We're now into 2023, and the Internet still feels a little like the Wild West when it comes to content sharing. There's so many places to share your work with the world. With lots of criticism of popular content sharing platforms, where should you be posting in 2023?
Instagram has had its fair share of criticism recently, with many claiming that Instagram is trying too hard to become a TikTok clone, forcing users to post Reels and stories in order to get engagement, and has strayed too far from its origin as a photo-sharing platform to still be relevant. I know that my feed has become more full of lifestyle content, where people I follow are trying to keep up with the changing times.
This video from Mango Street Labs was posted in summer 2022, and they suggest moving to Twitter for a number of reasons, including the ability to post higher-resolution images and being able to post several times per day without upsetting the all-powerful algorithm. They also share some great tips for photographers looking to use Twitter to share their work and engage with other photographers.
They point out that Twitter is still predominantly a social platform in the social media space, that you can post your own thoughts, as well as engaging in conversation with those you follow, or people you share interests with, as well as easily sharing and retweeting the content of those you want to support. This encouraged dialogue is a big advantage over platforms that encourage purely sharing of content.
This video was posted before the changes to Twitter in the latter half of 2022, so what about now?
Twitter in 2023?
It's safe to say that Twitter as a platform has had a rocky end to 2022, and the platform isn't as well regarded as it was six months or so ago. In my own experience, I haven't noticed much difference with Twitter in the past few months. I've still enjoyed engaging with the people I know and reading conversations around the topics I enjoy. If there's something I disagree with, I can ignore it, and if there's any content which genuinely offends me, I can block it. I may still look at posting more on Twitter in 2023.
Have you moved away from Instagram? Do you use Twitter as a photographer? Do you use any other platforms to post your content and engage with other photographers? Let me know in the comments.
Instagram still works really well for my purposes. I use Instagram as a way to connect with others who are serious about photographing wildlife in North America. There's a group of about 300 of us who all know each other and follow each other's content. We all meet in person - in real life - out in the field from time to time, in various parts of the U.S. and Canada.
I dislike reels very much - certainly DO NOT ENJOY seeing short videos of wildlife. Would much rather look at still photos of wildlife. And yes, Instagram surely does encourage people to make short videos instead of still photos. This is not a good change, but it's one I can live with if it enables me to keep up with all of the folks I know.
I don't know of any other platform that has as much engagement by the people who are passionate about photographing wildlife in North America, Instagram has so much more content about wild animals photographed in their native habitat than any other online platform. Nothing even comes close. Hence my decision to stick with it despite the annoying reels.
I'm an amateur, but have recently dropped twitter and flickr. In both cases it is b/c it feels like those sites require a paid membership to really share your photos outside of your preexisting group of followers.
I'm currently posting on facebook/instagram and mastadon.
Mastadon in particular seems to be a good community. I think that this is b/c it's really a collection of communities, so toxic people get booted and end up clustered together, then the toxic communities get blocked by everyone else.
I haven't considered Mastadon, will check it out. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely check out Mastadon
Still using Flickr, I've been using it for more than 10 years. There has been almost no changes on the web interface 😂. It's certainly not the best user interface and it feels like 2000's design... I believe that the phone app has became much better recently though but I don't use it so much, too small... I have the feeling that lately the popularity of Flickr has increased a bit probably thanks to people leaving insta? It's still not at the level of the beginning. At that time, I remember many pro's were sharing amazing work on Flickr. Now, there are mostly enthusiasts but still some nice work. The explore page is crap though, half of the selected pictures looks like snapshot low quality shots. Many photographers that I see on my area are also on Flickr. I don't like insta with it's low resolution and fixed format pictures. Let's not even talk about these shity reels...
I was an IG user exclusively but became turned off by the direction and more of a focus on Reels. That said, I believe IG does have a solid platform for keeping a portfolio - in addition to Flikr - in one view whereas Twitter does not. I am looking to enhance my Twitter presence so this vid was really helpful. Cheers!
As a formerly heavy Instagram user, I'd have to agree. It's a shame that instagram embraced and contributed to the 'Influencer' culture that it strayed from its roots as a photo sharing platform.
I may still head back to Flickr for portfolio and Twitter for social
Probably depends what you use the platforms for.
For me:
-- Instagram: Is my primary sharing site. I mostly use it because of its simple and familiar bio page. It makes it quick to get an idea of people's work. And, to show I'm not going to show up to shoot with a point-n-shoot. That I'm fairly competent. Also, when it comes models, make up artists, hair stylists, designers, photographers, etc, it's the default place people post. When you see "@[name]", it's assumed Instagram. No one will ever look at this as Twitter, Vero, etc.
-- Facebook: Since a good portion of my family and friends are on there and not on IG, I post just so they know I'm still alive and kickin'. :)
-- Twitter: I don't really post photos on there anymore. If they had a grid view like IG and Flickr, I may consider posting on there again. I can't stand the only view is a feed view. I gotta scroll and scroll and scroll. Photo usage wise, I default to a List of models and photographers I'm not following on IG.
-- Flickr: I use it as an IG search index for when I need to look up a model and/or locations I've posted. I'd have the link to the IG post In the description.
-- Vero: On desktop, images are so freakin' ridiculously small. Tiny. Reminds me of IG years and years ago. On the positive side, you're not forced to create an account to view a page. And, when viewing individual images on the app, horizontal images can be properly viewed by rotating the phone.
Very well said in all aspects!
Thanks!
Thanks, an excellent take on the social platforms. I'm inclined to agree on all fronts. Facebook has become an exercise in posting family photos to keep relatives abroad in the loop.
Perhaps I just yearn for the Instagram that was, before it got so big - which would likely not function as it did under the weight of the current user base.
While it is always worth sticking with Instagram, I've started using VERO too. It has a big intake of users in 2022 due to the Instagram issues and I am getting more engagement than Instagram.
Your own website ... just as simple as that.
But the question is, what web site hosting service should one use for their own website? Just saying "your own website" leaves out a lot of info that is needed for critical decision-making.
This comes to own preferences and need. A comparison of webhosts would be a good start but has to be done by every one by himself.
VERO ;)
https://vero.co/contraluzphotos