Lately, I have been trying to get a better understanding of how social media can be used to become part of a photographic community as well as to increase people's awareness of my photography and blog. I'm 52 years old, so the whole idea of on-line social networking does not exactly come naturally to me....however, very few of my non-photography friends seem to really have an on-line presence, so perhaps I am more technologically tuned in than I give myself credit for!
At any rate, wrapping one's arms around the whole social media scene can be a bit difficult and has led me to have sometimes conflicting opinions about it.
In many ways, the 'older versions' of on-line community have opened up opportunities that I never would have otherwise had. The ability to get answers to questions regarding photography and technology is truly amazing, be it from Yahoo groups, company sponsored forums, or message boards/mailing lists. Though we don't typically think of these as 'social media' they certainly, to me, seem to be a form of it. I do know that information is disseminated very rapidly using these media, allowing me to do things and solve problems much earlier than if I had to wait 'for the book to come out'. I would certainly not be able to solve very daunting hardware and software problems without these outlets.
But what about the 'newer' methods of 'Social Media'....Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc? My feelings are a bit more conflicted about these modalities. On the one hand, I feel they are great ways to become involved with a photographic community. On the other hand, sometimes I wonder about the 'you follow/comment/promote/award me and I will do the same for you' mind set. At times it seems to me that quantity may be put above quality.
But I am still very new at this and, as I said, am still trying to 'wrap my arms' around it all. In fact, I am trying out a number of these newer modalities. Hence, you can find both the "Follow Me On Twitter" and the "Follow Me On Facebook" buttons located on the right sidebar of this blog! One 'guide' that I did find useful if you are interested in exploring the new social media as it pertains to photography and photographers, is this free guide put out by PhotoShelter and Adorama entitled "Social Media for Photographers". You can download your free copy here.
Mar 15, 2010
Social Media For Photographers Guide
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6 comments:
I like to think of Facebook and Twitter (especially Twitter) like a cocktail party.
Think about how you'd act at a cocktail party and who you'd want to spend time with at said party...
You want to be interesting enough that people wanted to talk to you, but you wouldn't want to monopolize the conversation and make it all about you.
You'd listen to what others were saying, taking in the interesting things that they are involved in or that they are talking about and doing.
You'd ask questions of the people you're talking to and listen to their answers, perhaps even asking them a question about what they've said.
You'd contribute to the conversation in as meaningful a way as possible without coming off as a know-it-all.
You wouldn't pretend to be someone else or have knowledge that you don't have because it will eventually come back to bite you.
You wouldn't just talk for the sake of talking; you'd talk because you had something meaningful to say; quality over quantity.
If you did all that stuff, you'd be invited back to another party. And, when you got there, you'd likely find that you'd built a group of people who enjoyed conversing with you in a two-way fashion; listening to what you had to say because you cared about listening to them.
In some ways it's like the distinction between a landline telephone and a mobile.
Blogs and fora seem to be social media at one's own convenience. use it when you wish, dip in and out. The newer media seem to be about continuous input to keep an audience, pandering to their desire for contact. Will facebook/twitter etc really work if you're not constantly engaged?
This latter is just the reason I hate mobile phones - you start to submit to the convenience of others. (Most of my friends and colleagues are surprised they can't contact me when they wish because I turn off or don't carry a phone everywhere I go.)
Jeff...sounds like excellent advice, which I will take. Seems like you have had some 'social media' experience!
Hey Howard,
Thought you'd like this ;
http://whattheduck.com/home?page=0%2C13
Oh that's funny...really funny!
Jeff , you think of Facebook and Twitter like a cocktail party? I didn`t quite get this... :)
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