experience for me. I used to log on and know that I would see great pictures from photographers that I follow from around the world, or catch up on their adventures via “behind the scenes” mobile phone posts. Or maybe someone would share articles about photography, or tutorials, or reviews...all of that is welcome, and interesting to me. It’s good content, in my opinion.
But now Facebook feels like a giant advertisement, with some stupid game invites thrown in for fun. Well, none of that is fun. I have to search harder to find the folks whose posts I want to see, while being bombarded with a bunch of crap that I am not even remotely interested in. It’s tiring. (And I realize some folks will feel that way about seeing my posts. It’s ok.)
Couple that with the fact that FB decides what I should see, and it makes it worse. Not to mention that they keep getting it wrong. I don’t give a shit about a cat video, or someone’s political rant. I really don’t care. It’s fine for people to share that stuff - it’s one of the beautiful freedoms of the internet - but I am just not interested in seeing it.
What could possibly make FB’s “sophisticated algorithm” think I have any interest in that stuff? I can’t imagine anything I have EVER clicked on - anywhere on any bit of the internet - that would give Facebook the impression that that stuff is one of my interests. Look at the Fan Pages I have liked, Facebook, and use that to serve me content. Please??? I think it’s pretty clear what I like. (Hint: travel and photography.)
You know what else I want to see? I just would like to see all my friends’ posts in chronological order. Then I can decide what I want to direct my attention towards. It’s exhausting to have stuff bubble up to the top of my feed that has been there before, just because it got a new comment, or one of my friends liked it - or for no discernible reasons whatsoever.
Driving traffic to the blog
And even though Facebook is the largest social media site in terms of referrals to my blog (which in the big picture is where I want people to end up), the total percentage of my traffic from FB to my blog is pretty minimal - about 2.5% thus far this calendar year (2014). Starting from January 1, 2013, it’s even less. In other words, it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I get better results from the search engines - by a large margin (over 70% of my visitors arrive via search). If I was running a business with limited resources, I would drop that “advertising channel” known as Facebook immediately in favor of something with a better return.
Facebook Fan Pages take a beating
I also have a page on FB dedicated to my photography. In the old days, it was fun to have a page and I worked hard to grow it. It now sits somewhere around 4500 Likes, which was a lot of work to get to, frankly. I spent a lot of time building it up. Too much time, as it turns out.
Sadly, FB has throttled the reach of all pages and as such a very small percentage of those who have “Liked” my page actually get to see my posts. That’s frustrating. And honestly, I am on the fence about what to do with the page. It’s a full day’s work - every single darn day - to drive engagement on the page and to keep the interaction level high. I don’t have time for that, and frankly I am not interested in spending my time on that. I have much more productive things to do.
Lately I have backed off from the daily posts there. They just don’t reach people anymore, and I am not going to pay FB for a “Promoted Post”. This isn’t a business for me, per se, but a life’s passion. I’m not technically selling anything (yes you can buy prints, but I’m not actively pushing it), so paying FB to get me back to my original fan base is a ridiculous idea. Not going to happen.
So, what am I going to do about it?
That’s the question, isn’t it? In many ways we are all “stuck” with FB, since it is the largest site in the world. And truthfully, I don’t want to leave. There are a few things I like about it, such as being part of that global creative community. That’s a big deal to me. I enjoy being part of a community like that. These people are my friends, or at least some of them are. The rest I just admire.
But I can’t afford (nor do I want) to spend a lot of time on FB. It’s a major time-suck, and while some of it can be enjoyable, it isn’t productive. It doesn’t help me grow personally or professionally. It doesn’t help me get better at photography. And whether it helps me reach more people with my work is debatable.
On a recent vacation, in addition to spending time with family, you know what else I was able to do? Write, take photos, and process photos. I created a couple of new reviews on the blog, and wrote some other things that I am working on. I took a lot of photos, and I processed a lot as well. It was great not worrying about - or really even thinking about - posting images on Facebook. It was a bit of a vacation from the site, and it was absolutely liberating.
Since I have been back from the vacation, I have stuck with this plan of not being on FB too much, and I am still loving it. I’m posting about 3 things per week and that’s it (that’s a drop from my 5-6 posts per week in the past). And guess what? My productivity is staying up there. I am creating more new things for the blog, processing more photos, and taking even more. It’s like I got part of my life back. It’s awesome!
So, here’s what I am going to do about Facebook (and have been doing for a while):
1) Most posts go on my personal profile
I‘ve been doing this for months already and it sure makes things easier. In fact, most photographers that I know have concentrated their efforts on their personal profiles rather than a Fan Page. It’s way easier. I clung on to the Fan Page for a while, but as detailed above, I am not concentrating my efforts there going forward. I won’t delete it but will only post there occasionally. You never know what the future holds.
2) Fewer posts on FB
I used to post on FB just about every day. If I shared a photo from a blog post, and that post contained multiple photos (which most of mine do now), I would come back the next day (or later the same day) and share another photo from that post. But lately, I have been just sharing my favorite photo from any particular blog post. They are all on the blog and will stay there, so I assume if anyone wants to see them, they will come find them. If not, no worries.
Interestingly, it seems like when I only post a few photos per week on FB, they actually get more engagement per photo than when I posted nearly every day. Maybe since I am sharing less on FB, I am sharing better photos. Or maybe something else. I’m not sure, but obviously I am ok with it.
3) Less time spent on FB
Like I said above, it can be a major time drain, and I don’t have a lot of free time. You can call that unsocial (and maybe it is), but I prefer to work on my creativity and create content for the blog. That is time well spent, and it makes me feel better. This is a personal, creative journey for me, and time on Facebook does not make me creative. In fact, it sucks the creativity right out of me. Talk about a buzzkill! :-)
4) Just using my interest list on FB
I while ago, I created an “interest list” on FB which I call Photographic Awesomeness, and that’s what it’s all about. I added in a bunch of photographers whose work I admire, and so whenever they post something, it automatically gets included in the list. You can go click on the list, subscribe to it, and scroll through all these awesome photos. I plan to spend more time looking at that instead of my News Feed, because the feed is full of junk. That’s one way to purify my experience there. I get a pure “photo experience” on my interest list, because I only included great photographers. Pretty cool, right?
5) Experiment with other sites
I wrote last year about focusing on just the big sites (which includes FB of course), and while I think that is still sage advice, I do want to unwrap myself from FB a bit. So I have been spending a little time elsewhere, and I am enjoying it (See? I’m not totally anti-social LOL.).
There are a couple of other places where you can find me, and when I am there it’s a much cleaner experience. I look at things of interest and am not bombarded with any of the crap that I get on FB. Refreshing, actually. Generally, it’s Instagram, with a little sprinkling of Trover and Pinterest. A dash of Flickr, Google+ and Twitter.
But I will say that in the grand scheme of things, total activity for me on all social sites is dropping. At a whopping total of about 5% of my blog traffic, it makes sense not to spend too much time on it. I just get more out of it when I focus on creating. I truly believe that if you create enough interesting content, people will come your way, at some point. So that’s what I am spending my time on. And guess what? I feel better, I am happier and more creative, and more productive...and that’s what I am trying to do with my time on this Earth...create.
So that’s my plan. What’s yours?
I suck at Twitter
some thoughts on photography, social media and the tragic brevity of time
The title says it all. Well, that’s actually not true. It really only says part of it. I do suck at Twitter - that is totally true. So if you follow me on Twitter...sorry. I don’t post directly there, and I’m not good at keeping up with anyone on Twitter. If you re-tweet my stuff, or include me in your #FF stuff...thank you, and again - I am sorry.
I do have my blog posts and my Flickr uploads feed automagically over to Twitter, but that doesn’t really even count, does it? I am on Twitter, so to speak, but never actually on Twitter. I’m really not even using it. I’m a Twitter ghost.
I logged into Hootsuite recently for the first time in a long while, just to check out my Twitter stream and see what I could be missing. (See, I use an interface to view Twitter - not even the real thing.) I had lots of Tweets direct to me from nice folks going back several weeks, commenting on my shots or whatever.
I didn’t even know it. I feel like a loser. Sorry about that, everyone. I feel like crap about that. I really do. And those folks think I’m an ass, probably. Here they are kind enough to send me a nice note, and I don’t reply for weeks? I told you I suck at this.
You know why? It has nothing to do with Twitter, per se. It really comes down to this:
THERE’S TOO DAMN MUCH SOCIAL MEDIA!
There, I said it. That’s the big one.
Am I alone in this? Am I the only one overwhelmed by all the social media madness out there? It’s crazy, and getting crazier all the time. There are WAY too many choices, and too many things you “have to do”. I can’t possibly keep up, and I have gotten to the point where I don’t really want to.
As a photographer you want people to see your work, which means trying to participate in all of (or most of) the various places where people might be, in order to reach a larger audience. So that means you have a blog or a portfolio site (or both, like I do), and then you post/share on multiple social media outlets, all in the name of “getting your work out there”.
Sound familiar? I bet it does. That’s what we are “supposed” to do. That’s the formula. Get your work out there in front of potential customers. Market yourself. Get attention by being in “all the right places”. Make a name for yourself.
But, really - who has the time?
It could literally take me a couple of hours a day (or more, really) doing all this “work”. I could spend hours posting my work out there in all these random places, then Liking, +1ing, Sharing, Commenting, Tweeting and Retweeting, Pinning and Repinning (and more) and never actually do anything that involves “Jim getting better at photography” - and that’s what Jim wants.
I want to get better. I want to improve. I have a lot to learn. If my photographic life was a book, I feel like I am on about Chapter 2 or so. There’s a lot still to write and shoot about this journey I am on...and I plan to write it! (insert a loud HELL YEAH here if you want to haha)
And by the way, I thought as a photographer that I was supposed to be out taking pictures? Or at the very least, I should be working on my post-processing skills, right?
In other words, I should be able to dedicate a reasonable portion of my limited "free time" investing in my skills. Yes, networking and community engagement (which is essentially all online these days) is important, but self-improvement is just as important in my opinion, and quite possibly more important.
So many sites, so little time...
In case you are not a photographer, or haven’t been counting, let me list all the social media and/or photo community sites and/or portfolio/blog options that are available to you, off the top of my head (and I am sure that I am missing several - feel free to list more in the comments section).
Sharing your work on these sites (or a subset of them) is the typical approach we all take to get our work out there and create awareness of our work. And, it can sort of work, but it can be a major time sink as well - and I would argue that the time waste far exceeds the benefit in the majority of cases. But it’s really the only way, so it is what it is. We have to do it, to some extent, if we want people to see our work. But where to start?? Well, you start by joining some of these and posting away!
Here’s a list of social options:
- Your blog, if you have one (Wordpress, Blogger, Squarespace, etc)
- Your portfolio, if you have one (SmugMug, Zenfolio. Photoshelter, etc)
- Facebook (personal profile page)
- Facebook Fan Page (if you have one - I do)
- Google Plus (and Fan Pages are an option here too, but appear to be rarely used)
- YouTube
- Vimeo
- Flickr
- 500px
- New MySpace
- Tumblr (I see lots of photographers also maintaining a Tumblr photo stream)
- HDR Spotting
- HDR Creme
- Exposure
- Pixoto
- CameraPixo
- Photobucket
- 72dpi
- Stipple
- Storylane
- Path
- 1x
- I am sure there are dozens of others...
See what I mean? That's a heck of a lot of sites you "have to" be on!!
So what this means is that except for a couple of notable exceptions, I suck at most of these other sites, too (though thankfully, I have the sense not to sign up for all of these).
It also means that you cannot possibly “get your name out there” by trying to focus on a bunch of these. By definition, focus does not mean “a bunch”. It doesn’t work like that, and you will kill yourself trying. I have heard of dying for your art, but that’s a ridiculous way to go! :-)
The 80/20 rule, or Feed the Strong
Other than Facebook (where I am pretty active) and Google Plus (where I am somewhat active), I don’t really have time to engage elsewhere. I get pretty good interaction on those sites, and plan to keep doing “the work” there. I enjoy it, actually. I really wish I could do more on those sites, but just don’t have the time.
You see, I have a day job so that keeps me really busy. And truthfully, I really enjoy my day job. It’s awesome. But like all jobs, it takes a lot of time, and that’s ok.
As I mentioned in a previous article, I recently took a hard look at Google Analytics to determine which sites are sending traffic my way, and which ones are not. Facebook and Google lead the pack, so I plan to continue to feed them. They are strong for me.
It’s like the 80/20 rule in business: you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers. Well, my blog is “my business” in this sense (and for me, it’s the center of my digital universe), and so I am focusing on the 20% of sites that generate 80% of my traffic. Everything else is an afterthought (though more like a “no thought”).
And yes I realize that you get out of something whatever you put into it. I completely agree. I am not saying all these sites are bad. Far from it. Some of them are probably incredible. I just don't have time to invest and "grow a following" there - I've already done that on other sites, and am sticking with them.
And by the way, you might decide on two (or more) completely different sites, and that's ok too. I am not saying these are the two best sites for everyone, since we all want different things, and we all have different likes. It's just that these two work for me, right now.
In the old days...
When I first started sharing my photos online (which is coming up on 5 years now), of course I tried posting to a lot of sites in a feeble attempt to “grow awareness” of my work. My opinion: it’s a waste of time to post to a lot of sites. I really think it is. I think you should pick one or two places and just do that. Focus and go deep. You can’t possibly do justice to several sites...it’s too much. Trust me. I tried. It’s ok to experiment and see which sites work for you, but after that...make a decision and go all in.
I used to interact a lot on Flickr, and though the new layout is causing me to interact more now than over the last couple of years, it’s still pretty minimal. I used to post photos to HDR Spotting, but again haven’t done that in years, and I don’t care. I used to try and keep up on Twitter, but how can anyone do that? All that crap scrolling by, 24 hours a day...makes me crazy.
Instagram? I never even signed up, and I LOVE to shoot with my iPhone and share it (but the pics go on Facebook and into a Flickr set and sometimes here on the blog). Pinterest? I have a few galleries there (or whatever you call them) but I never log in and look. I can’t even remember my password. 500px? Don’t get me started. It's a beautiful site, but I feel like they have stumbled. Just go read this and then this. New MySpace? Forget about it. That one’s a waste. As the old joke goes: "the founders of MySpace aren't even on MySpace".
See what I am saying? There’s just too much, and most of it is pointless.
And guess what else? I don’t use most of those sites, and I feel absolutely zero remorse about not being there. I used to think that I “had to” be active everywhere - and felt bad if I wasn’t - but I don’t think that way anymore. I just don’t care about being everywhere, because it doesn’t work.
I see some photographers who seem to be everywhere (and there is nothing wrong with that, to be clear), and I see others that only seem to be in 1 or 2 places online. I used to think it was a sign of success or broad awareness if you are on all these sites, with followers here and there. It looks like you are well-known, and maybe it really means that. In other words, I used to want that.
But not anymore. I now have greater respect for those that I see in just 1 or 2 places. I think they figured it out, and aren't wasting their time. So I quit caring about that and trying for it, and have realized that the value of my time is worth more than what I get back from the majority of those sites. I can't keep up, I don't want to keep up, and I am using my leftover free time for myself.
Will I ever post to these other sites again? Possibly - just not very often.
Guess what else? I also think that if someone wants to see my work bad enough, they will find me on whichever site I am on...because let's be honest, I'm on the two big sites with a decent presence, and they probably are as well. And of course, all my work is always sitting right here on my blog. That's an easy click too.
I also feel a whole lot better now. It’s like a monkey is off my back. There are a million sites that suck (and plenty of good ones too, I admit) - and can suck your time away - and they do nothing for me in return. So I don’t go there anymore, and I don’t miss them. There’s a certain amount of freedom in that. I’m starting to feel better already. :-)
My apologies...
Anyways, this is sort of like my apology letter to all those folks on Twitter, or Flickr, or Pinterest, or wherever that are kind enough to leave a comment, or repin something, or whatever. I am sorry that I don’t reciprocate. I have to pick where I can engage, and those sites didn’t make the cut.
So...I am really sorry about that. I really appreciate that you took the time to interact with my photography in some way - seriously, I really appreciate it...and I apologize for not having the time to interact back with your content. It’s not about you, or even about that site. It’s about time.
Speaking of time...it’s about time for me to go take some pictures so that I feel better about myself. I’ll see you next time. Thanks for listening.
Should I post it if I don't love it?
Should I post it if I don’t love it? (some thoughts on sharing)
Being a photographer can be tricky these days. There are a million people out there with cameras (actually, probably a lot more than that), all with varying degrees of skill, and all billing themselves as “photographers”. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. In fact, it’s a good thing. And to be clear, I include myself in that description. I don’t work as a photographer fulltime. Though I love it, I can’t afford to.
Anyways, back to my point. It is a very crowded marketplace, and that means it is harder and harder to get your name out there, get some sort of recognition, and rise above all the “noise”. Think about all your friends who take photos and share them online. Some of those shots come out pretty great, right?
Now multiply that by a million or so. That’s a lot of nice photo work out there…and that’s just from the “amateurs” (or “hobbyists”, or whatever you want to call them). There are many actual working professionals who also have their work out there (which is where it should be – what good does it do if they keep it to themselves? Share that beauty!).
The fine art approach
So how do you rise above the noise? How do you get your work recognized? How do you become known as a great photographer? One argument would be to post/share only your very best work. That way, your very best is all that is ever seen, and that is all that is associated with you. It potentially marks you as a consistently awesome photographer which, depending on your goals, might be what you want to be known as. This can be a great approach, possibly.
This method is employed by those that I call “fine art photographers”. Usually, this is someone focused on grand landscapes, often from spots around the world. As an example, I would put Peter Lik in this bucket. He produces incredibly beautiful photos of landscapes, mostly. It’s gorgeous work, but it is not something that is produced or shared frequently. There are only so many incredible shots you can create at a time. They just don't happen everyday. But when they do happen, it's something magical.
I think that this approach makes sense, and it definitely works for some photographers – but it doesn’t work for me. There’s nothing wrong with it, of course. I admire those who can make a living at it, and respect them immensely. I just find it a bit limiting for my tastes. I have way too many photos that I want to share, but few of them would be classified as "fine art". And obviously, I don’t classify myself as a “fine art” photographer. I suspect that most of you reading this do not classify yourselves that way, either. (And by the way, I am not sure what I call myself. I'll be talking about that later.)
So, what is the opposite of fine art?
My opinion is that you should post a lot of various types of shots – some will be winners, and some will not. But the truth is, although you can sorta guess which ones will get a good response and which ones may not, you never can tell with any degree of accuracy. It’s impossible to predict the whims of the market. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as they say.
As a counterpoint to Peter Lik, I would offer up the photography of Thomas Hawk. TH is also an incredible photographer (and in my opinion, a modern master), but instead of what I classify as “fine art” photos, I would classify his work almost as documentary in nature, mostly focused on Americana. He takes photos of things that people see often (maybe even every day), but he presents them in meaningful and beautiful ways. I love his work, and if you aren’t familiar with him, I will let you know that his life goal is to publish 1,000,000 photos. So this is a guy who clearly believes in shooting and sharing a LOT. He is almost a factory for photo-making. The guy creates, and creates, and creates. It’s impressive.
Now I am not saying you have to be like Thomas Hawk and chase 1 million photos, and if your goal is to be one of the few “fine art” masters then more power to you. Both are worthy goals, and I suspect they are equally challenging in different ways. But I do absolutely think that Thomas’s example of shoot -> share continually is a worthwhile endeavor for most of us who seek to improve. That’s how we learn and better ourselves - by doing.
A recent, personal example: Proof that it’s all unpredictable
I recently shared a photo that I thought was good enough to share but not what I would call an awesome photo. It was a nice photo, but I didn’t think it was going to be a huge winner, or get much attention. I liked it, but didn’t love it (and still don’t). I wasn't even sure about sharing it. It sat on my hard drive for months, while I passed it over in favor of other shots. Here it is:
What happened? It hit Explore on Flickr and got over 6000 views in 3 days (which is a huge amount for me), and then Getty asked me to allow them to license it. It got a pretty good response in some other outlets as well. Now, none of those things means much, in and of themselves. I am hoping this doesn’t sound like I am bragging - I am just stating what happened. It received considerably more attention than I could have predicted. Frankly, I was surprised. I still am, honestly. Like I said, I don't think it's that great of a shot. But of course, I'll take what publicity I can get. :-)
On the contrary, I have posted photos that I love, that I thought were sure winners, and that I thought would meet with resounding success (at least in terms of an online response) - and they fell flat. Literally, a very limited response, not many “Likes” or “+1”s, etc. No print sales or license requests (yet). Nothing.
You never can tell
So what’s my point? My point is that you never can tell. You cannot predict these things. And if I had only ever shared what I consider my very best photos, many of my photos would still be sitting on my hard drive, collecting virtual dust. In fact, the vast majority of them would never see the light of day. They might as well never had been taken. It's like Schrodinger's cat - do they exist if no one sees them? (ok, that's not exactly like the Schrodinger's cat thing, but I think you know what I mean)
So that’s why I think that as a photographer, it’s important to share a broad spectrum of your work, whether you think it’s a sure winner or not. You can never guess who might like it, and you definitely never know who is looking. I have sold and/or licensed many photos that I think are only pretty good, not outstanding...and I have shared many that are only fair in my estimation. But I keep putting them out there, regardless.
If it fits what someone is looking for, then it’s worth having it out there. Besides, how can you judge someone’s taste, especially when everything is done online, and all your viewers are anonymous? I once sold a photo of an old fire alarm - seriously. It fit exactly what someone was looking for. How could I ever have guessed that? I only shared it because it was something that caught my eye, and I found it interesting. Who knew that someone else would be interested in it?
Sharing and the feedback loop
You know what else I have found? There are some other benefits too, which are much more tangible than “someone might like it” (which in the scheme of things is not important). For example, the greater variety of work you share, the more likely you are to get feedback on it, which you can take into consideration next time and use it to improve future shots. Shooting and sharing is the fastest route to improvement.
Consistently sharing your photos forces you to improve, really. Not just from the feedback you get, but also you start to figure out what works and what doesn’t…you start to determine what appeals to your market…maybe you even start to recognize things in the field that you can change to improve your shots. It’s that continual loop of Shoot -> Share -> Get Feedback -> Utilize Feedback -> Shoot again that makes you a better photographer over time.
So the next time you are on the fence about sharing a photo, just go ahead and put it out there. There’s no harm in it, and the worst thing that may happen is that no one really notices. Is that a big deal? Instead, you might end up benefiting yourself in both tangible and intangible ways. And a funny thing might happen along the way - namely, that more and more of your photos become “winners”. Heck, you might even make a little money by accident. :-)