Recent Social Media Articles

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Pink

We have all heard about how choosing a single color palette can be a good design choice for a photo shoot, a room, or even your Instagram profile. For this edition of the weeklyFstop, everyone rose to the occasion and shared some beautiful photos featuring the color pink.

Buyer Orders a $6,000 Camera, Amazon Sends a Box of Rocks Instead

Amazon has been a reputable store for many years. But this happened: a guy received a Canon 1D X Mark II box full with rocks. You think that's all? See what happened when the Amazon representatives apologized and sent a second package to him.

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Green

I would never have guessed that a simple prompt like "green" could have produced such amazing results this week. Our readers really showed up with arguably the best top 10 list yet.

Millennial Travellers Paying for Proof 'They Were There' Sparks Asian Photography Boom

We've all tried — and sometimes failed miserably — to take the perfect selfie to show off our latest adventure. Some people are simply better at turning the camera on themselves. But millennials' passion for showing "they were there," wherever "there" may be, is proving to be a boon to Asian tourism and a burgeoning photography industry.

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Gathering

So apparently "gathering" seemed to scare away some people since we only seemed to gather about 20 percent as many entries as we have last week. Luckily, the quality of the entries was right on par with the previous themes delivering yet another great top 10 list.

Re-Sharing Feature Is Coming to Instagram, and You Can Turn It Off

Before, to share someone's post on Instagram, you had to use third-party apps to download the photo and upload it to your account, usually with the source account's username and profile photo embedded in the corner. It sounds like the ability to share a post is finally coming, but probably not the way you expected it to.

A Beautiful Short Film on What Happens When One Steps Away From Social Media

"Social media is awful and we're all going to die someday (plz like and subscribe)," reads the hilariously ironic video description of this short film depicting what happens when a couple steps away from the din of social networks. Check out what happens when you sign off the computer and step out of the house.

Is Social Media Killing Extreme Sports Athletes?

Pressure to produce quality content for social media profiles is contributing to the unnecessary injuries and deaths of many adventure sports athletes, according to Marc Peruzzi, a former competitive rider writing for Outside.

Instagram Hashtag Update: Are You Going to Be Left Behind?

The one constant in our industry (or most industries for that matter) is change. Few things change faster than the algorithms that power social media, thus the bulk of many photographers' presence to the world. With the new year, there are new things that we must be aware of if we wish to maintain our place in the algorithm's placement to our own followers and hopefully grow instead of just maintaining.

How I Created a Viral Video and What I Learned in the Process

A few days ago, I published a copycat video on my Vimeo account. After the video was first shared by DPReview, the file became viral and got shared hundreds of thousands of times all over Internet. How did I produce this little funny video? How does having 250,000 views per day affect your visibility and social network accounts? And finally, what does this video really mean?

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Favorite

First off let me just say thank you to all the new people who joined in this week. Having the unique hashtags every week has made it clear how many people are playing and we broke 100 photos submitted in a week for the first time ever. While quantity doesn't always equal quality, I think you'll agree that the level of these shots is up there with our best weeks. I guess that shouldn't be surprising seeing the theme was "favorite" and not "worst ever."

Daisie Is an Upcoming Social Media App Aimed at Creatives, Backed by Actress Maisie Williams

Square peg in a round hole. That’s how social media platforms can feel for a creative. None of them were really specifically made to be used by creatives for networking, collaboration, and artistic development. We sort of just made it work the best we could with the options that were there. A new app, Daisie, is set to take on this much-needed role in summer 2018.

What the Heck Is the WeeklyFstop Photo Theme and Why Should I Care?

As some of you may or may not know, there has been a weekly photo theme running here on Fstoppers called the weeklyFstop. It is very easy to join in and the themes change from week to week so everyone's strengths and weaknesses get a turn. This week the theme is "favorite" which should cater well to all genres and skill sets. The real beauty is that you don't need a large following to join in. A number of our featured photographers haven't even passed 100 followers. This fact, one might argue, makes our list one of the most unique around. We'd love to have you join in and show us your favorite thing to capture.

We Can Now Schedule Posts to Instagram, but Why the Celebration?

Yesterday, Instagram announced that they had made some changes in what they will now allow to performed automatically. With this update, Instagram business profiles have gained the ability to have posts scheduled and published without any additional manual work via third-party applications. Non-Business profiles will likely gain this feature in 2019 according to the announcement. This news has been very favorably received so far, but instead shouldn’t we be running for the hills? Hear me out.

Instagram to Finally Allow Users to Schedule Posts

Instagram has finally opened up the possibility for its users to schedule their posts ahead of time. After years of users asking for this feature, the announcement was finally made today on Instagram’s business blog. Before you get too excited, though, there are two factors that you need to know.

CherryDeck: A Free Marketplace for Instagram Portfolios

CherryDeck is a new platform for photographers who mainly use Instagram to show their work. With CherryDeck, photographers can sign up for free with their Instagram account and get listed based on their area of expertise, allowing potential clients to search and find the best talent within seconds.

Curiosity Rover’s Galactic Selfie

As the most recent government shutdown came to a close, the Curiosity Rover’s Twitter account (@MarsCuriosity) released a new batch of raw images from the red planet on January 23. The rover's Twitter account had a bit of a break during the shutdown, but while the Curiosity Rover has sent images back in the past of it as part of the Martian landscape, this latest selfie is a bit closer, and the Internet loves it.

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Landscape

Shooting landscape photography is not only fun but very therapeutic. The act of planning and capturing, the peace of the surrounding scenery, and the thrill of success all help your overall well-being in a way that makes photography a very effective way to uplift your spirits. For those of us that can't get out to some of these locations, looking at beautiful photos of them is also very soothing. I hope this week's list can relieve some stress for you. And be sure to check out next week's theme because I'm positive you'll love it.

Why You Need to Be Using Facebook Messenger as a Professional Photographer

I remember when Facebook introduced their messenger service and how I mentally groaned at the idea of yet another way I’d have to keep up with correspondence. Heck, at times I even threw on my tinfoil hat and thought for sure that Facebook was spying on me through their messenger service. But, once I regained my composure and gave it a chance, I learned what many already knew: Facebook Messenger is quickly becoming the new email newsletter.

Instagram Image Sizes for 2018: Download These Free Templates

Thanks to Instagram's incessant commitment to regularly changing various features on the photo-sharing app, it's more than understandable that you may not know the current image specifications for the platform. After a quick Google search brought up a host of conflicting answers, I decided to do some tests of my own and create several free Photoshop templates to make all our lives much easier.

Make Better Use of Stories to Stand Out on Instagram

Facebook may be filtering your business page out of the newsfeeds of potential clients, but Instagram remains a robust platform for photographers to connect with their audience. However, as the always-entertaining Peter McKinnon notes in his latest vlog, many photographers are missing out on an opportunity to use Instagram stories in a way the company may not have intended.

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Sunrise

There is something magical about witnessing a sunrise and watching the land warm as the day begins. Unless of course, you are just still up from the night before. Then the sunrise has a whole different feeling. Luckily all of the great shots submitted this week seemed planned.

Instagram Adds 'Last Seen,' Here's How You Turn It Off

Most of us check social media like you might check on an infant left in your care. It's a problem, but I'm not here to counsel you through it. I am here instead to alert you that Instagram have decided to make your habit, public knowledge.

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Warmth

Warmth can be a lot more than just a temperature. A face with a smile can show warmth. The orange glow of a candle flame or from a fireplace are great examples. Sometimes this look can also be achieved with a radial filter and sliding the white balance towards the warmer side of the spectrum. When done correctly, a photo featuring warmth can tap into a very predictable emotion and feeling of comfort. Check out how our readers fared this week on our top ten list.

Your Facebook Business Page Is About to Get a Lot Less Traffic

In a post to Facebook, Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed plans to change up your news feed once again. In a renewed effort to help people stay connected, Facebook will be further limiting the number of posts people will see from brands, businesses, and media on their feed, opting to increase the number of posts from friends and family. What will this mean for your photography business page?

Selfitis? Try Giving the Non-Selfie Self-Portrait a Chance

Fstoppers reported on recently published research supposedly demonstrating the existence of selfitis or excessive selfie-taking. Researchers from Nottingham Trent University in the UK identified the symptoms of "selfitis" in over 600 university students in India. Given the catchy headline, does it all add up?

Canon Italy Posts Landscape Composite Without Credit, Stolen Elements, and Taken on a Fujifilm

Having Canon post one of your images to social media is a worthy accolade for any photographer. However, if they do so without crediting the artist, it devalues it somewhat. It's devalued further when your work only comprises half of the image in a re-edited composite. Any value left at this point is then stripped away when the image in question wasn't even taken with a Canon.

Ten Reasons to Hate Instagram

Every change that Instagram has introduced since it went mainstream has been a step backwards for photographers. It's reached the point that, although I still post a few times a week, my love for the platform died a long time ago, and watching it stumble towards nothing but selfies and adverts is heartbreaking. Here are my biggest gripes, in no particular order.