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Social Media: To Deactivate or Not To Deactivate

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A few months ago, I came across a Facebook status update (somewhat ironic given the nature of the information) and then later an article in which a fellow photographer boasted about a decision to deactivate and then permanently delete a personal Facebook page. As impossible as it was to imagine that now, in 2016, someone would willingly cut themselves off from the benefits of social media (and a photographer at that), I have to admit, the article stuck with me. Social Media – Facebook and Instagram specifically and respectively – have, over the last few years brought about a sea change in the way most everything relating to visual media is done, from how brands and companies find their talent to how people interact with one another. While the idea of cutting off my social media was out of the question from a business-related standpoint, I have to admit, on a personal level, the idea of deactivating my own page and removing myself from the ever-tightening grip of social media became more and more alluring to the point where late one night, I found myself hovering over the deactivate button much in the same way I hovered over any ”necessary” gear purchases I’ve made.

Admittedly, upon first glance, it became exciting to imagine a life where we weren’t all mindlessly scrolling through a feed of the few people we knew and majority of people we didn’t (the fact that this today’s reality sounds so dumb, btw). I imagined myself with a sudden and tremendous amount of free time, reading books, doing things – outdoor things – and enjoying time with my family and friends in ways we haven’t done since sometime in the early to mid-2000’s. It could be like living in some pre-apocalyptic dream (before Bruce Willis and/or Will Smith have been called in to save the day)

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And then, I actually thought about it. Was my life actually controlled by social media or was it the other way around? I mean, I was only posting my Instagram account once a day and sure, while I read through my Facebook multiple times a day, I certainly wasn’t glued and there were certainly days when I would unconsciously step away from social media entirely. After spending a day or two away, I came to the conclusion that my social media wasn’t controlling me, on the contrary, I was controlling it. My feed, whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc, is all curated, ultimately, by one person: Me. I have control whether or not I post, whether or not I scroll, and whether or not I put my phone down and figure out what exactly those outdoor things are I’m supposed to be doing with my friends and family. I decided that if I’m letting my social media take control of my life, it’s nobody fault but my own. Social Media is a tool. Use it as such and like any tool, it’ll give back exactly what you put in. Sometimes more.

Once I got all that settled, I decided to keep my social media platforms and remain their pack leader. It soon became apparent to me how necessary they’ve all been over the years. Work I’ve booked aside, without Facebook, I wouldn’t be in a network of such an amazing group of talented friends. Without Instagram, I wouldn’t know what styles and trends are the new hotness and what styles and trends are becoming old and busted. This is an important point: As a visual creative, whether you’re shooting fashion, portraits, headshots, lifestyle, weddings, commercial, advertising, product or whatever, no person, no photographer operates in a vacuum nor is any photographer an island. Whether it’s styles and trends or who is biting at our heels or to see the heels of those we’re biting, it’s vitally important for us as creatives to know what’s up and coming and what’s falling by the wayside. It’s what keeps the fire under our collective asses lit.

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Now, obviously, as evidenced by the large number of photographers who are successful without having a large social media presence, this isn’t the only way to get work and/or become a success. Other options include living in one of the big cities and doing actual legwork (that’s going out and meeting people showing your work, getting rejected, etc.) and honestly I can’t think of any photographer who picked up a camera in the last 10 years and became successful without a healthy mix of both legwork and social media.

Social Media is, for all it’s selfies and paid-to-promote posts, is a platform through which a tremendous and often unexpected amount of work can come in. For all the good and bad, it’s having the ability to put yourself and your work not only in front of a lot of eyes, but sometimes, the eyes that belong to people who make the creative decisions for the companies you’re wanting to work with. Sure, the chances are small, but it has happened.


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